Sharon Robinson (songwriter)
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| Sharon Robinson | |
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 Robinson in 2008 |
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| Background information | |
| Genres | Folk, folk rock, rock, world, pop |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Labels | independent |
Sharon Robinson (born 1958) is an American songwriter, record producer, and vocalist. She is best known as a frequent writing collaborator with Leonard Cohen, although she has written songs for a number of other artists as well, including Aaron Neville, Diana Ross, Don Henley, Randy Crawford, Roberta Flack, The Temptations and others.
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[edit] Biography
She excelled in school as well, and as a National Merit semi-finalist she earned a scholarship to Salem College in West Virginia. Halfway to her degree, money and music proved a stronger draw, so she left school to front a touring Top-40 band for several years. Burnout on the road brought her back to college; this time to the California Institute of the Arts to study music.
She toured as back-up singer for Cohen in 1979 and 1980, and then again in 2008, 2009 and 2010. They collaborated on writing his much acclaimed songs "Everybody Knows" and "Waiting for the Miracle", released in 1988 and 1992 respectively. In 2001 she co-wrote, produced, arranged and performed the backing tracks (as well as appearing alongside Cohen on the cover) for his album Ten New Songs. Robinson also contributed to three tracks on Cohen's 2004 album Dear Heather, and duetted with Cohen on "The Letters".
She was awarded a Grammy in 1985 for the song "New Attitude" (from Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack), recorded by Patti LaBelle.
In 2004, Sharon Robinson gave a full-length interview discussing her life, career and work with Leonard Cohen (available on her site).
In 2005, Robinson's new song "The High Road" was performed by Bettye LaVette on her album I've Got My Own Hell to Raise, which was picked as #59 at Amazon's best of 2005 Editor's picks. Robinson's recent work also includes the songs written for Chris Botti.
In 2008, Robinson released her debut solo album Everybody Knows, which includes three songs she co-wrote with Cohen: "Alexandra Leaving," "Everybody Knows," and "Summertime", their first collaboration, originally recorded by Diana Ross for her 1987 album Red Hot Rhythm & Blues. The set also includes "The High Road", and 6 new tracks written by Robinson.
On October 27, 2008, Vibrant Records released Everybody Knows in the United Kingdom and Europe, replacing the original artwork from Leonard Cohen with a photo of Robinson. In February 2009, Vibrant Records closed its doors due to the bankruptcy of its distributor Pinnacle. In April 2009, UK label Freeworld Records re-released Everybody Knows in Europe with the original Leonard Cohen drawn cover art. Sharon self-released the album in the U.S.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Everybody Knows (2008)
[edit] References
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