Robin Thicke wrote for others long before “Blurred Lines”

For all the noise around “Blurred Lines”, Robin Thicke's story starts far from the spotlight. Born in Los Angeles in 1977, he is the son of actress and singer Gloria Loring and actor Alan Thicke, who also composed television theme music such as Diff'rent Strokes. His parents divorced when he was seven, and he had small television roles as a child.

His parents backed his musical ambitions, and his father helped him shape his first songs. But Alan Thicke would not pay for a professional demo for his teenage vocal group, As One, wanting him to finish school first. Jazz singer Al Jarreau, an uncle of one of the group members, covered the cost instead. The tape reached R&B singer Brian McKnight, who invited Thicke into the studio and signed him to his production company. McKnight became an early mentor and introduced him to Jimmy Iovine, which led to a recording contract with Interscope at sixteen.

At seventeen Thicke moved out and supported himself as a record producer and songwriter, writing and producing for acts including Brandy, Color Me Badd and Chanté Moore. His own debut, A Beautiful World, arrived in 2002 and was not a commercial success. A move to Pharrell Williams' Star Trak label changed that: The Evolution of Robin Thicke in 2006 debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 and produced “Lost Without U”, which reached number fourteen on the Hot 100.

The big moment came in 2013 with “Blurred Lines”, featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams. It reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100, earned diamond certification and was nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammys. The album of the same name debuted at number one in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Since 2019 he has been a panelist on The Masked Singer, and in 2026 he became band leader on Name That Tune.