Motown legend Smokey Robinson has been announced as the keynote speaker for SXSW 2010.
SXSW is the world’s biggest music conference and festival held each March in Austin, Texas.Robinson will deliver his keynote address at the Austin Conference Center on March 18, 2010, just one month after his 70th birthday.
Robinson was a singer, a songwriter, a producer and an executive of Motown Records.
In 1960, Motown scored its first ever number one with the Smokey Robinson & The Miracles song ‘Shop Around’. Smokey became a Vice President of Motown one year later and maintained the title for the entire time founder Berry Gordy was with the label.
Other artists have often honoured Smokey. *0s UK band ABC had a hit with a song called ‘When Smokey Sings’ and George Harrison wrote the song ‘Pure Smokey’ as a tribute to him in 1975.
The Beatles were big fans. They recorded his ‘You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me’. John Lennon once stated that ‘I’ve Been Good To You’ was one of his favourite songs.
SXSW Music is on March 17 to 20.
