Smokey Robinson: Fast Facts
• Smokey Robinson was born William Robinson Jr. in Detroit, Mich. in 1940.
• The singer was only 15 when he formed his first band The Five Chimes. The group changed its name to The Matadors before settling on The Miracles in 1959.
• Smokey Robinson & The Miracles scored its first major hit for Motown Records with “Shop Around” in 1960. The group was one of the legendary R&B label’s most successful acts, placing more than 50 singles onto Billboard’s Top 40 chart between 1959 and 1978.
• Robinson, who also wrote hits for Motown label mates The Temptations, Mary Wells, Marvin Gaye and The Marvelettes, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. The Miracles were inducted in April 2012.
• In June, the singer launched Smoke Alarms, a digital emergency broadcast network that uses social media and a growing web of contacts to promote special fund raising initiatives.
• Friday’s concert marks Robinson’s first appearance at Fraze Pavilion since 2002.
HOW TO GO
What: The 15th annual Celebrity Concert for Charity with Smokey Robinson and special guest Groove Doctor
Where: Fraze Pavilion, 695 Lincoln Park Blvd., Kettering
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25
Cost: $35 lawn/terrace, $56 side orchestra (sections A&D)
More info: (937) 296-3300 or www.fraze.com
Artist info: www.smokeyrobinson.com
More than 70,000 people worldwide suffer from cystic fibrosis, an inherited chronic disease affecting the lungs and digestive system. Of that number, 30,000 live in the United States.
Since 1998, the Celebrity Concert for Charity at Fraze Pavilion in Kettering has done its part to raise money for the cause. Proceeds benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, a donor-supported, nonprofit organization in Bethesda, Md. dedicated to finding a cure for CF.
The15th annual concert, featuring headliner Smokey Robinson, is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25. Special guest Groove Doctor opens the show.
“We’ll probably surpass $750,000 that we’ve given to the foundation since 1998,” said John Condit, general sales manager for television for Cox Media Group, who was a newscaster for WHIO-TV when he founded the benefit concert.
“That’s a net number because we’ve got plenty of expenses but 90 percent of that money has gone to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation nationally to try to find a cure,” Condit continued. “In recent years we’ve also been supporting the Martha Franz Fund, which supports Cystic Fibrosis families in need financially or whatever else.”
Like many fundraisers, this event for CF relies heavily on money raised through raffles and a silent auction featuring autographed guitars from Smokey Robinson, Peter Frampton, Michael Bolton, Vince Gill and others.
“The raffle generates anywhere from five to seven grand separate from the auction,” Condit said. “We sell raffle tickets, we do a split the pot and then we have the silent auction on all these guitars so that should draw people out.”
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