Smokey Robinson was born William Robinson, Jr. in 1940 in the poorest section of Detroit, Michigan. As he was growing up, his uncle Claude gave him the nickname of “Smokey Joe” and the Smokey part stuck and he was always known as just Smokey Robinson. He became interested in music in high school, especially doo-wop and started singing with a group of guys called the Five Chimes in 1955. At one point, he lived just a few houses away from a young Aretha Franklin. He is fond of saying that he knew Aretha since she was five years old.

In 1957, the Five Chimes changed their name to the Matadors at which time, the group consisted of Ronald White, Pete Moore, Bobby Rogers, and Marv Tarplin, a guitarist joined them in 1958. Bobby’s cousin, Claudette joined the group and the addition of a girl seemed to prompt a name change again and in 1958, they became the Miracles. Claudette would later marry Smokey. The group was signed by Motown on their Tamla label and started recording. In 1960 they had their first hit, “Shop Around” which peaked at number two on pop charts. It hit number one on the R&B charts and became the first million-selling hit for the Miracles and the first million-selling record for the Motown Company.

While the Miracles hit number one on the R&B charts fairly regularly, it would take them ten years before they could do it on the pop charts. They put 25 songs into the Top 40 between 1960 and 1970, but none of them reached number one. In 1970, they finally got there with “The Tears of a Clown”. It was the only number one the group had with Smokey Robinson as the lead singer. In 1967, the group’s official name was changed to Smokey Robinson and the Miracles in much the same way as the Supremes were changed to Diana Ross and the Supremes about the same time. Smokey left the group in 1972 to pursue a solo career, (he said he was retiring) but he was never as successful alone as he was with the group. Between 1974 and 1987, he put nine songs in the Top 40, but number two is as high as he got.

“The Tears of a Clown” was written by Hank Cosby, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. The Miracles were ranked number 32 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2008, Billboard listed them number sixty on their list of the 100 Most Successful Billboard artists. And they received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2009 and they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame in 2012.

“The Tears of a Clown” entered the pop charts on October 31, 1970 and reached number one the week of December 12, where it stayed for two weeks.