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PEOPLE say Smokey Robinson has been lucky. He says the word is "blessed."

Money hasn't been a problem for him for more than 45 years.

Neither have women. They've worshipped and swooned over him since he began writing and singing songs that unlocked their hearts.

Nor has fame been elusive.

After writing more than 4,000 songs, including some of the most cherished and beloved music of our time ("My Girl, "My Guy," "Shop Around"), the list of his accolades is almost as long as his songwriting credits and includes numerous Grammy Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In fact, he had it all--fame, money, beautiful houses, you name it--when he suddenly and inexplicably developed a debilitating cocaine addiction that left him" one foot from the grave."

"That was the lowest and stupidest point in my life," he says now, sighing, as he sits in the den of a Los Angeles-area mansion packed with awards and honors. "I could have dug it if I had been a teenager or in my 20s and experimenting with drugs. But no, I started doing drugs when my life was going exactly the way I wanted it to go. I loved my life--and here I get off into doing drugs."

Smokey's wife Frances, an interior designer, included her own touches to give each room its own character and personality, such as the living room (above) and the dining room (right). "I don't like walking into a home where everything is the same," she says. Smokey also had his own decorating ideas for the home that has bright and natural colors throughout. The master bathroom (below) has soft pink marble and features intricate, hand-carved wood in the vanity areas. It includes a steam room and sauna.

In Smokey's 1989 autobiography Smokey: Inside My Life, he chronicled how he mixed cocaine with marijuana and smoked it. Life has improved dramatically for him since that period in the '80s

How did he do it?

The word, he says, is "faith."

Robinson says he has always had an intimate relationship with God and that faith saved his life. One day, he went into a storefront church "as an addict. But when I came out, I was free. The Lord let me live so I could be a living witness for Him." Now, Robinson travels the country speaking at rehab centers, prisons, gang meetings, drug graduations. "I go anywhere I'm called to go," he says.

The speaking engagements stimulate him and excite him because they, like music, give him a chance to communicate across age and gender lines and to cite his example as a deterrent and a challenge.

Speaking out against drug use is just one of the activities of the 63-year-old legend. He still finds time to record both secular and spiritual music and to enjoy quiet, fun times with Frances, his wife of two years.

Smokey's first spiritual CD, Food For the Spirit, recently hit stores and is full of songs about his faith and God. He is working on more spiritual music as well as a secular album.

At this stage in life, the work is relaxing fun. So is spending quiet time at his 14,000-square-foot home in the scenic hills of the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles.

He bought the home shortly before his marriage to Frances Glandney, an interior designer. After the marriage, the couple virtually gutted the house and rebuilt a mansion that reflects in many ways Smokey Robinson's spiritual journey. "It took about a year to get the house the way we wanted it," his wife says, pointing out waterfalls that lead up to natural rock formations.

Even though she is a decorator, she quickly points out that Robinson is "an artist" with very good, creative instincts. It was Smokey who insisted that she remove the marble floors and install hardwood. That was his only initial request when his wife took on her design mission.

"I don't like getting my feet cold on floors," he explained.

The Tudor-style home sits on 4 acres, has 10 fireplaces, numerous custom-made chandeliers and expansive mirrors throughout. Rather than have a single theme for the home, Frances decided each room would have its own individual character and personality. "I don't like walking into a home where everything is the same," she says. "To me, that doesn't evoke an interest. I've done houses upon request for owners who wanted the same theme throughout, but I like a different personality in each room."

There is a Mediterranean and a Terra Cotta bedroom with bright or natural colors and the carpets blending in with the themes she used for the sofas, chairs, drapes and beds.

The rooms are comfortable without being formal. For Robinson and his buddies, Frances designed what she calls "the men's room" with rich woods, dark leather sofa, large television, a bar and some of his numerous awards.

For the ladies, she designed a fight and sunny "girl's room" near the living room.

The Robinsons had numerous mature trees brought onto the property and anchored because storms had damaged others. The outdoor area has a barbecue grill, pool, fireplace and so many fruit trees they could actually sell their own produce. Lemon, lime, persimmon, avocado, pomegranate, orange and tangerine trees line the hills of the backyard.

The master bathroom, larger than many hotel suites, is a favorite. "It has a big steam room for her and a sauna for me," Robinson points out. The bathroom has soft pink marble and features intricate, hand-carved wood in the vanity areas.

Robinson, who is an avid golfer, had a special room built to house his golf attire and memorabilia. He has more than 60 pairs of golf shoes, and hundreds of shirts and caps along with his collection of clubs.

Robinson laughs when he describes how his wife's mind constantly races when she sees furnishings. "We can go to the movies and she'll walk into the theater and say, 'l would have done this or put that there.' Her mind is always racing. She's always into something. She keeps me laughing."

And she has had him laughing for more than two decades. The two were friends for better than 25 years before it dawned on them that they loved each other more than buddies or platonic friends.

Both celebrate their birthdays on Feb. 19 and it was customary for friends to take them both out to dinner. "We met through Leon Isaac Kennedy," he says. "We never had any romantic thoughts going on whatsoever. A few years ago when friends took us out, there was a seafood dish that we really loved. So, a few days after that, I was talking to her on the phone and I said/We ought to go back over there and get some more of that coconut shrimp.' She said,' Yeah, that's a great idea.' So, that's how it started."

The dinner was followed by movies together." And it just snowballed from there," he says. "Everybody was surprised because they knew I was a sworn bachelor. I was divorced a long time [he has three adult children, two sons and a daughter. She has five adult daughters]. I said I would never get married again. And here comes someone I've known all these years, and she changes my mind just like that. It's amazing. She wasn't even trying."

Frances says she was as surprised as anyone by the proposal. "He caught me totally off guard. He invited me to come to Las Vegas to see him perform New Year's Eve. I was there for a few days and on New Year's Eve he proposed to me. It really shocked me."

They were married in May 2002.

Frances is a natural and supportive sounding board for all of Smokey's projects, including Food for the Spirit.

He says that the CD was 40 years in the making. "That means in 40 years of recording, it's the first time I've ever recorded a spiritual CD."

While writing secular songs, Robinson felt an urge about 10 years ago to start creating material that touched his soul in a very different way. But he planned then to pass the songs on to his friends in the gospel arena, stars like Yolanda Adams, the Winans and Kirk Franklin.

"I kept writing and stockpiling, then the Lord impressed upon me to do it myself. My spiritual self is very important to me. And I'm trying my best to develop that part of me."

Robinson makes the distinction between spiritual and Gospel. "I'm not a gospel artist. I wanted the music to be like the music I've always made with only the words changed to get out the spiritual message."

The title of the CD, Food For the Spirit, emphasizes moving away from the pervasive materialistic side of life and embracing the spiritual sell "I not only wanted it to be a spiritual message to others," he says." I wanted also to share the message with people who don't know that I have this kind of relationship with God."

Robinson has taken the music to a wide variety of churches to test the waters. The reception has been enthusiastic, and he hopes to go on a tour with the music as well as put together another CD of spiritual songs.

That doesn't mean he has completely abandoned secular music that has made him a wealthy, household name. There will always be that smooth and soft side of Smokey Robinson, but it will be complemented by the new public emphasis on the spirit.

Besides gracing the cover of CDs and old vinyl, Robinson's name and face now appear on the cover of Smokey Robinson's The Soul is in the Bowl Gumbo, a frozen meal that he plans to market across the country. He quickly points out that the gumbo contains chicken sausage and seafood and is low in sodium and cholesterol.

The gumbo product, created by an idea presented to him by partner Leon Isaac Kennedy, was developed and launched in grocery stores in the Chicago area and is set to go national this year.

Smokey's projects take him from one end of the country to the other, but he always returns with joy to the serenity of his home in the San Fernando Valley.

The devastating fires that destroyed more than 3,300 homes in Southern California last year came within feet of the Robinsons' home, but their property wasn't even touched. He points out that whenever he buys a piece of property, he has ministers come out and pray for the home and the grounds.

The musical success, drug addiction and the frustration it caused family and friends, as well as the incredible warmth that Frances has been able to wash over him, have given Robinson a new perspective and a new peace. And he says that despite more than 40 years of musical success, there is no greater time in his life than now and the promise of what he can do tomorrow.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group