Sharon Robinson (born in 1958 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, California, U.S.) is an American singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. She is best known as a frequent writing collaborator with

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

,''Sharon Robinson'' profile and discography
Discogs.com although she has written songs for a number of other artists as well, including

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and others.

Biography

She toured as back-up singer for Cohen in 1979 and 1980, and then again during 2008–2013. They collaborated on writing the songs " Everybody Knows" and "Waiting for the Miracle", released in 1988 and 1992 respectively. In 2001, she co-wrote, produced, arranged and performed the backing tracks (as well as appearing alongside Cohen on the cover) for his album ''

Ten New Songs ''Ten New Songs'' is Leonard Cohen's tenth studio album, released in 2001. It was co-written and produced by Sharon Robinson. It was produced in Cohen's and Robinson's home studios in Los Angeles. It was also his first album in nearly 10 years. ...

''. Robinson also contributed to three tracks on Cohen's 2004 album ''

Dear Heather ''Dear Heather'' is the 11th studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released by Columbia Records in 2004. It was dedicated "in memory of Jack McClelland 1922-2004." Background The album features Cohen experimenting with diffe ...

'', and duetted with Cohen on "The Letters". She was given a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

in 1985 for the song " New Attitude" (from the ''

Beverly Hills Cop ''Beverly Hills Cop'' is a 1984 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Martin Brest, screenplay by Daniel Petrie Jr., story by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr., and starring Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street-smart Detroit cop ...

'' soundtrack), recorded by

. In 2004, Robinson gave a full-length interview discussing her life, career and work with Leonard Cohen. In 2005, Robinson wrote the song "The High Road" specifically for

for her album ''

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'', which was picked as #59 at Amazon's best of 2005 Editor's picks. Robinson's recent work also includes the songs written for

Chris Botti Christopher Stephen Botti ( ; born October 12, 1962) is an award-winning American trumpeter and composer. In 2013, Botti won the Grammy Award in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category, for the album ''Impressions''. He was also nominated in ...

In 2008, Robinson released her debut solo album ''Everybody Knows'', which includes three songs she co-wrote with Cohen: "Alexandra Leaving", " Everybody Knows", and "Summertime", their first collaboration, originally recorded by

for her 1987 album '' Red Hot Rhythm & Blues''. The set also includes "The High Road", and six new tracks written by Robinson. On October 27, 2008, Vibrant Records released ''Everybody Knows'' in the United Kingdom and Europe, replacing the original artwork from Leonard Cohen with a photo of Robinson. In February 2009, Vibrant Records closed due to the bankruptcy of its distributor Pinnacle. In April 2009, UK label Freeworld Records re-released ''Everybody Knows'' in Europe with the original Leonard Cohen-drawn cover art. Robinson self-released the album in the U.S. In 2008 Robinson joined The Leonard Cohen World Tour which lasted until December 2013. In August 2013 she was profiled in a cover story in the ''Financial Times''. A book of her photographs was released in December 2014 along with exhibits in New York and Los Angeles, and performances in those cities and Toronto. Sharon Robinson appeared on Cohen's 2012 album ''

Old Ideas ''Old Ideas'' is the twelfth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released in January 2012. It is Cohen's highest-charting release in the United States, reaching number 3 on the ''Billboard'' 200, 44 years after the release o ...

'' singing, arranging choirs and playing synth bass on four tracks. Robinson performed songs from both her albums and also songs she co-wrote with Cohen on a tour in March and April 2015, coinciding with the release of her second solo album, entitled ''Caffeine'', singing in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, France, Ireland, Scotland and England. ''Caffeine'' included 10 new tracks written and produced by Sharon Robinson herself, with one song, "Lucky", co-written with Cohen in the 1980s but not recorded. In 2015, Robinson released a four-track EP titled ''Sharon Robinson EP 1'', covering songs by

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

Bruce Hornsby Bruce Randall Hornsby (born November 23, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. His music draws from folk rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Southern rock, country rock, jam band, rock, heartland rock, and blues rock musical traditions ...

, and

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

. After her second 2015 tour was postponed, she toured in Europe again in August and September 2016. In August 2016, she was the guest of honor at the 10th Leonard Cohen Event, held in Amsterdam.

Discography

; Leonard Cohen: * '' I'm Your Man'' (1988, wrote and composed a song, ''Everybody Knows'') * '' The Future'' (1992, co-writer on a song, ''Waiting For The Miracle'') * '' Cohen Live: Leonard Cohen In Concert'' (1994, co-writer on one song, ''Everybody Knows'') * '' Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979'' (2000, backing vocals) * ''

'' (2001) (Writing, composition, keyboards, synths, vocals, arrangements) * ''

'' (2004; backing vocals, arrangements) * '' Live in London'' (2009, backing vocals) * '' Songs from the Road'' (2010, backing vocals) * ''

'' ( 2012, backing vocals, synth bass) * '' Live in Dublin'' (2014, backing vocals) Also on DVD. * ''Can't Forget: A Souvenir of the Grand Tour'' (2015, backing vocals) * ''

Thanks for the Dance ''Thanks for the Dance'' is the fifteenth and final studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released posthumously through Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings on November 22, 2019. It is the first release following Cohen's dea ...

'' ( 2019, percussion and vocals on a song) - With Daniel Lanois.

Solo albums

* ''Everybody Knows'' (2008) - Leonard Cohen, artwork & songwriting for three songs. * ''Caffeine'' (2015) - Leonard Cohen songwriting on 1 song * ''EP 1 (songs by Waits, Redding, Hornsby, Clapton)'' (2015) * ''We Were Dreamers - 2021

Bibliography

* 2014 : ''On Tour with Leonard Cohen - Photographs by Sharon Robinson'' - PowerHouse books

References

External links

Sharon Robinson's official website

Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson: a special relationship

Sharon Robinson European Tour 2015
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Sharon 1958 births Living people American women singer-songwriters Leonard Cohen Record producers from California Grammy Award winners Singers from San Francisco Songwriters from San Francisco 20th-century American women singers American women record producers 20th-century American singers Singer-songwriters from California