Jennifer Hudson And Smokey Robinson Perform “Ooo Baby Baby”
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Smokey Robinson joined Jennifer Hudson on her eponymous daytime talk show to discuss his legendary career and his latest release, as well as sing a classic song with the Oscar-winning host.
In the episode that aired on Wednesday (Nov. 1), the duo performed “Ooo Baby Baby,” calling back to Aretha Franklin’s impromptu duet with Robinson on Soul Train in 1979.
“I don’t remember exactly how it came about,” Robinson reflected of the historic moment.
“I think that she was going to do a performance on Soul Train that day, and I just happened to be there because the New Miracles were there, and they had a new lead singer. I brought them over to do Soul Train. And Don Cornelius, you know, he was the instigator. He said, ‘I want y’all to sing something for me.’ And she just went to the piano and started playing ‘Ooo baby baby’ and we sang it.”
Bridging together generations, the EGOT talent preceded with “I’m no Aretha,” to which Robinson responded “Oh, please, girl. You are Jennifer.”
Elsewhere in the episode, the 83-year-old reflected on his latest album Gasms. The project was released in April 2023 and features songs including “You Fill Me Up,” “I Fit In There,” and “I Wanna Know Your Body.” The Motown legend released the album’s lead single, “If We Don’t Have Each Other,” at the top of the year.
“I haven’t had an album out of original material in a long time..probably better than 10 years,” he explained to Hudson. “I said, ‘Now what can I do after all these years to create some attention, some controversy?’ I’m sitting at the piano and I’m thinking ‘Okay what am I going. to write about? I’m going to write about Gasms.'”
He continued, “I mean, whatever you mean with Gasms. Whatever your ‘gasm is, that’s what I mean. I wanted it to be controversial and something that would make people say ‘What are you talking about?’ That’s how the title and the song “Gasm” came up because I wanted it to be controversial because it had been a long time. I wanted to get some immediate attention.”
Watch the clip below.
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