Jamaican-English singer-songwriter known for his 1983 hit “Calling Your Name” which reached the Top 5 in the UK and Australia and number 1 in Japan. Noted for his androgynous appearance, Marilyn modelled for several top fashion designers including Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood. His drug addiction and his highly publicised disputes with Boy George (another famous “Gender Bender” of the 1980s) damaged his public image. He disappeared from public view in the 1990s, reemerging in the 2000s. On 23 September 2016, Marilyn released his first new single in over 30 years, “Love or Money.”
Robinson has been candid about the effect drug abuse has had on his life, and the physical and mental health problems he has suffered. In 1986, both he and Boy George were arrested in London on charges of drug possession. On 20 August 1986, at Marylebone Magistrates Court in London, a magistrate dismissed a heroin charge against Robinson because the prosecution offered no evidence. In a November 2014 interview with the Daily Mirror, he said that he was a heroin addict from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s. Robinson says he has been clear of all drugs since 2010, after a period in rehab prompted by some specific severe health problems.
In his 1995 autobiography Take It Like a Man, Boy George wrote that in the 1980s Robinson had a relationship with singer Gavin Rossdale. In a 1996 interview for Rolling Stone, Rossdale responded: “That’s George’s take – he doesn’t know me. There’s a queue of people going to their lawyers about stuff in his book. I hope he manages to sell some books by putting my name in there.” Elsewhere both Rossdale and Robinson initially denied the story but in 2003 Robinson dedicated the Marilyn CD Hold on Tight to Rossdale, citing “the years of our passionate relationship” and featuring a photo of them together on the cover. Later, both men spoke more candidly about their relationship, with Robinson confirming in 2009 that they had been “together five years” in the 1980s while in 2010 Rossdale said the relationship with Robinson had been an experimentation and “part of growing up”. Robinson said, “Gavin and Gwen [Stefani, Rossdale’s then-wife] are perfect for each other, but he was the love of my life.”
Marilyn has been portrayed in several productions, including Boy George’s stage musical Taboo (2002) which reflects on the New Romantic scene of the early ’80s. He was also portrayed by the actor Freddie Fox in the 2010 BBC television film Worried About the Boy, about the rise of Boy George in the early ’80s.
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