N.J. native Sylvia Robinson Inducted Into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Music pioneer Sylvia Robinson has been officially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Sylvia Robinson Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee

The 37th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony took place Saturday, November 5, 2022 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California. This year’s Performer Inductees included Pat Benatar, Duran Duran, Eminem, Eurythmics, Dolly Parton, Carly Simon, and Lionel Richie.

Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Ahmet Ertegun Award category for being a major influence on the creative development of hip-hop. She is the first Black woman to receive the Hall’s Ahmet Ertegun Award.

She is rightfully dubbed the “mother of hip-hop” for her efforts in co-founding and running Sugar Hill Records, one of the first hip-hop labels. Robinson not only helped run the label but she was also one of the architects behind the label’s signature hits “Rapper’s Delight” (1979) by the Sugarhill Gang and “The Message” (1982) by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, as co-writer and producer.

Before making moves behind the scenes, Robinson, herself was a successful artist.

Mickey & Sylvia

First, she was part of the soul-pop duo Mickey & Sylvia, whose single “Love Is Strange” topped the R&B and Billboard pop charts in 1957.

Mickey & Sylvia

As a solo artist, she released “Pillow Talk” in 1972, a track she originally wrote for Al Green. Although she’s not as well-known for it, Robinson was a guitarist, playing on tracks including Ike & Tina Turner’s Grammy-nominated “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine.”

Sylvia Robinson was a female CEO

During her time with Mickey & Sylvia, Robinson created her own record labels  starting with Willow Records, co-owned with Mickey Baker, and then All Platinum Records, with businessman and her husband, Joe Robinson, both in the 1960s. But her greatest legacy is Sugar Hill Records.

Formed in 1979 with her husband Joe, Sugar Hill was named after an area in Harlem — a flashpoint for early hip-hop. And the rest is history.

Congratulations!