Soul music biz executive JOEY ROBINSON JR died on Sunday 12th July. The son of the founders of the Sugar Hill group of labels, he was aged 53 and he’d been fighting cancer for some time
Sugar Hill was founded in the 70s by his parents Sylvia and Joseph Robinson Senior and after their deaths (Joseph Senior in 2000 and Sylvia in 2011) Joseph Jr became executor of the whole Sugar Hill estate. Prior to that he’d been a member of the Sugar Hill Gang… though he hadn’t sung on the original recording of ‘Rappers Delight’.
Robinson’s brother, Leland said, “When my parents passed away, he became like a father figure. He was good to everybody.”
In March 2012, Joey, Leland and third brother Rhondo fell foul of the law when they pleaded guilty to charges that they failed to file federal tax returns. Joey Robinson failed to file his tax returns for 2006 and 2007, when he had a combined income of more than $580,000. The other brothers pleaded guilty to similar charges, and all three were sentenced to three years’ probation, 400 hours of community service and three months of home confinement.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Falk declined to sentence the three brothers to prison, despite the prosecution’s recommendation for a term in jail, citing the charitable work they had done and their lack of criminal records.
At his sentencing, Robinson told the judge he was “totally remorseful” and took full responsibility for his actions. He also talked about his family business’s history, introducing “a whole new genre of music, rap music, to the world.”
