NAMES IN THE NEWS : Smokey Robinson Tells of Drug Use

Singer-songwriter Smokey Robinson said today that he became addicted to cocaine after the 1985 breakup of his marriage and the death of his father, but is now drug-free and will release an autobiography and an album this year.

“At the time I didn’t know I was escaping the pain of leaving home after 27 years,” the singer said in an interview. “I didn’t know I was escaping the death of my dad. . . . But the Lord had me go through this to let young people know, and everybody know, what it could do to you and that there is a way out.”