Thicke's Blue-Eyed Soul Hits Big Across Racial Divide

In a society that says white men can't dance, Robin Thicke has surmounted the race barrier: His single, Lost Without U, topped Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for 11 weeks last year, outperforming songs by Beyonce, Usher, and Alicia Keys. "Eighty or 90% of my fans are African Americans, mostly grown black women," Thicke tells the Washington Post.

At 16, the son of TV star Alan Thicke was writing for other artists, including Brandy. "Our women really dig him; they want to go to bed with him. And for most of the brothers, it seems like we're OK with that!" says one radio host. But Thicke believes his race "will always be a part of the conversation, until I surpass those boundaries by just becoming Robin Thicke." (More Robin Thicke stories.)