Inside Robin Thicke's Relationship With His Famous Parents, Gloria Loring And Alan Thicke

Singer-songwriter Robin Thicke will return as a judge on The Masked Singer when the show returns for season 5 on March 10, 2021 (via Deadline). Prior to his joining the show, many people knew Thicke from his infamous 2013 song "Blurred Lines," which was surrounded by controversy and was largely seen as a questionable release, despite the fact that it hit number one on Billboard Hot 100 (The New York Times). After a tumultuous divorce, which included accusations of physical and emotional abuse from Thicke's ex-wife Paula Patton, per Harper's Bazaar, it seems that the singer's career is now experiencing a bit of a rebound.

Thicke recently told Billboard that while "pretty much all the clichés that befall a musician all seemed to happen within a few years for me," he's doing well now. That's nothing short of miraculous, considering Robin Thicke lost his father, Growing Pains star Alan Thicke, in 2016 as he was navigating the fallout from his divorce.

In February 2021, Robin Thicke opened up to People about his father's unexpected death and the legacy his father still holds. "I wasn't in a good place when he passed, and I wasn't in a better place right after. However, a few months later, I decided to dedicate my time to raising my son, and that really was a big turn for me. Instead of focusing on my music, I focused on my son. That's how I got through that period."

Now, he says that his newest album, On Earth, and in Heaven, is all about honoring his father's memory. "It's about the passing of the torch of my father to me and the kind of man I want to be," he said (via People). Thicke, who is now a father of four (he has three children with fiancée April Love Geary), also added that these days, he still hopes to make his dad proud and follow his example. "After my father's death, I remember a friend of his said, 'A big tree has fallen.' That's what my dad was: the big tree. Now here I am, this medium-size tree, and I've got to grow my branches and protect everybody. Every day I try to make him proud of me."

Thicke added that his dad loved TV and knows he would have enjoyed The Masked Singer. He also revealed that being on television makes him feel closer to his father. "I know my dad would be like, 'Prime Time. Prime Time. Big show!'" he told People. "My dad would be so excited about this show and smitten, so I feel really close to him when I'm doing it."

Robin Thicke also seems to have a close relationship with his mother, Days of Our Lives star Gloria Loring. Gloria and Alan were married from 1970 to 1984, and their marriage also produced a second son, Robin's brother, Brennan. After Alan Thicke's death, Loring told Billboard that the home Robin was raised in was always filled with music.

"There was a lot of music in the house, and if there were parties, the guitars would come out and Alan played a passable guitar and we would all sing and we always wound up singing [Don McLean's] 'American Pie.' And you know the kids were around and they just absorbed all that music."

Both Robin Thicke and his mom attended a VH1 event together following his father's death, and The Daily Mail noted that Thicke presented his mother with flowers at the event before the pair sang a duet. That wasn't the first time the mother-son duo collaborated on a singing project. In 2007, they released a song called "The Prayer" together.