Robbin Thompson

Robert Wickens "Robbin" Thompson (June 16, 1949 – October 10, 2015) was an American singer-songwriter based in Richmond, Virginia. Since 1976 he recorded several albums which included guest appearances by Melissa Manchester, Steve Cropper, Waddy Wachtel, Bruce Hornsby and Ellen McIlwaine, among others. He was a member of an early Bruce Springsteen band, Steel Mill, and co-wrote songs with Timothy B. Schmit, Phil Vassar and Butch Taylor and Carter Beauford of the Dave Matthews Band. He twice won the American Song Festival and in 1980 had a minor national hit with "Brite Eyes". He also wrote songs featured on the soundtracks of Gleaming the Cube and The Fighting Temptations. In March 2015, "Sweet Virginia Breeze", which Thompson co-wrote with Steve Bassett, became Virginia's second official state song (joining "Our Great Virginia").