Canadian singer Luke McMaster has been given a stamp of approval from Motown legend Smokey Robinson.
“Check out @lukemcmaster's cover of my song ‘Ooh Baby Baby,’” the 80-year-old icon tweeted to his 115,000 followers on Friday. “Amazing job, Luke!” He shared the same message and link on Facebook, where he has about 979,000 followers.
McMaster recorded “Ooh Baby Baby” for his new album Songs Of Smokey: Reimagining the Music of Smokey Robinson, which was released in early February.
"I can't tell you how absolutely honoured I am to have such an iconic artist recognize my work on one of his most beloved songs," McMaster told iHeartRadio.ca. "So humbled."
Robinson co-wrote “Ooh Baby Baby,” which was originally recorded in 1965 by his group The Miracles.
Manitoba-born McMaster, 43, had success in the early 2000s with the soul-pop project McMaster & James with Rob James. The duo opened for NSYNC and Christina Aguilera and had hits like “Love Wins Everytime” and “Thank You.”
Songs Of Smokey is not the first time McMaster has paid tribute to the music of Motown. He released the Icons of Soul collection in 2018.
Watch McMaster perform “Ooh Baby Baby” below: