Robin Millar

Millar was born with retinitis pigmentosa at St George's Hospital, which is now The Lanesborough Hotel, Hyde Park Corner. Despite poor vision he attended mainstream state school Enfield Grammar School from 1963 to 1970 and then read law at Queens' College, Cambridge from 1970 to 1973. Millar's older sister Rose was the first wife of The Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, and Millar sometimes accompanied his sister and brother-in-law on tours as a teenager.

After gaining his law degree, Millar moved into the music industry initially recording a solo album Cat's Eyes in 1974 with Mick Taylor of The Rolling Stones acting as Producer. The album was recorded at The Beatles Apple Studios (Apple Corps) 3 Saville Row, London and featured Nicky Hopkins, Bobby Keyes and Billy Preston, along with Gordon Raitt and Jamie Lane and engineer Andy Johns, but remained unreleased until issued by Apcor Records in 2019. During this period Millar trained as an apprentice audio engineer at the Chateau studios near Paris and studied music arranging at the Sorbonne. Later, in 1978, he featured as a guitarist and artist in a band called The Blue Max alongside Danny Peyronel with Charisma Records, eventually putting out records with Atlantic and WEA and working with ex-Velvet Underground singer Nico. He also played guitar with French rock band Extraballe and produced the group’s first and third albums. After working with post punk band Weekend as a record producer in 1982, he purchased Morgan Studios studio 1 and studio 2 to found Power Plant Studios in 1984. Millar also at one time owned Whitfield Street Studios (previously owned by CBS Records and Sony Music). Millar's breakthrough came in 1984 with seven consecutive Top 10 albums; including Eden by Everything but the Girl, Working Nights by Working Week, and multi-platinum selling Diamond Life, the debut album by the band Sade.

Production on other significant hit records in the period include Fine Young Cannibals (Fine Young Cannibals), Colin Hay (Looking for Jack), Big Country (The Seer), Patricia Kaas (Je te dis vous), Kane Gang, Bhundu Boys, Black, Tom Robinson, Malcolm McLaren and Randy Crawford amongst others. Millar arranged the music for the film, And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen... Millar's song "Rich and Poor", co-composed with Colin Vearncombe, was recorded by Randy Crawford on her 1989 album, Rich and Poor. His 2002 solo album, Kiss & Tell, was released by the Nujaz record label. Kiss & Tell featured additional guest vocalists such as Patricia Kaas, Ive Mendes, Peppercorn and Amar showcasing Millar's affinity with soul and latin styles. It included his own recording of 'The Sweetest Taboo' a song he originally produced for Sade. In 2020, Millar released his album Meditations From A Desert Island, a series of mood pieces to enhance mind and spirit, originally conceived to assist his staff at Blue Raincoat Music to manage the stress of lockdown restrictions.

Millar trained as a recording engineer, classical and jazz musician and arranger, and has trained dozens of engineers and producers, including Jim Abbiss, the producer of Arctic Monkeys and Adele.

In 2010 he produced the 12 track MP4 album "Cross Party". In 2016 he brought together MPs, professional musicians, students and the Thurrock Community Chorus for a charity recording of "You can't always get what you want" in aid of the Friends of Jo Cox MP.

Millar is a patron of The Music Producers Guild, which he helped found in 1987.

Millar was executive producer of the major worldwide series of concerts to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Édith Piaf, with shows in Carnegie Hall, New York, The Royal Albert Hall London and major venues in France, Germany, Russia, Europe and the Far East.

He was the Chairman of The Blue Raincoat Chrysalis Group Ltd and Blue Raincoat Music, until its sale to US NASDAQ firm Reservoir Media in 2019. Blue Raincoat handle the careers of Cigarettes After Sex, Ezra Collective and Phoebe Bridgers.

He was married to American painter Ellen Trillas from 1979 to 1997. They had two children. He has been with his wife Shelley for twenty five years.

Millar appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs on 20 March 2015.

In July 2017 Millar became a founding director of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. He remained a director until it merged with Skills England in 2025. He was a founder trustee of Creative and Cultural Skills, formerly the National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural, from 2008 to 2016 and was instrumental in the project to build The Backstage Centre, part of High House Purfleet. Co-located with the Royal Opera House's Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Centre, the centre hires out its Sound Stage and recording studios to professional companies whilst hosting training courses for young people in backstage skills. In 2016 Millar led a charity recording from the Centre involving MPs, the local choir and professional singers to raise funds in memory of MP Jo Cox. From 2020 to 2026 he was chair of the disability charity Scope. He has produced music events for charity including when a Patron at UNHCR and was a global ambassador for Leonard Cheshire Disability for eight years.