Peter Antony Robinson (born 3 November 1962), better known as Marilyn, is an English singer known for his androgynous appearance. He was one of Britain's most successful gender bending musical artists in the 1980s. First becoming a noted figure on the London club scene, Marilyn topped the European, Japanese and Australian charts with his 1983 hit "Calling Your Name". The song was later included on his 1985 debut album Despite Straight Lines.

Marilyn also contributed to the Christmas number one Band Aid song, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" He has modelled for several fashion designers including Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood. Photographs of him are housed in London's National Portrait Gallery. Marilyn has been portrayed in several productions, including Boy George's stage musical Taboo which reflected on the New Romantic scene, and by the actor Freddie Fox in the 2010 BBC television film Worried About the Boy.

Robinson was born in Kingston, Jamaica. At age 5, he moved with his mother to Borehamwood. He left school at 15, and has stated that he was bullied at school for being feminine, and that he self-harmed. As a boy, Robinson loved Marilyn Monroe's image, and Marilyn became his school nickname. While the name originated from homophobic bullies at school, Robinson decided to appropriate it to his advantage. As a teenager, he was a regular nightclub-goer and wanted to look different, so he adopted a Marilyn Monroe image wearing vintage dresses with bleached blond hair. He became part of the British New Romantic movement which emerged in the late-1970s club scene.

Robinson was a regular at the Blitz nightclub (regulars being labelled as Blitz Kids), a highly stylised club in London run by Steve Strange of the pop group Visage, and a place which spawned many early 1980s pop stars such as Spandau Ballet. During this time, Robinson met Boy George (prior to his forming Culture Club). Marilyn features prominently in George's autobiography, Take It Like a Man. In the book, George claimed that while they were living in a squat together, they were chased out by a male neighbour who was attracted to Marilyn, but who then broke the door down with an axe when he discovered Marilyn was a man. He also claimed Marilyn once tried to seduce David Bowie at a London nightclub.

In 1979, Robinson appeared in the documentary Steppin' Out directed by Lyndall Hobbs, which explored the fashionable nightclubs and the trendy pop culture scenes that were famous in London at the time. It was shown as the support film to Alien in British cinemas. That year, he also appeared in the first segment of director Derek Jarman's 12-minute short film Broken English. While Boy George went on to form Culture Club in 1981 and secured a recording deal with Virgin Records, Marilyn was still scouting for a recording contract and had relocated to Los Angeles. There, he worked as a personal assistant to daytime soap star Terry Lester, and teamed up with songwriter and pop entrepreneur Paul Caplin who became his manager.

After Boy George had made a commercial impact with Culture Club, record companies were looking for other artists with a similar cross-dressing image. In 1983, following a high-profile appearance in the promotional music video for Eurythmics' hit single, "Who's That Girl?", Robinson signed his own recording contract under the stage name "Marilyn" with Phonogram Records. His first chart success came in late-1983 with his debut single "Calling Your Name" which reached the Top 5 in the UK (No. 4) and Australia (No. 3). Marilyn had two further minor UK Top 40 hits in 1984 with "Cry and Be Free" (No. 31) and "You Don't Love Me" (No. 40). In March 1984, Marilyn flew to Australia for a 10-day promotional tour and was besieged by fans who were waiting to greet him at Melbourne Airport. While in Australia, Marilyn was attacked and kicked in the face by a member of the public at the Exchange Hotel, a gay bar venue in Sydney, sustaining a bruised eye from the incident.

In late-1984, Marilyn took part in the Band Aid charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" along with various other pop stars of the era. In early-1985, facing financial difficulties and being forced to sell his London home, Phonogram Records dispatched him to Detroit, to work with producer Don Was. While in America, he cut his trademark long blonde hair short and ceased wearing make-up, abandoning the image that had brought him his initial success. After spending a week recording new material with Was, Marilyn was scheduled to perform live for the first time at New York's Area nightclub. The performance was intended to be filmed for use in the music video for his new single, "Baby U Left Me", but the film crew were delayed, and although Marilyn proceeded to go onstage, the performance was ruined by technical problems with the club's PA system. Midway through his first song, Marilyn abandoned the performance.

In June 1985, Marilyn released his debut album, Despite Straight Lines. Despite including his three earlier UK Top 40 hit singles, the album only charted in Australia (No. 73). Further singles from the album, "Baby U Left Me" and "Pray for That Sunshine" were unsuccessful, although the former reached the Top 40 in Australia (No. 34). By this time, Robinson's drug addiction and his highly publicised disputes with Boy George damaged his public image. Marilyn performed live once in December 1986 at the Mud Club in London, where he performed a cover version of "Spirit in the Sky" which was planned to be his new single but was never released.