You can comb the incredible statistics surrounding Lionel Richie’s amazing career and still miss something. You can factor in the nearly 60 million albums sold, the five Grammy’s, 22 top ten hits, an Oscar for best song, a golden globe, a treasure chest of People’s choice and American Music Awards. Too numerous to count and a discography of albums and singles that navigate an emotional landscape that only few writers and performers have ever truly captured and still not see what the key is to this incredible musical legacy.
?Born in Tuskegee, Alabama, Richie grew up on the campus of Tuskegee Institute. As a student in Tuskegee, Richie formed a succession of R&B groups in the mid 60s. In 1968, he became a singer and saxophonist with the Commodores. They signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records in 1968 for one record before moving on to Motown Records initially as a support act to The Jackson 5. The Commodores then became established as a popular soul group. Their first several albums had a danceable, funky sound as in such tracks as ‘Machine Gun’ and ‘Brick House.’ Over time, Richie wrote and sang more romantic, easy-listening ballads such as ‘Easy,’ ‘Three Times a Lady,’ ‘Still,’ and the tragic breakup ballad ‘Sail On.’
By the late 70s, he had begun to accept songwriting commissions from other artistes. He composed ‘Lady’ for Kenny Rogers, which hit number 1 in 1980 and produced Rogers’s album Share Your Love the following year. Richie and Rogers maintained a strong friendship in later years.
Richie’s 1982 self-titled debut contained three hit singles: the U.S number 1 song ‘Truly,’ which launched his career as one of the most successful ballad singers of the 80s and the top five hits, ‘You Are’ and ‘My Love.’ The album hit number 3 on the music charts and sold over 4 million copies. His 1983 follow-up album, Can’t Slow Down, sold over twice as much copies and won two Grammy Awards including Album Of The Year, propelling him to the first rank of international superstars. The album contained the number 1 hit ‘All Night Long,’ a Caribbean-flavored dance number that was promoted by a colorful music video produced by former Monkee, Michael Nesmith.
Several more Top 10 hits followed, the most successful of which was the ballad ‘Hello’ (1984), a sentimental love song that showed how far Richie had moved from his R&B roots. Richie had three more Top Ten hits in 1984, ‘Stuck on You’ no 1, ‘Running with the Night’ no 7 and ‘Penny Lover’ no 8. Now described by one critic as “the black Barry Manilow,” in 1985, Richie wrote and performed a suitably soothing theme song, ‘Say You, Say Me’, for the film, White Nights, winning an Oscar for his efforts as well as reaching no 1 on the U.S. charts and staying there for four weeks, making it the no 1 song of 1985 according to Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 chart. He also collaborated with Michael Jackson on the charity single ‘We Are the World’ by USA for Africa, another no 1 hit.
In 1986, Richie released, Dancing on the Ceiling, his last widely popular album which produced a run of US and UK hits including ‘Say You, Say Me’ (U.S. no 1), ‘Dancing on the Ceiling’ (U.S. no 2), ‘Ballerina Girl’ (U.S. no 7) and ‘Se La’ (U.S. no 20).
Richie’s albums in the 1990s such as Louder Than Words and Time failed to match the commercial success of his earlier work. Some of his recent albums, such as Renaissance, have however returned to his older style and achieved success in Europe but only modest notice in the United States. Since 2004, he produced a total of six Top 40 singles in the UK. On February 1, 2010, Richie made a remix of ‘We Are The World’ where Justin Bieber sings Richie’s original part in the song.
Long-lasting popularity and later career
In 2002, Richie’s song ‘Running with the Night’ was featured on the Rockstar North video game, Grand Theft Auto: vice city, though the song was later removed from subsequent versions of the game. In 2004, he appeared on Canadian Idol as his songs were featured during a Canadian Idol week.
In November 2005, Lionel Richie performed with Kenny Rogers on a CMT Crossroads special. The show gave an informative insight into their friendship both in and out of the music world. Richie was also the headliner at a 2000 Fourth of July tribute concert with Fantasia Barrino at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. On May 7, 2006, Richie performed on the main stage (Acura Stage) at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, replacing Antoine “Fats” Domino, who had fallen ill. Richie released his eighth studio album entitled Coming Home on September 12, 2006. The first single of the album was ‘I Call It Love’ and was premiered in July 2006, becoming his biggest hit in the U.S. in ten years. The album was an incredible success for Richie in the United States, peaking at no 6. His adopted daughter, Nicole Richie starred in the music video for this track.
On December 9, 2006, Richie hosted and performed live on the British television show, An Audience with Lionel Richie. Two months later, he performed ‘Hello’ on the 49th Grammy Awards show.
On November 25, 2007, he made a surprise appearance on the Australian Idol grand finale performing ‘All Night Long’ at the Sydney Opera House. Richie donated to Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential campaign.
On May 2, 2008, Lionel Richie was the 21st recipient of the George and Ira Gershwin Lifetime Achievement Award at UCLA’s annual Spring Sing. In accepting the award, Richie said: “Forget about surviving some 30 odd years in the music business, Lionel Richie survived 27 years of Nicole Richie.”
He had announced that year that he would like to get The Commodores back together soon, “or in the next 10 years no one will care.”
On December 31, 2008, Richie performed in Times Square for the New Year’s Eve celebration and ball drop. He also performed on the 2009 season finale for American Idol with Danny Gokey.
A new album, Just Go was released in the spring of 2009 – around the time Lionel confirmed there is to be a Commodores reunion in the near future. On July 7, 2009, Richie performed ‘Jesus is Love’ at Michael Jackson’s memorial service.
On May 30, 2010, Richie performed at the National Memorial Day Concert in Washington D.C., singing ‘Stuck on You’ and ‘America the Beautiful’. Richie is from a military family.
In Australia on October 2, 2010, Richie performed at the AFL Grand Final Replay in the Pre-game entertainment to a sell out crowd and will also play post match at AAMI Park.
Popularity in the Arab world In recent years, Richie has become a phenomenon in various Arab states performing in Morocco, Dubai, Qatar and Libya. ABC News said, “Grown Iraqi men get misty-eyed by the mere mention of his name.’I love Lionel Richie,’ they say”. They can sing an entire Lionel Richie song. According to Richie, he was told that Iraqi civilians were playing “All Night Long” the night U.S. tanks invaded Baghdad. Richie was against the war, but says he could see a day when he would come and perform in Baghdad. “I would love to be here for that.”
Richie married college sweetheart, Brenda Harvey, on October 18, 1975. During their marriage Lionel began a relationship with Diane Alexander in 1986. In 1988 while separated, Brenda allegedly discovered Lionel and Alexander together in a Beverly Hills hotel room by saying she was “room service”, and breaking in. A confrontation ensued and Brenda attacked both Lionel and Diane brutally. Brenda was arrested for spousal abuse, trespassing, assault towards Alexander, and vandalism. Lionel and Brenda divorced on August 9, 1993, after being married 17 years. ?