"Hello" is a song by American singer and songwriter

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...

. Taken as the third single from his second solo album, ''

Can't Slow Down Can't Slow Down may refer to: * ''Can't Slow Down'' (Lionel Richie album) or its title song, 1983 * ''Can't Slow Down'' (Saves the Day album), 1998 * ''Can't Slow Down'' (Foreigner album), 2009 * "Can't Slow Down" (song), by Hedley from their a ...

'' (1983), the song was released in 1984 and reached number one on three ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' music charts: the

pop chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

(for two weeks), the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

(for three weeks), and the

Adult Contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

(for six weeks). The song also went to number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

for six weeks. The song was subject to a lawsuit by songwriter Marjorie Hoffman White, who accused Richie of plagiarizing her 1978 composition "I'm Not Ready to Go".

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that the song "is as melodic and heartwrenching as anything itchiehas done previously and that’s saying something."

Composition

The song is written in the key of

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: : Changes ...

. The verses follow the

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

of Am₉—Cmaj₇/G—Fmaj₇—C₆/G—Fmaj₇. The chorus features a

Neapolitan chord In Classical music theory, a Neapolitan chord (or simply a "Neapolitan") is a major chord built on the lowered ( flatted) second (supertonic) scale degree. In Schenkerian analysis, it is known as a Phrygian II, since in minor scales the chord is ...

(Bb).

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Hello", directed by

Bob Giraldi Bob Giraldi (born January 17, 1939) is an American film and television director, educator, and restaurateur. He is known for directing the film ''Dinner Rush'' (2000) and the music video for Michael Jackson's '' Beat It'' (1983). Giraldi has b ...

, features the story of Richie as a theater and acting teacher having a seemingly unrequited love for a blind student (Laura Carrington) until he discovers she shares the feeling as demonstrated by the discovery that she is sculpting a likeness of his head in clay.

Pop culture

The song is memorable for the line "Hello, is it me you're looking for?" The phrase started the song's composition, as when

James Anthony Carmichael James Anthony Carmichael (born September 14, 1941) is an American Grammy-winning musician, arranger, and record producer. At first he started off in Los Angeles as an arranger and producer for Motown acts like The Temptations and the Jackson 5. C ...

visited Richie, the singer greeted him that way, to which Carmichael replied, "Finish that song." Richie initially felt that the song was "corny" but ultimately "by the time I finished the verse, I fell in love with the song again." Several publications have commented on similarities in the theme of the song and accompanying video with that of "

Hello ''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the ''Norwich C ...

" by British singer

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

Personnel

* Lionel Richie – vocals, acoustic piano, rhythm and vocal arrangements * Reginald "Sonny" Burke –

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

Michael Boddicker Michael Lehmann Boddicker (born January 19, 1953) is an American film composer and session musician, specializing in electronic music. He is a three times National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (N.A.R.A.S.) Most Valuable Player "Synthesi ...

– synthesizers * Darrell Jones – electric guitar * Tim May – acoustic guitar *

Louis Shelton William Louis Shelton (born April 6, 1941) is an American guitarist and music producer. Biography During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s Shelton was a session musician working in recording studios around Hollywood. Among his more notable session wor ...

– guitars *

Joe Chemay Joe Chemay is an American bassist and background singer, known for his recording session work. Biography Chemay started out working as a session and touring support musician in Los Angeles, but moved to Nashville in 1989. Chemay has worked wi ...

– bass *

Paul Leim Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

– drums *

– rhythm and string arrangements *

Harry Bluestone Harry Bluestone (30 September 1907 – 22 December 1992) was a composer and violinist who composed music for TV and film. He was prolific and worked mainly on composing with Emil Cadkin. Earlier on, he was a violinist and freelanced on radi ...

– string concertmaster

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Notable cover versions

UK garage UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house, but also incorporates elements from dance-pop, R&B, and jungle. It ...

cover by Jhay Palmer featuring MC Image reached No. 69 on the

and No. 11 on the

UK Dance Singles Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record s ...

in 2002. *In 2011, American bachata singer Berto La Voz covered the song which was released as the first single from his debut album ''Llego La Voz''. This version peaked at No. 11 on the ''Billboard'' Tropical Songs chart. *In Sept 2015,

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an American comedian, television host, actor, and writer. He is known for his work in television as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' and as the host of the late-night talk show ''The Ton ...

and Lionel Richie covered the song in a humorous duet on the

Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 2010� ...

and the YouTube clip got over one million views. *As a part of the tribute to Richie at the

58th Annual Grammy Awards The 58th Annual Grammy Awards was held on February 15, 2016, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognizes the best recordings, compositions and artists of the eligibility year, which was from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 20 ...

on February 15, 2016, American singer

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...

gave a rendition of the song. Their cover version eventually peaked at 15 on the ''Billboard''

Twitter Top Tracks The ''Billboard'' Twitter Real-Time charts were four interactive '' Billboard'' music magazine charts debuted on May 27, 2014. The charts ranked trending songs from popular and emerging artists based on how often they are mentioned in messages cal ...

chart.

References

External links

*
List of cover versions of "Hello"
at SecondHandSongs.com {{authority control 1980s ballads 1983 songs 1984 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Kikki Danielsson songs Lionel Richie songs Motown singles Music videos directed by Bob Giraldi Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Switzerland Pop ballads RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by James Anthony Carmichael Songs involved in plagiarism controversies Songs written by Lionel Richie UK Singles Chart number-one singles Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles