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 recording the hit singles " Easy", " Sail On", "Three Times a Lady" and "Still", with the group before his departure. In 1980, he wrote and produced the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number one single "Lady" for Kenny Rogers. The following year, he wrote and produced the single " Endless Love", which he recorded as a duet with Diana Ross; it remains among the top 20 bestselling singles of all time, and the biggest career hit for both artists. In 1982, he officially launched his solo career with the album '' Lionel Richie'', which sold over four million copies and spawned the singles " You Are", " My Love", and the number one single " Truly".

His second album, ''Can't Slow Down'' (1983), reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart and sold over 20 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time; and spawned the number one singles "All Night Long (All Night)" and "Hello". He then co-wrote the 1985 charity single "We Are the World" with Michael Jackson, which sold over 20 million copies. His third album, ''Dancing on the Ceiling'' (1986), spawned the number one single "Say You, Say Me" (from the 1985 film ''White Nights'') and the No. 2 hit title track. From 1986 to 1996, Richie took a break from recording; he has since then released seven studio albums. He has joined the singing competition ''American Idol'' to serve as a judge, starting from its sixteenth season.

During his solo career, Richie became one of the most successful balladeers of the 1980s, and has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling artists of all time. He has won four Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year for "We Are the World", and Album of the Year for ''Can't Slow Down''. "Endless Love" was nominated for an Academy Award; while "Say You, Say Me" won both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe award for Best Original Song. In 2016, Richie received the Songwriters Hall of Fame's highest honor, the Johnny Mercer Award. In 2022, he received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song by the Library of Congress; as well as the American Music Awards Icon Award. He was also inducted into Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

Early life

Richie was born on June 20, 1949 in Tuskegee, Alabama, the son of Lionel Brockman Richie Sr., a U.S. Army systems analyst, and Alberta R. Foster, a principal and teacher. His grandmother Adelaide Mary Brown was a pianist who played classical music. On March 4, 2011, he appeared on NBC's '' Who Do You Think You Are?'', which found out that his maternal great-grandfather was the national leader of an early African-American fraternal organization. Notably, J. Louis Brown was:

Richie grew up on the campus of Tuskegee Institute. Their family home was given to his grandparents as a gift from Booker T. Washington. He graduated from Joliet Township High School, East Campus in Joliet, Illinois. A star tennis player in Joliet, he accepted a tennis scholarship to attend Tuskegee Institute, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics with a minor in accounting.

Richie considered studying divinity to become a priest in the Episcopal Church, in which he had been baptised, but ultimately decided he was not "priest material" and decided to continue his musical career despite not knowing how to read or write music. He is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi, a national honor fraternity for band members, and an active life member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Career

Commodores

As a student in Tuskegee, Richie formed a succession of R&B groups in the mid-1960s. 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 breakup ballad " Sail On".

In 1974, Richie achieved his first commercial success as a songwriter with " Happy People", which he co-wrote with Jeffrey Bowen and Donald Baldwin. Originally intended as a Commodores track, it was recorded by The Temptations, who had their penultimate No. 1 R&B with the song. By the late 1970s, Richie had begun to accept songwriting commissions from other artists. He wrote "Lady" with Kenny Rogers, which hit No. 1 in 1980, and produced Rogers' album ''Share Your Love'' the following year. Richie and Rogers maintained a strong friendship in later years. Latin jazz composer and salsa romantica pioneer La Palabra enjoyed international success with his cover of "Lady", which was played at Latin dance clubs. Also in 1981, Richie sang the title theme song for the film '' Endless Love'', a duet with Diana Ross. Issued as a single, the song topped the Canada, Brazil, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and US pop music charts, and became one of Motown's biggest hits. Its success encouraged Richie to branch out into a full-fledged solo career in 1982. He was replaced as lead singer for the Commodores by Skyler Jett in 1983.

Solo career

Richie's 1982 debut solo album, '' Lionel Richie'', contained three hit singles: the U.S. number-one song " Truly", which continued the style of his ballads with the Commodores and launched his career as one of the most successful balladeers of the 1980s, and the top five hits " You Are" and " My Love". The album hit No. 3 on the music charts and sold over 4 million copies. His 1983 follow-up album, ''Can't Slow Down'', sold over twice as many copies and won two Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, propelling him into the first rank of international superstars. The album contained the number-one hit " All Night Long", a Caribbean-flavored dance number that was promoted by a colorful music video produced by former Monkee Michael Nesmith. In 1984, he performed "All Night Long" at the ending ceremony of the XXIII Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Several more Top 10 hits followed, the most successful of which was the ballad "Hello" (1984), a sentimental love song that showed how far he had moved from his R&B roots. Richie had three more top ten hits in 1984, " Stuck on You" (No. 3), "Running with the Night" (No. 7) and "Penny Lover" (No. 8), as well as writing and producing "Missing You" for former labelmate and duet partner Diana Ross (No. 10 Pop, No. 1 R&B). In 1985, he wrote and performed "Say You, Say Me" for the film ''White Nights''. The song won an Academy Award and reached No. 1 on the U.S. charts, staying there for four weeks, making it the number-two song of 1986 according to ''Billboard''s Year-End Hot 100 chart, behind the charity single "That's What Friends Are For" by Dionne and Friends. He also collaborated with Michael Jackson on the charity single "We Are the World" by USA for Africa, another number-one hit.

In 1986, Richie released ''Dancing on the Ceiling'', his last widely popular album, which produced a run of five US and UK hits, "Say You, Say Me" (U.S. No. 1), "Dancing on the Ceiling" (U.S. No. 2), " Love Will Conquer All" (U.S. No. 9), "Ballerina Girl" (U.S. No. 7), and "Se La" (U.S. No. 20). He made his return to recording and performing following the release of his first greatest-hits collection, '' Back to Front'', in 1992.

Since then, his ever-more-relaxed schedule has kept his recording and live work to a minimum. He broke the silence in 1996 with '' Louder Than Words'', on which he resisted any change of style or the musical fashion-hopping of the past decade, sticking instead with his chosen path of well-crafted soul music, which in the intervening years has become known as contemporary R&B.

Richie's albums in the late 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'' and '' Just for You'', have returned to his older style and achieved success in Europe but only modest notice in the United States.

Later career

Richie was the headliner at a 2006 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 & Heritage Festival, replacing Antoine "Fats" Domino, who had fallen ill. Richie released his eighth studio album titled " 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 a big success for Richie in the United States, peaking at No. 6.

On May 2, 2008, 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 30 some odd years in the music business, Lionel Richie survived 27 years of Nicole Richie."

In May 2009, Richie announced that he would like to get The Commodores back together soon. An album, '' Just Go'', was released in 2009. On July 7, 2009, Richie performed "Jesus is Love" at Michael Jackson's memorial service.

Richie returned to Australia in 2011 where he and guest artist Guy Sebastian toured the country and New Zealand with concert dates throughout March and April. Richie and Guy Sebastian recorded Richie's 1983 number-one single " All Night Long" together to raise money for Australian floods and New Zealand earthquake relief.

On March 26, 2012, Richie released his tenth studio album, '' Tuskegee'', which featured 13 of his hit songs performed as duets with country stars. After years of mediocre sales in the U.S., the album returned him to the top of the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, his first number one album there since ''Dancing on the Ceiling'', and achieved platinum status within six weeks of release.

On June 28, 2015, Richie played to an audience of between 100,000 and 120,000 people at the Glastonbury Festival, England. His show was described as "triumphant" by the BBC
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