"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 the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...

. Taken as the third single from his second solo album, '' Can't Slow Down'' (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 advertis ...

'' 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 re ...

(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 ...

(for three weeks), and the Adult Contemporary chart (for six weeks). The song also went to number one on the UK Singles Chart 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'', is 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, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic ...

. The verses follow the

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

of Am₉—Cmaj₇/G—Fmaj₇—C₆/G—Fmaj₇. The chorus features a Neapolitan chord (Bb).

Music video

The

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

for "Hello", directed by Bob Giraldi, 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.

Legacy

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 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 Cou ...

" by British singer

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...

, the latter of which was released 31 years later.

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, t ...

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 "Synthes ...

– synthesizers * Darrell Jones – electric guitar * Tim May – acoustic guitar * Louis Shelton – guitars *

Joe Chemay Joseph Chemay is an American bassist and backing vocalist, 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 ...

– bass *

Paul Leim Paul William Leim (born December 29, 1950) is an American drummer and recording session musician based in Nashville. Biography Leim was born in Port Huron, Michigan and raised in Troup, Texas. He was inspired to take up drumming as a child a ...

– drums * James Anthony Carmichael – rhythm and string arrangements * Harry Bluestone – string concertmaster

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

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 and jungle production methods, but also incorporates elements from ...

cover by Jhay Palmer featuring MC Image reached No. 69 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 11 on the

UK Dance Singles Chart The Dance Singles Chart and the 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, synth-pop) in record stores ...

in 2002. *In September 2015,

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an Americans, American comedian, television host, actor, singer, writer, and producer. Best known for his work in television, Fallon's breakthrough came during his tenure as a cast member on the ...

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

Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show, originating in the American Media, United States. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest inte ...

'' and the

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

clip gained over one million views. *As a part of the tribute to Richie at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards on February 15, 2016, American singer

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne "Demi" Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), she starred in the Disney Channel short series ...

gave a rendition of the song. Her cover version eventually peaked at 15 on the ''Billboard'' Twitter Top Tracks chart.

References

External links

*
List of cover versions of "Hello"
at SecondHandSongs.com {{authority control 1983 songs 1984 singles 1980s ballads Lionel Richie songs American soft rock songs 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 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