Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He achieved fame both as a member of the Commodores and during his solo career. He wrote the 1985 charity single "We Are the World" with Michael Jackson.
Early Life[]
Richie was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, U.S. His father was a U.S. Army systems analyst, and his mother was a teacher who later became a school principal. For most of his childhood, Richie lived in the home of his maternal grandparents, virtually on the campus of the historic Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University). His grandmother was a classical pianist, and through her he was introduced to the fundamentals of music as well as to the great composers of the classical tradition. His uncle, a big-band jazz musician and arranger, gave him his first saxophone. Initially, Richie gravitated toward gospel music, largely because he was interested in becoming a minister, but he readily absorbed musical influences from various African American popular styles as well as from country music, which permeated the American South.
Richie would soon move with his family to Illinois, where he attended Joliet East High School. After graduating in 1967, he returned to Alabama to study economics and accounting at the Tuskegee Institute. During his first year there, he joined a campus band, the Mystics, as a saxophonist, composer, and, occasionally, singer. With some personnel changes in 1968, the Mystics became the funk and rhythm-and-blues group the Commodores, with Richie as a lead vocalist.
Career[]
Career with The Commodores[]
Richie joined the Commodores, who went on to become the most successful act on the Motown label during the latter half of the '70s. Richie served as a saxophonist, sometime-vocalist, and songwriter, penning ballads like "Easy," "Three Times a Lady," and "Still" (the latter two became the group's only number one pop hits). Although the Commodores maintained a democratic band structure through most of their chart run, things began to change when the '70s became the '80s. In 1980, Richie wrote and produced country-pop singer Kenny Rogers' across-the-board number one smash "Lady," and the following year, Richie's duet with Diana Ross, "Endless Love" (recorded for the Brooke Shields film of the same title), became the most successful single in Motown history, topping the charts for a stunning nine weeks. With the media's attention now focused exclusively on Richie, tensions within the Commodores began to mount, and before the end of 1981, Richie decided to embark on a solo career.
Solo[]
He immediately set about recording his solo debut for Motown. Titled simply Lionel Richie, the album was released in late 1982 and was an immediate smash, reaching number three on the pop charts on its way to multi-platinum status. It spun off three Top Five pop hits, including the first single, "Truly," which became Richie's first solo number one. If Lionel Richie made its creator a star, the follow-up, Can't Slow Down, made him a superstar. Boasting five Top Ten singles, including the number ones "All Night Long (All Night)" and "Hello," Can't Slow Down hit number one, eventually reached diamond status, and won the 1984 Grammy for Album of the Year. Such was Richie's stature that he was invited to perform at the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, a spectacular stage event that was broadcast worldwide.
Lionel Richie with Michael Jackson
In 1985, Richie put his superstar status to work for a greater good, joining Michael Jackson in co-writing the USA for Africa charity single "We Are the World"; the all-star recording helped raise millions of dollars for famine relief. By the end of the year, he was on top of the charts again with "Say You, Say Me," a ballad recorded for the film White Nights but not included on the soundtrack album. The song was slated to be the title track on Richie's upcoming album, but delays in the recording process prevented the record from being released until August 1986, by which time the title was changed to Dancing on the Ceiling (in order to promote Richie's next single release). Three more Top Tens followed "Say You, Say Me," as did "Se La," which became the first of Richie's solo singles not to reach the pop Top Ten. Overall, Dancing on the Ceiling didn't reach the commercial heights of Can't Slow Down, though it was by any means a significant success.
After the success of Can’t Slow Down and Dancing on the Ceiling, Richie’s production slowed. A decade passed before he recorded his next studio album, Louder than Words (1996), a stylistically updated blend of gentle jazz, rhythm and blues, and hip-hop. Although a success by market standards, the album was greeted with less enthusiasm than Richie’s earlier works. For the next 15 years, response to his albums was generally lukewarm.
In 2012 Richie strode back into the spotlight with Tuskegee, a collection of his greatest hits recast as country duets and performed with Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Willie Nelson, and other luminaries of country music. Within just a few weeks, the album reached number one on Billboard’s Top 200 and Country Music charts and eventually became one of the top-selling albums of the year. Following a 2013–15 world tour, in 2016 Richie launched a residency in Las Vegas. Two years later he became (with pop singer Katy Perry and country artist Luke Bryan) a judge on the revival of the television singing competition American Idol.
In addition to his Grammy Awards, Richie’s other honours included induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1994). He also received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2017. Five years later he was selected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.