Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of theMotown groupCommodores; 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 USBillboard Hot 100 number one single "Lady" forKenny Rogers.
In 1981, Richie wrote and produced the single "Endless Love", which he recorded as a duet withDiana Ross; it remains among the top 20 bestselling singles of all time, and the biggest career hit for both artists.[1] In 1982, he officially launched his solo career with the albumLionel Richie, which sold over four million copies and spawned the singles "You Are", "My Love", and the number one single "Truly".
During his solo career, Richie became one of the most successful balladeers of the 1980s, and has sold over 90 million records worldwide, making him one of theworld's best-selling artists of all time.[4] He has won fourGrammy Awards, includingSong of the Year for "We Are the World", andAlbum of the Year forCan't Slow Down.[5] "Endless Love" was nominated for anAcademy Award; while "Say You, Say Me" won both the Academy Award and theGolden Globe award for Best Original Song.[6]
Richie was born on June 20, 1949, inTuskegee, Alabama, the son of Lionel Brockman Richie, a U.S. Armysystems analyst, and Alberta R. Foster, a teacher and school principal. His grandmother Adelaide Mary Brown was a pianist who played classical music.[11][12] On March 4, 2011, he appeared onNBC'sWho Do You Think You Are?, which found out that his maternal great-grandfather, J. Louis Brown, was most likely the biological son of federal judge and slaveownerMorgan Welles Brown.[13] He was also the national leader of an early Black Americanfraternal organization.[14] Notably, J. Louis Brown was:
[P]rincipal organizer and Supreme GrandArchon of the Knights of Wise Men, a fraternal organization for black men in the post-Civil War period. Formed inNashville in 1879, it was a fraternal insurance andburial benefit society, as were so many others during the period.[14]
Richie considered studying divinity to become a priest in theEpiscopal 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.[11][19] He is a member ofKappa Kappa Psi, a national honor fraternity for band members,[20] and an active life member ofAlpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[21]
As a student in Tuskegee, Richie formed a succession ofR&B groups in the mid-1960s. In 1968, he became a singer and saxophonist with theCommodores. They signed a recording contract withAtlantic Records in 1968 for one record before moving on toMotown Records initially as a support act toThe 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 byThe Temptations, who had their No. 1 R&B with the song. By the late 1970s, Richie had begun to accept songwriting commissions from other artists. He wrote "Lady" forKenny Rogers, which hit No. 1 in 1980, and produced Rogers' albumShare Your Love the following year. Richie and Rogers maintained a strong friendship in later years. Latin jazz composer andsalsa romantica pioneerLa Palabra enjoyed international success with his cover of "Lady", which was played at Latin dance clubs. Also in 1981, Richie sang thetitle theme song for the filmEndless Love, a duet withDiana 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.
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 twoGrammy Awards, includingAlbum 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 formerMonkeeMichael Nesmith. In 1984, he performed "All Night Long" at the ending ceremony of theXXIII 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 filmWhite Nights. The song won anAcademy Award and reached No. 1 on the U.S. charts, staying there for four weeks, making it the number-two song of 1986 according toBillboard's Year-End Hot 100 chart, behind the charity single "That's What Friends Are For" byDionne and Friends. He also collaborated withMichael Jackson on the charity single "We Are the World" byUSA for Africa, another number-one hit.
Since then, his ever-more-relaxed schedule has kept his recording and live work to a minimum. He broke the silence in 1996 withLouder 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-craftedsoul music, which in the intervening years has become known ascontemporary R&B.
Richie's albums in the late 1990s such asLouder Than Words andTime failed to match the commercial success of his earlier work. Some of his recent albums, such asRenaissance andJust for You, have returned to his older style and achieved success in Europe but only modest notice in the United States.
Richie was the headliner at a 2006 Fourth of July tribute concert withFantasia Barrino at thePhiladelphia Museum of Art. On May 7, 2006, Richie performed on the main stage (Acura Stage) at theNew Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, replacingAntoine "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 success for Richie in the United States, peaking at No. 6.[citation needed]
On May 2, 2008, Richie was the 21st recipient of theGeorge andIra GershwinLifetime Achievement Award atUCLA's annualSpring 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."[22]
In May 2009, Richie announced that he would like to get The Commodores back together soon.[23] An album,Just Go, was released in 2009. On July 7, 2009, Richie performed "Jesus is Love" atMichael Jackson's memorial service.[24]
Richie returned to Australia in 2011 where he and guest artistGuy Sebastian toured the country and New Zealand with concert dates throughout March and April.[25] 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.[26][better source needed]
On March 26, 2012, Richie released his tenth studio album,Tuskegee, which featured 13 of his hit songs performed as duets with country stars.[27][28] The album returned him to the top of theBillboard 200 chart, his first number one album there sinceDancing on the Ceiling, and achieved platinum status within six weeks of release.[citation needed]
On June 28, 2015, Richie played to an audience of between 100,000 and 120,000 people at theGlastonbury Festival, England. His show was described as "triumphant" by theBBC and was followed by his return to the top of the UK albums chart with a reissued compilation album of his work as both a solo artist and with the Commodores.[29] In September 2017,ABC announced that Richie would be a judge for the revival ofAmerican Idol.[30] Richie has been a judge on the reboot for seven seasons, including 2024.[31][needs update]
In May 2017, Richie was honored at Berklee College of Music during its 2017 commencement concert when graduating students performed a medley of his discography. Richie was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music.[32] On December 3, 2017, Richie received the Kennedy Center Honors.[33] In October 2017, it was reported that Richie had secured the rights to produce aCurtis Mayfieldbiopic.[34]
On March 25, 2019, Richie announced a 33-date tour across North America for the summer. His 'Hello Tour' started in May at Arlington's KAABOO Festival and ran through August.[35]
Richie is a popular musician in variousArab states,[39][40] and has performed in Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Libya.[41] John Berman forABC News reported in 2006 that "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." Berman wrote that Richie said he was told that Iraqi civilians were playing "All Night Long" the nightU.S. tanks invaded Baghdad. Richie was against the war and has said he would like to perform inBaghdad someday.[41]
On October 18, 1975, Richie married his college sweetheart, Brenda Harvey. In 1983, the couple informally adopted Nicole Camille Escovedo (nowNicole Richie), the two-year-old daughter of a member of Richie's band, who is also the niece of drummerSheila E. The Richies raised Nicole as their daughter and adopted her legally when she was nine years old.[42]
In June 1988, Harvey was arrested and charged with corporal injury to a spouse, resisting arrest, trespassing, vandalism, battery, and disturbing the peace after she found Richie at Diane Alexander's Beverly Hills apartment.[43]
Richie married Diane Alexander on December 21, 1995.[citation needed] They have a son, Miles Richie, and a daughter,Sofia Richie. The marriage ended in 2004.[44]
Richie suffered prolonged throat problems and had surgery four times in four years before being told byconventional doctors that he could lose his singing career. He then turned to aholistic doctor who said the problem was simplyacid reflux caused by foods Richie was eating before going to bed.[45]
Richie became a grandfather in 2008 when Nicole Richie gave birth to a baby girl withJoel Madden, lead singer of the rock bandGood Charlotte. Richie's second grandchild was born to the couple in 2009.[46]
Richie helped to raise over $3.1 million for theBreast Cancer Research Foundation.[48] Richie told the crowd that his grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 80s, but that she survived and lived until she was 103 years old. He stated that she was his enduring symbol of hope and his reason for becoming a breast cancer activist.[49]
Richie has won fourGrammy Awards including Song of the Year in 1985 for "We Are the World" which he co-wrote withMichael Jackson, Album of the Year in 1984 forCan't Slow Down, Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) in 1984, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for Truly in 1982.[50]
Richie has been nominated for twoGolden Globe awards and won one. In 1982, he was nominated for Best Original Song for the filmEndless Love. In 1986, he was nominated and won the award for Best Original Song for the song "Say You, Say Me", featured in the filmWhite Nights.[6] This song also won theAcademy Award for Best Original Song.
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