Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. (born
June 20,
1949) is an
American R&B singer,
songwriter,
composer,
producer, and occasional actor.
His fame began when he was the front man for the
Commodores, a nationally popular
Motown band during the 1970s. They had several hits such as "Easy", "
Three Times A Lady", and "Brick House". Richie departed the Commodores in
1981 for a solo career, becoming one of the most successful artists of the Eighties, with five number 1 hits and thirteen consecutive Top 10 hits in the U.S.
He released his
self-titled debut in 1982. The album hit #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 the
Grammy Award for the Album of the Year in
1984. His third album,
1986's
Dancing on the Ceiling spawned such hits as "Say You, Say Me," "Dancing on the Ceiling," and "Se La", but it would be the end of his large commercial success.
His albums in the '90s such as
Back to Front,
Louder Than Words, and
Time all failed to achieve the previous decade's commercial success. Some of his recent work, such as the album
Renaissance, has returned to his older style, achieving more success in Europe, but not in the United States.
Born in
Tuskegee,
Alabama, Lionel Richie grew up on the campus of the
Tuskegee Institute. His grandmother's house was across the street from the home of the president of the Institute. His family moved to
Illinois, where he graduated from high school in
Joliet. A star
tennis player in Joliet, he accepted a tennis
scholarship back at Tuskegee Institute.
Back as a student in Tuskeegee, he formed a succession of R&B groups in the mid-'60s. In
1968, he became the lead singer and saxophonist with the Commodores. They signed a recording contract with
Atlantic Records in 1968 for one record before moving to on
Motown Records, being schooled as support act to the
Jackson Five. The Commodores became established as one of America's most popular soul groups of the '70s, and Richie was responsible for writing and singing many of their biggest hits, specializing in romantic, easy-listening ballads such as "Three Times A Lady" and "Still".
|
The Original Commodores;l-r top; Walter 'Clyde' Orange, Milan 'Quickdraw' Williams, William 'WAK' King, l-r bottom; Thomas McCleary, Ronald LaPread, and Lionel Richie |
His pleasing vocal tones established him as the most prominent member of the group, and by the late '70s he had begun to accept songwriting commissions from other artists. He composed "Lady" for his friend
Kenny Rogers (which hit #1 in 1980), and he produced Rogers'
Share Your Love album the following year. Also in 1981, Richie sang a duet with
Diana Ross in the theme song for the film
Endless Love. Issued as a single, the song topped the
UK and
US pop music charts, and it became one of Motown's biggest hits. The song was also featured in the movie "
Happy Gilmore", in a humorous spoof featuring the janitor of the hockey rink mouthing the part of Ross. Its success encouraged Richie to branch out into a full-fledged solo career in 1982. His debut album,
Lionel Richie, produced another chart-topping single, "Truly", which continued the style of his ballads with the Commodores.
In 1983, he released
Can't Slow Down, which shot him into the first rank of international superstars. The album also won two Grammy Awards, including Album Of The Year. It spawned the #1 hit "
All Night Long", a rock 'n' roll dance number that was promoted by a startling
music video produced by former
Monkee,
Michael Nesmith.
Several more Top 10 hits followed, the most successful of which was
"Hello", a sentimental love song that showed how far Richie had moved from his R&B roots. Now described by one critic as 'the black
Barry Manilow', Richie wrote and performed a suitably soothing theme song, "Say You, Say Me", for the film
White Nights, winning an
Oscar for his efforts. He also collaborated with
Michael Jackson on the charity single "
We Are the World" by
USA For Africa.
About 1984, Lionel and his wife
Brenda Richie informally adopted the three-year-old daughter of people associated with Lionel's band. They raised her as their daughter,
Nicole Richie. Around 1990, they went through the legal formalities of adopting her. Brenda and Lionel divorced after a 16-year marriage, and then Lionel immediately married Diane Alexander. Lionel and Diane have two children together, but they are no longer married.
In 1986, he released
Dancing On The Ceiling, another widely popular album that produced a run of US and UK hits. The title track, which revived the lively dance sound of "All Night Long", was accompanied by another striking video, a feature that played an increasingly important role in Richie's solo career. The critical consensus was that this album represented nothing more than a consolidation of his previous work, though Richie's collaboration with the country group
Alabama on "Deep River Woman" did break new ground.
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. Instead, he stayed with his chosen path of well-crafted
soul music, which in the intervening years has become known as
Urban R&B.
The albums
Time" (1998), "
Renaissance" (2000), and
"Just For You" (2004) failed to generate any hit singles in the US and were considered sales disappointments compared to Richie's previous efforts. However, "Renaissance" and "Just For You" reached both the Top 10 in the UK, producing a total of six Top 40 singles in that country.
In
2002, Richie's song "Running With the Night" is featured on the
Rockstar North video game "
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City", on Flash FM.
In
November 2005, Lionel Richie performed with Kenny Rogers on a
CMT Crossroads special. The show (a concert/documentary) gave an informative insight into their friendship both in and out of the music world. Richie was also the headliner at a 2006 Fourth of July tribute concert with Fantasia Barrino at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Richie is currently preparing to release his eighth studio album, untitled "Coming Home", scheduled for a
September 12,
2006 release. The first single of the album is called "I Call It Love", and was premiered in July 2006.
For a further discography of Lionel Richie, please go to
Lionel Richie discographyStudio albums
*
1982 -
Lionel Richie*
1983 -
Can't Slow Down*
1986 -
Dancing on the Ceiling*
1996 -
Louder Than Words*
1998 -
Time*
2000 -
Renaissance*
2004 -
Just for You*
2006 -
Coming HomeU.S. #1 Singles
*1981 "Endless Love" (with Diana Ross) (9 weeks)
*1982 "Truly" (2 weeks)
*1983 "
All Night Long (All Night)" (4 weeks)
*1984 "Hello" (2 weeks)
*1985 "Say You, Say Me" (4 weeks)
Scott Joplin (
1977) (w/ The Commodores)
Thank God It's Friday (
1978) (w/ The Commodores)
Madonna: Truth or Dare (
1991) (documentary)
The Preacher's Wife (
1996)
Pariah (
1998)
* Richie appeared as a guest on the
BBC Two motoring show
Top Gear, in the "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" segment, in which celebrities compete for the fastest lap time around the
Dunsfold Park circuit in a
Suzuki Liana. While on a practice lap, Richie lost a wheel in the middle of a fast corner. The incident was screened as part of the UK edition of the show.
* Richie is a honorary member of
Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate
Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.
* He performed a live concert at the Tennis Stadium/Aviation Club in
Dubai on December 15, 2005.
* Richie's song "
All Night Long (All Night)" was featured in a
2006 television commercial for the energy drink,
Mountain Dew MDX. The commercial features
nocturnal animals singing the song at night.
*Richie is surprisingly wildly popular in developing countries such as
Iraq,
Burundi etc.
*Lionel's song "Running With The Night" was featured on Rockstars Grand Theft Auto Vice City soundtrack on the radio station
Flash FM.
*
LionelRichie.com*
Lionel Richie at Twoop
*http://www.umusic.ca/lionelrichie/index.php
*
Baghdad's Lionel Richie Obsession*
Lionel Richie - Coming Home. (Online article)
MusicRemedy.com. Retrieved on July 13, 2006.
