Lionel Richie

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Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie in concert at the Chumash Casino Resort, July 6, 2006.
Lionel Richie in concert at the Chumash Casino Resort, July 6, 2006.
Background information
Birth name Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr.
Born June 20, 1949
Origin Tuskegee, Alabama, United States
Genre(s) R&B, pop
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, record producer, actor
Instrument(s) Singing, piano/keyboards, saxophone
Years active 1968–present
Label(s) Island, Mercury, Motown
Website LionelRichie.com

Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, composer, producer and occasional actor.

Contents

[edit] Career

His fame began when he was the frontman 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 left 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, Dancing on the Ceiling, which was released in 1986, spawned such hits as "Say You, Say Me," "Dancing on the Ceiling," and "Se La," but it also signified the end of his large commercial success.

His albums in the 1990s such as 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 success in Europe, but little in the United States.

[edit] Biography

Born in Tuskegee, Alabama, Lionel Richie grew up on the campus of Tuskegee Institute. His grandfather'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 Tuskegee, 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 on to 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. They specialized primarily 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
Enlarge
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. 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 Caribbean-flavored dance number that was promoted by a dazzling 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.

[edit] Family

About 1984, Lionel and his wife Brenda Richie informally adopted the 3-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 in 1991. Lionel married Diane Alexander in December 1996. They have a 9-year-old son Miles and a 5-year-old daughter Sophia. Richie's relationship with Alexander began in 1986 while he was still married to Brenda. In 1988, Brenda Richie was arrested for spousal abuse, trespassing and vandalism after she allegedly discovered them together in a Beverly Hills apartment. The couple was separated at the time, and Brenda wasn't prosecuted. Lionel and Diane divorced in January 2004 after 7 years of marriage.

[edit] Long Lasting Popularity

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 Contemporary 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" both reached 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" was featured on the Rockstar North video game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City".

In November 2005, Lionel Richie performed with Kenny Rogers on a CMT Crossroads special. The show gave an informative insight into their friendship both in and out of the music world. Richie was also the headliner at a 2000 Fourth of July tribute concert with Fantasia Barrino at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Richie released his eighth studio album entitled "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 US biggest hit in ten years. The album was an incredible success for Richie in the United States, peaking at #6. His adopted daughter Nicole Richie stars in the music video for this track.

On December 9, 2006, Richie hosted and performed live on the British television show An Audience with Lionel Richie.

[edit] Discography

For a further discography of Lionel Richie, please go to Lionel Richie discography

[edit] Studio albums

[edit] U.S. #1 Singles

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Trivia

  • Richie has been dubbed by many as the Singing Horse as his rather longish face bears a striking resemblance to a horse!
  • With tickets at a mere USD$100, Richie performed to a soldout crowd at the 2006 Barbados Jazz Festival. Lionel Richie In Concert was held at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium. It was the highest priced event of the 2006 festival.
  • 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.
  • While at Tuskeegee University, Richie pledged Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, Inc.
  • He performed a live concert at the Tennis Stadium/Aviation Club in Dubai on December 15, 2005.
  • Richie is surprisingly wildly popular in developing countries such as Iraq, Burundi etc.
  • Richie is mentioned in a HomestarRunner.com character-toon. Homestar Runner is told by Strong Bad that one word to describe him would be "Lionel Richie." This is only one of three words that Strong Bad could say.
  • Richie is referenced in the comic strip Bloom County. The fictional metal band Deathtöngue writes a song called "Let's Run Over Lionel Richie With A Tank
  • In 2006 Lionel Richie joined Spanish opera star Jose Carreras at a special concert in Libya marking the 20th anniversary of the U.S. raid on the country. The performance played out in front of Gaddafi’s shelled-out home in Tripoli, which has been left untouched since the bombing. "Hana would be happy tonight," said Richie during his performance, referring to the adopted daughter of Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi who was among the 40 slain in the 1986 air strikes on the main cities of Tripoli and Benghazi."


[edit] Breast cancer activist

Richie helped to raise over $3.1 million for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. He was the featured performer at the Foundation's Soirée Bouquet, the annual spring gala.

Richie told the crowd that his grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 80s, but survived until she was 104 years old. He stated that she was his enduring symbol of hope and his reason for becoming a breast cancer activist.[1]

[edit] External links

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