Lionel Richie

Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and television personality. He first gained fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and co-lead singer for the Motown group Commodores. He later established a solo career, becoming one of the most successful balladeers of the 1980s and selling over 90 million records worldwide. Beginning in 2018, he joined the singing competition television show American Idol as a judge.

Richie was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, to Lionel Brockman Richie, a U.S. Army systems analyst, and Alberta R. Foster, a teacher and school principal. Raised on the campus of Tuskegee Institute, he attended Joliet Township High School in Illinois, where he was a star tennis player. He returned to Tuskegee Institute on a tennis scholarship, played in the Marching Crimson Pipers band, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics and a minor in accounting. Though he considered studying divinity to become an Episcopal priest, he ultimately pursued music.

In 1968, Richie joined the Commodores as a singer and saxophonist. The group signed with Motown Records and became a popular soul group. Initially known for funky dance tracks, the band released several romantic ballads written and sung by Richie, including "Easy", "Sail On", "Three Times a Lady", and "Still". Outside the group, Richie wrote the 1980 number-one single "Lady" for Kenny Rogers and wrote and recorded the 1981 duet "Endless Love" with Diana Ross for the film of the same name.

Richie launched his official solo career in 1982 with the album Lionel Richie, which featured the hit single "Truly". His 1983 follow-up album, Can't Slow Down, reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart, sold over 20 million copies worldwide, and produced the hits "All Night Long (All Night)" and "Hello". In 1985, he co-wrote the charity single "We Are the World" with Michael Jackson and wrote "Say You, Say Me" for the film White Nights. His 1986 album, Dancing on the Ceiling, included the title track and "Say You, Say Me".

Following a hiatus from recording between 1986 and 1996, Richie returned with Louder Than Words and released subsequent albums including Renaissance, Just for You, Coming Home, and Just Go. In 2012, he released Tuskegee, an album of his hit songs recorded as duets with country artists, which returned him to the top of the Billboard 200 chart. He has performed at major international events, including the 1984 Olympic Games closing ceremony, the 2015 Glastonbury Festival, and the 2023 Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle.

Throughout his career, Richie has earned numerous accolades, including four Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for "Say You, Say Me". He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, receiving its Johnny Mercer Award in 2016, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame in 2022. That same year, he received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song and the American Music Awards Icon Award.