Lionel Richie (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. From 1968, he was a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records. Richie made his solo debut in 1982 with the album Lionel Richie and number-one hit "Truly". Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 The Commodores 2.2 Solo career 2.3 Long-lasting popularity and later career 2.4 Popularity in the Arab world 3 Family 3.1 Genealogy 4 Breast cancer activist 5 In popular culture 6 Discography 7 Filmography 8 See also 9 References and notes 10 External links [edit] Early life Born in Tuskegee, Alabama, Richie grew up on the campus of Tuskegee Institute.[1] His grandfather's house was across the street from the home of the president of the college. His family moved to Joliet, Illinois, where he graduated from Joliet Township High School, East Campus. A star tennis player in Joliet, he accepted a tennis scholarship to attend Tuskege! e Institute, and graduated with a major in economics . After receiving his undergraduate degree from Tuskegee, Richie briefly attended graduate school at Auburn University. He is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi[2] and Alpha Phi Alpha[3][4] Fraternity. [edit] Career [edit] The Commodores Main article: Commodores As a student in Tuskegee, Richie formed a succession of R&B groups in the mid-1960s. In 1968 he became a 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 initially as a support act to The 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 tragic breakup ballad "Sail On." By the late 1970s he h! ad begun to accept songwriting commissions from other artists.! He composed "Lady" for Kenny Rogers, which hit #1 in 1980, and produced Rogers's album Share Your Love the following year. Richie and Rogers maintained a strong friendship in later years. Latin jazz composer and salsa romantica pioneer La Palabra enjoyed international success with his cover of "Lady," which was played at Latin dance clubs. Also in 1981 Richie sang the theme song for the film Endless Love, a duet with Diana Ross. Issued as a single, the song topped the UK and US pop music charts, and became one of Motown's biggest hits. Its success encouraged Richie to branch out into a full-fledged solo career in 1982. He was replaced as lead singer for The Commodores by Skyler Jett in 1983. His debut album, Lionel Richie, produced another chart-topping single, "Truly," which continued the style of his ballads with the Commodores. [edit] Solo career Richie performing in March 2011 Richie's 1982 self-titled debut contained three hit singles: the U.S. #1 song "Truly", which ! 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 #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 two Grammy Awards, including Album Of The Year, propelling him into the first rank of international superstars. The album contained the #1 hit "All Night Long" a Caribbean-flavored dance number that was promoted by a colorful music video produced by former Monkee Michael Nesmith. In 1984, Richie performed "All Night Long" at the closing ceremony of the XXIII 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 Richie had moved from his R&B roots. Richie had three more Top Ten hits in 1984, "Stuck on You" (#3), "Running with the Night" (#7) and "Penny Lover" (#8). Now described by one ! critic as "the black Barry Manilow," in 1985 Richie wrote and performed! a suitably soothing theme song, "Say You, Say Me," for the film White Nights, winning an Oscar for his efforts as well as reaching #1 on the U.S. charts and staying there for four weeks, making it the #1 song of 1985 according to Billboard's year-end Hot 100 chart. He also collaborated with Michael Jackson on the charity single "We Are the World" by USA for Africa, another #1 hit. In 1986, Richie released Dancing on the Ceiling, his last widely popular album, which produced a run of US and UK hits including "Say You, Say Me" (U.S. #1), "Dancing on the Ceiling" (U.S. #2), "Ballerina Girl" (U.S. #7), and "Se La" (U.S. #20), Richie's most recent U.S. Pop Top Twenty hit. The title selection was accompanied by a video directed by Stanley Donen, which drew inspiration from Royal Wedding,[citation needed] a 1951 Fred Astaire film Donen had directed. The critical consensus was that this album represented nothing more than a consolidation of his previous work, though Richie's colla! boration with the country group Alabama on "Deep River Woman" did break new ground. By 1987, Richie was exhausted from his work schedule and after a controversial year laid low, taking care of his father in Alabama. His father, Lionel Sr., died in 1990. Richie made his return to recording and performing following the release of his first greatest-hits collection, Back to Front, in 1992. 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, sticking instead with his chosen path of well-crafted soul music, which in the intervening years has become known as Contemporary R&B. Richie's albums in the 1990s such as Louder Than Words and Time failed to match the commercial success of his earlier work. Some of his recent albums, such as Renaissance, have returned to his older style and achieved su! ccess in Europe but only modest notice in the United States. Since 2004! , he has produced a total of six Top 40 singles in the UK. On March 2011, Richie is to tour Australia next year and is scheduled to perform at several winery events in March 2011.[5] [edit] Long-lasting popularity and later career In 2002, Richie's song "Running with the Night" was featured on the Rockstar North video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City though the song was removed from later versions of the game. In 2004, he appeared on Canadian Idol as his songs were featured during a Canadian Idol week. Later in 2004, he also appeared on the British motoring television series Top Gear in the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment where he was interviewed by host Jeremy Clarkson. During his lap, the Suzuki Liana he was driving lost a wheel due to hard cornering. 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. On May 7, 2006, Richie performed on the main stage (Acura Stage) at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, replacing Antoine "Fats" Domino, who had fallen ill. 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 biggest hit in the U.S. 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. Two months later, he performed "Hello" on the 49th Grammy Awards show. On November 25, 2007, he made a surprise appearance on the Australian Idol grand finale performing "All Night Long (All Night)" at the Sydney Opera House. ! Richie donated to Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential campaign. On May 2, ! 2008, Lionel Richie was the 21st recipient of the George and Ira Gershwin Lifetime Achievement Award at UCLA's annual Spring 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."[6] Recently, he has announced that he would like to get The Commodores back together soon, "or in the next 10 years no one will care."[7] On December 31, 2008, Richie performed in Times Square for the New Year's Eve celebration and ball drop. He also performed on the 2009 season finale for American Idol with Danny Gokey. A new album, Just Go was released in spring 2009 – around the time Lionel confirmed there is to be a Commodores reunion in the near future. On July 7, 2009, Richie performed "Jesus is Love" at Michael Jackson's memorial service. On May 30, 2010, Richie performed at the National Memorial Day Concert in Washington D.C., singing "Stuck on You"[8] and "America the Beautiful."[9][1! 0][11] Richie himself is from a military family.[11] Richie and Guy Sebastian performing "All Night Long" during Richie's 2011 Australian and New Zealand tour. In Australia on October 2, 2010, Richie performed at the AFL Grand Final Replay in the Pre-game entertainment to a sell out crowd and will also play post match at AAMI Park.[12] Richie returned to Australia in 2011 where he and guest artist Guy Sebastian toured Australia and New Zealand with concert tour dates spread throughout the months of March and April 2011.[13][14] Richie and Guy Sebastian have recorded Richie's 1983 #1 single "All Night Long" together, to raise money for Australian and New Zealand flood and earthquake relief. Richie handpicked Sebastian to support him in Australia and the pair will perform the song together at each concert.[15][16] On March 26th, 2012, Richie
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Currently having the #2 album in the country isn't the only reason Lionel Richie should be dancing on the ceiling. Here's the 36-year-old Best Song Oscar Read the rest
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Lionel Richie (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. From 1968, he was a member of the musical group Commodores Read the rest
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Li! onel Richie pop singer; songwriter Personal Information Born Lionel B. Richie, Jr., on June 20, 1949, in Tuskegee, AL; son of Lionel Richie Sr., a systems Read the rest
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After leaving the Commodores , Lionel Richie became one of the most successful male solo artists of the '80s, arguably eclipsed during his 1981-1987 heyday only by Read the rest
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Lionel Richie's new album, Tuskegee, a collection of 13 of his biggest hits performed as duets with country stars, debuted at No.! 1 on the Billboard Read the rest
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Lionel Richie has reason to be dancing on the ceiling today as 'Tuskegee,' his duets album with many top country stars, came in at No. 1 on Billboard's Read the rest