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Lionel Richie

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Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie in France in 2012
Lionel Richie in France in 2012
Background information
Birth nameLionel Brockman Richie, Jr.
Born (1949-06-20) June 20, 1949 (age 75)[1]
Tuskegee, Alabama, United States
GenresSoul, R&B, pop, pop rock, soft rock, country, gospel
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, record producer, actor
Instrument(s)Vocals, piano/keyboards, saxophone, drums
Years active1968–present
LabelsIsland, Mercury, Motown
WebsiteOfficial website

Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. Beginning in 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". He has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time.[2]

Early life

Richie was raised in Tuskegee, Alabama, the son of Alberta R. (Foster) and Lionel Brockman Richie.[3] He grew up on the campus of Tuskegee Institute.[4] His grandfather's house was across the street from the home of the president of the college. His family moved to Joliet, Illinois, where his mother Alberta was principal at Eliza Kelly Elementary school and his father worked at Armcom through the now defunct Joliet Arsenal.[citation needed]

Richie graduated from Joliet Township High School, East Campus. A star tennis player in Joliet, he accepted a tennis scholarship to attend Tuskegee 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[5] and an active life member of Alpha Phi Alpha[6][7] Fraternity.

Career

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 had 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, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and US pop music charts, and became one of Motown's biggest hits (in the US it sold 2 million copies and became a platinum single record).[citation needed] 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.

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 #2 song of 1986 according to Billboard's Year-End Hot 100 chart, behind the charity single "That's What Friends Are For" by Dionne and Friends. 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 20 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 collaboration 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 success 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.

Later career

In 2004, Richie appeared on Canadian Idol as his songs were featured during a Canadian Idol week.[citation needed]

In November 2005, 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 a big success for Richie in the United States, peaking at #6.

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.[citation needed]

On May 2, 2008, 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."[8]

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."[9]

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 2009.

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"[10] and "America the Beautiful."[11][12][13] Richie himself is from a military family.[13]

Richie and Guy Sebastian performing "All Night Long" during Richie's 2011 Australian and New Zealand tour.

On October 2, 2010, Richie performed at the AFL Grand Final Replay in Australia, both at the pre-game entertainment to a sell out crowd and also post-match at AAMI Park.[14]

Richie returned to Australia in 2011 where he and guest artist Guy Sebastian toured the country and New Zealand with concert dates throughout March and April.[15][16] Richie and Guy Sebastian have recorded Richie's 1983 #1 single "All Night Long" together, to raise money for Australian floods and New Zealand earthquake relief. Richie handpicked Sebastian to support him in Australia and the pair will perform the song together at each concert.[17][18]

On March 26, 2012, Richie released his tenth studio album, Tuskegee. It features 13 of his hit songs performed as duets with country stars including Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles, Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Darius Rucker, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Billy Currington, Little Big Town, Shania Twain, Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson and Jimmy Buffett.[19] In an interview with American Songwriter Magazine, Lionel Richie stated "I’m just gonna stand next to them again with great country artists and hug them."[20] After years of mediocre sales in the U.S., the album returned him to the top of the Billboard 200 chart, his first number one album there for more than 25 years, and achieved Platinum status within six weeks of release.

On June 7, 2013, Richie announced on NBC's The Today Show that he will launch "All the Hits All Night Long", his first North American tour in over a decade. The tour commenced on September 18 in Hollywood, Florida, and will end on October 18 in Los Angeles, California.[21] Also in June 2013, Richie appeared in a television commercial for the Lion Nathan alcohol company to promote the "Tap King" draught beer product. Richie reportedly received A$$1.5 million to appear in the promotional campaign that depicts the musician singing "Hello" at a piano, while the device rests on top of the instrument.[22]

Popularity in the Arab world

In recent years, Richie has become a phenomenon in various Arab states,[23][24] and has performed in Morocco, Dubai, Qatar and Libya.[25] John Berman for ABC 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 night U.S. tanks invaded Baghdad. Richie was against the war, but says he could see a day when he would come and perform in Baghdad. "I would love to be here for that."[25]

Personal life

Family

On October 18, 1975, Richie married his college sweetheart, Brenda Harvey. In 1983 the couple informally adopted Nicole Camille Escovedo, the two-year-old daughter of one of the members of Lionel's band. They raised her as their daughter, Nicole Richie, and adopted her legally when she was nine years old.

In 1986, while still married to Harvey, Lionel began a relationship with Diane Alexander. He would later separate from Harvey and, in 1988, she allegedly discovered Richie and Alexander together in a Beverly Hills hotel room by saying she was "room service" and breaking in the door. A confrontation ensued and Harvey attacked both Richie and Alexander brutally. Harvey was arrested for spousal abuse, trespassing, assault towards Alexander, and vandalism. Richie and Harvey divorced on August 9, 1993, after being married nearly 18 years.[7] Richie married Diane Alexander on December 21, 1995.[7] They have a son, Miles Brockman[26] (born May 27, 1994),[7] and a daughter, Sofia (born August 24, 1998). Richie and Alexander divorced in January 2004.

Lionel Richie became a grandfather on January 11, 2008, when Nicole Richie gave birth to a baby girl, Harlow Winter Kate Richie Madden,[27] with the lead singer of Good Charlotte, Joel Madden. Richie's second grandchild, Sparrow James Midnight Madden, was born to the couple on September 9, 2009.

Genealogy

On March 4, 2011, Richie appeared on NBC's Who Do You Think You Are?. The program did research into Lionel Richie's genealogy and found out that his great-grandfather (the father of his mother's mother) was the national leader of an early African-American fraternal organization.[28]

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, in 2003.

Richie told the crowd that his grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 80s, but 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.[29]

Discography

See also: Lionel Richie discography

Filmography

Awards and Honors

Richie has won four Grammy Awards including Song of the Year in 1985 for "We Are the World" which he co-wrote with Michael Jackson, Album of the Year in 1984 for Can't Slow Down, Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) in 1984 and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for Truly in 1982.[30]

Richie has been nominated for two Golden Globe awards and won one. In 1982 he was nominated for Best Original Song for the film Endless Love. In 1986 he was nominated and won the award for Best Original Song for the film White Nights.[31]

See also

Template:Wikipedia books

References and notes

  1. ^ "Monitor". Entertainment Weekly. No. 1212. June 22, 2012. p. 24.
  2. ^ Sherwin, Adam (May 27, 2013). "Lionel Richie hits big time again… as an Iraq 'n' roll star". The Independent. Retrieved June 12, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ Stated on Who Do You Think You Are?, March 4, 2011
  4. ^ Huey, Steve. "Lionel Richie Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  5. ^ "Prominent Members of Kappa Kappa Psi". Kkpsi.org. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  6. ^ "Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity". Psuchronicles.com. October 5, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  7. ^ a b c d IMDb Biography - Lionel Richie [1], retrieved July 26, 2007~~~~
  8. ^ "Richie accepts Gershwin Award". Newsroom.ucla.edu. May 2, 2008. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  9. ^ Graff, Gary (May 18, 2009). "Lionel Richie Ready to Go With Albums, Tour, Commodores Reunion". Billboard. Retrieved August 24, 2009.
  10. ^ Lionel Richie on YouTube
  11. ^ "America, The Beautiful – Lionel Ritchie" on YouTube
  12. ^ "MEMORIAL DAY – America the Beautiful (Lionel Ritchie") on YouTube
  13. ^ a b CNN Newsroom: Lionel Richie and Memorial Day on YouTube
  14. ^ "Lionel Richie to play GF replay". September 29, 2010.
  15. ^ Lionel Richie and Guy Sebastian To Play A Day On The Green. Undercover. Retrieved December 5, 2010
  16. ^ Recording of Lionel Richie performing with Guy Sebastian at NIB Stadium, Perth, April 6, 2011 Retrieved April 10, 2011
  17. ^ Cameron Adams, "Lionel Richie and Guy Sebastian have teamed up to record a charity single for earthquake relief". Daily Telegraph, Sydney, February 26, 2011.
  18. ^ "Guy Sebastian and Lionel Richie work All Night Long for flood relief". Undercover. Retrieved February 27, 2011
  19. ^ "Lionel Richie's Countrified 'Tuskegee' Comes to Stores Today - Slew of TV Spots Join In Celebrating Its Songs". Undercover. Retrieved April 11, 2012
  20. ^ "Reinventing Lionel Richie". American Songwriter. Retrieved April 12, 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ "Lionel Richie Announces 2013 North American Tour". ConcertBoom. ConcertBoom.com. Retrieved June 14, 2013. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  22. ^ Eamonn Duff (June 27, 2013). "Lionel Richie's cash splash in beer commercial". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  23. ^ "Lionel Richie: The Key to Peace in the Middle East". Retrieved June 12, 2007.
  24. ^ "Richie Beloved in Iraq". June 2, 2006.
  25. ^ a b John Berman. "Baghdad's Lionel Richie Obsession". Retrieved June 12, 2007.
  26. ^ Spelling of name found on the California Birth Index 1905–1995, under RICHIE, MILES BROCKMAN, on May 27, 1994 in Los Angeles County.
  27. ^ Jessica Herndon. "Lionel Richie: 'Sparrow Looks Just Like Harlow'". people.com. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  28. ^ Running Time: 42:56. "Who Do You Think You Are – Episode Guide – Lionel Richie". NBC.com. Retrieved May 24, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  29. ^ "Lionel Richie Charity Work". Looktothestars.org. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  30. ^ "Lionel Richie : Grammy Awards". Grammy Awards. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  31. ^ "Lionel Richie : Golden Globe Awards". Golden Globes. Retrieved July 24, 2014.

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