Lionel Richie

Music Home >> Music Genres >> Urban/R&B Music



< < < < < > > > > > More Info on Lionel Richie Similar Urban/R&B Music Search Artistopia

Biography

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|Motown Records . Richie made his solo debut in 1982 with the album Lionel Richie (album)|Lionel Richie and number-one hit " Truly (song)|Truly ".

Early life

Born in Tuskegee, Alabama , Richie grew up on the campus of Tuskegee University|Tuskegee Institute . His grandfather's house was across the street from the home of the president of the college. His family moved to Joliet, Illinois|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 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 and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

Career

The 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 (Commodores album)|Machine Gun " and " Brick House (song)|Brick House ." Over time, Richie wrote and sang more romantic, easy-listening ballads such as " Easy (Commodores song)|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 (Kenny Rogers song)|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 music|salsa romantica pioneer La Palabra (musician)|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 (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 (album)|Lionel Richie , produced another chart-topping single, " Truly (Lionel Richie song)|Truly ," which continued the style of his ballads with the Commodores.

Solo career

Richie's 1982 Lionel Richie (album)|self-titled debut contained three hit singles: the U.S. #1 song " Truly (song)|Truly ," which launched his career as one of the most successful balladeers of the 1980s, and the Top Five hits " You Are (Lionel Richie song)|You Are " and " My Love (Lionel Richie song)|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 (Lionel Richie album)|Can't Slow Down , sold over twice as many copies and won two Grammy Awards , including Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album Of The Year , propelling him into the first rank of international superstars. The album contained the #1 hit " All Night Long (All Night)|All Night Long " a Caribbean-flavored dance number that was promoted by a colorful music video produced by former The Monkees|Monkee Michael Nesmith .

Several more Top 10 hits followed, the most successful of which was the ballad " Hello (Lionel Richie song)|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 (Lionel Richie song)|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 (1985 film)|White Nights , winning an Academy Award|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 , 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 (band)|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 (Lionel Richie album)|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 (album)|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 (album)|Louder Than Words and Time (Lionel Richie album)|Time failed to match the commercial success of his earlier work. Some of his recent albums, such as Renaissance (Lionel Richie album)|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. On February 1, 2010, Richie made a remix of "We Are The World" in which Justin Bieber sings Richie's original part in the song. Lionel Richie is to tour Australia next year and is scheduled to perform at several winery events in March 2011.Gustafsson, Fredrik (December 14, 2010). "Lionel Richie to Tour Australia" . Retrieved December 14, 2010

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 (2002 TV 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 Crossroads (CMT TV series)|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 and Heritage Festival, replacing Antoine "Fats" Domino, who had fallen ill. Richie released his eighth studio album entitled " Coming Home (Lionel Richie album)|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...|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 Gershwin|George and Ira Gershwin Lifetime Achievement Award at UCLA 's annual UCLA Spring Sing|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."

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."

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 (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 memorial service|Michael Jackson's memorial service .

In Australia on October 2, 2010, Richie performed at the 2010 AFL Grand Final|AFL Grand Final Replay in the Pre-game entertainment to a sell out crowd and will also play post match at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium|AAMI Park .

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.. Undercover. Retrieved December 5, 2010 Retrieved April 10, 2011 Richie and Guy Sebastian have recorded Richie's 1983 #1 single " All Night Long (All Night)|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.. Daily Telegraph, Sydney. Retrieved February 26, 2011. Undercover. Retrieved February 27, 2011

Popularity in the Arab world

In recent years, Richie has become a phenomenon in various Arab World|Arab states ,
and has performed in Morocco , Dubai , Qatar and Libya .
ABC News said, "Grown Iraq i 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. According to Richie, 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."

Family

Richie married his college sweetheart, Brenda Harvey, on October 18, 1975. During their marriage, Lionel began a relationship with Diane Alexander in 1986. In 1988 while separated, Brenda allegedly discovered Lionel and Alexander together in a Beverly Hills hotel room by saying she was "room service", and breaking in the door. A confrontation ensued and Brenda attacked both Lionel and Diane brutally. Brenda was arrested for spousal abuse , trespassing , assault towards Alexander, and vandalism . Lionel and Brenda divorced on August 9, 1993, after being married 17 years.IMDb Biography - Lionel Richie , retrieved July 26, 2007

In 1983 Lionel Richie and his wife, Brenda, 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 a November 15, 2005, CNN interview with Ryan Seacrest , Nicole Richie denied that her birth father was a member of Richie's band. Lionel Richie became a grandfather on January 11, 2008, when Nicole Richie gave birth to a baby girl, Harlow Winter Kate Richie Madden, with the lead singer of Good Charlotte, Joel Madden; and again when she gave birth to Sparrow James Midnight Madden on September 9, 2009.

Richie married Diane Alexander on December 21, 1995. They have a son, Miles BrockmanSpelling of name found on the California Birth Index 1905–1995 , under RICHIE, MILES BROCKMAN, on May 27, 1994 in Los Angeles County . (born May 27, 1994), and a daughter, Sofia (born August 24, 1998). Lionel and Diane Alexander divorced in January 2004.

Genealogy

In 2011 the NBC television program Who Do You Think You Are? (U.S. TV series)|Who Do You Think You Are? did research into Lionel Richie's genealogy and specifically looked at information relating to one of Lionel's great-grandfathers, the father of Lionel's maternal grandmother.

Lionel's great-grandfather was John Louis Brown (October 25, 1839 - September 8, 1931), the bi-racial ( mulatto ) son of the widowed 81 year-old American Revolutionary War|American-Revolutionary-War -fighter Dr. Morgan BrownThe program "Who Do You Think You Are? " casts doubt as to whether Dr. Morgan Brown is John Louis's father because of his advanced age and suggests that John Louis's older half-brother Judge Morgan W(elles) Brown may be his father. This goes against the documentary evidence that Dr. Morgan Brown tried to provide for John Louis and his mother in his will written before John Louis's birth; that he recorded John Louis's birth in his diary (which it was extremely unusual for a slave owner to do); and that his wishes that John Louis be freed from slavery after his death were not followed by his son Judge Morgan W(elles) Brown. It also goes against the biological evidence that a 81 year-old man is quite capable of fathering a child. (January 13, 1758 - March 23, 1840).More information on Dr. Morgan Brown can be found at ; ; ; & His mother was one of Dr. Morgan Brown's negro-slaves Mariah, who in his father's final years on his farm in Tennessee was his live-in housekeeper and nurse. Born a slave just like his mother, the baby John Louis Brown's ownership passed to his much-older half-brother Morgan Welles Brown|Judge Morgan W(elles) Brown (January 1, 1800 - March 7, 1853) after his father's death in 1840, as did the ownership of his mother. Despite attempts by his father Dr. Morgan Brown to free both John Louis and his mother Mariah in his will that had been written before John Louis's birth in 1839, John Louis was never freed. John Louis was, however, educated as per his father Dr. Morgan Brown's wishes in his will, and against the mores and the laws of the time. The educated John Louis became known as "Doc"Hamilton County Confederate Soldiers by Nat Hughes and John Wilson, 2005 and he took the Brown surname. After the death of his half-brother in 1853 John Louis's ownership had stayed within the family and he remained known as the slave of Morgan W. Brown even though Judge Morgan W(elles) Brown was deceased.John Louis Brown's Civil War Pension Application as shown on the program "Who Do You Think You Are? " John Louis then served as the slave, non-combatant, personal-body-servant to his older nephew John C(laiborne) Thompson (April 3, 1828 - February 2, 1872), the son of his deceased half-sister Elizabeth Little Brown (February 2, 1792 - December 10, 1854), during John C(laiborne) Thompson's 12 months of service from May 1861 to May 1862 in the American Civil War , as evidenced by John Louis's application for a pension late in life.Rana's comments at: / It has been recorded that John Louis was wounded during the war, and that “He bore dispatches to Felix Zollicoffer and performed many other duties of service and responsibility.” It could not have been easy to be a slave soldier in a war where you were not even allowed to bear arms to defend yourself.

As an Emancipation|emancipated slave, in the 1880s and early 1890s John Louis Brown became a Supreme Grand Archon (national leader) of the Knights of the Wise Men, a fraternal organization that gave support and insurance to the African American|African-American community. He is also credited with writing the rules, laws, and regulations for the group. The Knights of the Wise Men was a precursor to the later civil rights movement.

In a declaration to the Court in Nashville, Tennessee in 1832 John Louis Brown's father Dr. Morgan Brown claimed to have "a large family bible now in my possession, with the names of my ancestors from their first landing in America in the month of 1638." This suggests that John Louis Brown's ancestors were among the early European settlers of what became the United States of America. This family bible may have belonged to the family of his ancestor Edward Browne who in 1668 in Maryland, Virginia married Sarah Williams, the daughter of Morgan Williams (there were at least 5 Morgan Williams who immigrated to Virginia between 1639 and 1650). This Edward Browne is possibly the son of an Edward Browne Snr. and his wife Ellinor. Edward Browne Snr. appears to have arrived in Virginia in 1637 (after being sponsored by a John Brodwell).

Lionel Richie's maternal grandmother, Adelaide Mary Brown (January 19, 1893 - November 30, 1996), was John Louis Brown's only known child. She was fathered from his marriage on April 6, 1890 at the age of 50 to the bi-racial ( mulatto )1880 US census lists Volenderver, her siblings, and her mother as "mulatto": Lionel Richie's Towson Genealogy teenage Volenderver Towson. The marriage floundered in the early 1890s during the period that the Knights of the Wise Men folded after suffering financially from the payment of many death benefits after a smallpox epidemic in 1891, and the treasurer soon after apparently disappearing with the remaining funds. A divorce was granted on July 28, 1897. The only other marriage that is known about was a marriage before 1924 to "a middle aged coloured woman who is trying to run him off from home". He was a proud man, who despite falling upon hard times was refusing to go to the poor house. In his last years John Louis worked as a caretaker at Pleasant Gardens Cemetery, in the city of Chattanooga where the Knights of the Wise Men had been based. After dying of pneumonia at the age of 93, and he was buried there in the paupers' section.

Breast cancer activist

Richie helped to raise over $3.1& nbsp;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 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.

In popular culture

In the video game Final Fantasy XIII director, Tetsuya Nomura , based the character Sazh's appearance on Lionel Richie.

In The Notorious B.I.G's song "I Love the Dough" featuring Jay-Z, Lionel Richie is referenced to in the line "Biggie be richie like Lionel", in reference to The Notorious B.I.G's wealth.

Lionel Richie is often mentioned in the television show Everybody Hates Chris , as many secondary characters claim that the main character (played by Tyler James Williams ) resembles him.

Richie was mentioned in SpongeBob SquarePants , but was named as "Lionel Fishy," much to his disgust.

In August 2010 Richie appeared in a Walkers Crisps TV commercial in the United Kingdom with ex football star Gary Lineker .

Argentine-born soccer superstar, Lionel Messi , was named after Richie.

Richie appeared in NBC's "Who Do You Think You are," on March 4, 2011, and found out his great-grandfather was the national leader of an early African American fraternal organization.

A has surfaced as street art in Toronto and other cities, featuring the title "Hello? " above a wistful Richie's face with the caption "Is it me you're looking for? " The tear-away strips along the bottom of the poster (usually reserved for contact information) feature the lyrics to " Hello (Lionel Richie song)|Hello ".

In a The Boondocks (TV series)|The Boondocks episode, " Attack of the Killer Kung-Fu Wolf Bitch ", Granddad tells the story of how Brenda Richie attacked Lionel Richie and Diana in the hotel room. They show Brenda beating Lionel and Diana repeatedly and he refers to Brenda as knowing kung-fu.

On an episode of The Steve Harvey Show , Steve explained an altercation between Pretty Tony (a member of the Hightops) and Lionel Richie's wife, stating that "Lionel's wife beat Pretty Tony.....like she beat Lionel."

On the show In Living Color , Keenan Ivory Wayans (spoofing Don Cornelius on "Old Train") was working at the Soul Train scramble board, informing an elderly couple that they had a minute to figure out the famous TV star whose letters were on the board, hinting to the couple "it's not Lionel Richie." (The letters spelled "Mr. Ed" after the famous talking horse.)

Mentioned in Rush Hour 2 - quote

Mentioned in a Family Guy episode "Stewie Kills Lois", episode 100, in which Peter gives Lois a copy of Lionel Richie's album, ''Can't Slow Down .

In an episode of The Cleveland Show , "Brown History Month", episode 18, Cleveland inflates an afro the resembles Richie's and Donna is quoted as saying she "doesn't want her house looking like Lionel Richie".

Discography

Lionel Richie (album)|Lionel Richie (1982)

'' Can't Slow Down (Lionel Richie album)|Can't Slow Down (1983)

Dancing on the Ceiling (1986)

Louder Than Words (album)|Louder Than Words (1996)

Time (Lionel Richie album)|Time (1998)

Renaissance (Lionel Richie album)|Renaissance (2000)

Just for You (Lionel Richie album)|Just for You (2004)

Coming Home (Lionel Richie album)|Coming Home (2006)

Just Go (album)|Just Go (2009)

Tuskegee (2012)

Filmography

1977: Scott Joplin (w/ The Commodores)

1978: '' Thank God It's Friday (w/ The Commodores)

1990: Running with the night

1991: Madonna: Truth or Dare|Truth or Dare (documentary)

1996: '' The Preacher's Wife

1998: Pariah

2007: The Simpsons (episode He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs )

2011: Who Do You Think You Are? (U.S. TV series)#Season 2 (2011)|Who Do You Think You Are?

2011: Lionel Richie: Dancing On The Ceiling (Part of the BBC4 documentary series, Black Music Legends Of The 1980s)

Urban/R&B Music Artists