Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie (full name Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr.) was born 20th June 1949 and is from Tuskegee, Alabama, USA.
In his early years he got involved with forming R&B groups in the ‘60s and found early success as a saxophonist and singer with the renowned group The Commodores (Lionel Richie, Thomas McClary, Ronald La Pread, Milan Williams, Sheldon Reynolds and Skyler Jett), where Lionel Richie perfected his art as a soulful ballad hit maker with "Easy," and "Three Times a Lady".
During the ‘70s Lionel Richie went on to write a string of successful #1 hits for the likes of Kenny Rogers with “Lady” and “Endless Love” with Diana Ross.
In 1983 Lionel Richie went solo and was replaced by Skyler Jett when he left The Commodores. His self-titled debut album had three hit singles and his follow-up album Can't Slow Down sold double the amount of his first album, and contained the world famous ballad “All Night Long”. It went on to become one of his most memorable tracks of all time.
Doing no wrong, Lionel Richie went on to conquer the world with his third studio album Dancing on the Ceiling which was popular in both the UK and US with massive hits "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).
After taking time out from a gruelling work schedule and getting over the death of his father Lionel Sr., in the ‘90s, during the 2000s Lionel Richie went on to make a number of high profile appearances at various Awards shows; receiving the George and Ira Gershwin Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the music industry and also made a number of TV appearances.
In 2008, Lionel Richie also mentioned a possible Commodores reunion would be on the cards in the future giving hopes to his millions of fans worldwide.
In 2005 he performed with Kenny Rogers on a CMT Crossroad special and toured throughout Australia and New Zealand, helping to raise money for flood victims in 2011.
He famously appeared with daughter Nina Richie at a show for his 2012 album Tuskegee, which featured 13 great country singers collaborating with Lionel Richie. Songs on the album include "Easy" with Willie Nelson, "You Are" with Blake Shelton, "Lady" with Kenny Rogers and "Endless Love" with Shania Twain.
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