Lionel Richie Biography: Lionel Richie, Jr. was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, on June 20, 1949. He is an American performer, songwriter, and record producer best known for his smooth and passionate love songs from the 1970s and 1980s. He is a multitalented musician who can perform a variety of musical genres, including funk, soul, rhythm & blues, and country, and blend them together. Prior to launching his solo career, which catapulted him to global fame, he was a member of a band. Join us in honouring this music legend whose compositions are still popular today.
Lionel Richie Birthday
Lionel Richie was born on June 20, 1949, in Tuskegee, Alabama, to Lionel Brockman Richie, Sr., a U.S. Army system analyst, and Alberta R. Foster, a teacher. In his first year at Tuskegee University, he began his musical career by joining the Mystics, a campus ensemble, as a saxophonist, songwriter, and singer. Richie was the main vocalist for the funk and rhythm-and-blues band the Commodores, which evolved from the Mystics. They inked a one-record contract with Atlantic Records in 1968 before moving on to Motown Records. Throughout his existence, Richie composed and performed numerous romantic, easy-listening ballads. Richie’s first commercial success as a songwriter was ‘Happy People’, which he co-wrote with Jeffrey Bowen and Donald Baldwin in 1974. Originally intended as a Commodores single, the song was covered by The Temptations, who scored their second-to-last No. 1 R&B success with it. Richie also performed “Endless Love,” a duet with Diana Ross for the 1981 film of the same name. The song was released as a single and became one of Motown’s greatest successes in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand.
Richie’s solo career began in 1982, when he released the album “Lionel Richie.” The subsequent years were a haze, with multiple number-one songs and an Album of the Year Grammy Award. Richie and musical icon Michael Jackson co-wrote ‘We Are the World’ in 1985 to raise funds for African famine relief; the song raised $50 million in donations and won the Grammy for song of the year. Richie’s late-1990s albums, including “Louder Than Words” and “Time,” were not as commercially successful as his earlier releases. He reissued a compilation CD of his solo and Commodores career, which catapulted him back to the top of the U.K. albums chart. ABC announced Richie as a judge for the revival of American Idol in September 2017. He has served as a juror on the reboot for five seasons, the most recent of which premiered on February 27, 2022. In 2019, Richie announced a 33-city North American summer tour. His ‘Hello Tour’ began on May 10 at the KAABOO Festival in Arlington, Virginia, and lasted until August.
In 1975, Richie wed his college fiancée, Brenda Harvey. In 1983, the couple adopted Nicole Camille Escovedo, now known as Nicole Richie. The singer and Harvey divorced in 1993, and in 1995, he wed Diane Alexander. They have a 28-year-old son, Miles Brockman, and a 24-year-old daughter, Sofia Richie. In 2004, the marriage ended.
Lionel Richie Net Worth, Height
Name | Lionel Richie |
Nickname | Skeet |
Birth date | June 20, 1949 |
Age | 74 |
Zodiac Sign | Gemini |
Height | 5′ 1.2″ |
Relationship Status | In a relationship |
Net Worth | $200 million |
Social Media |
Lionel Richie Biography: 5 SURPRISING FACTS
In the 1970s, Lionel began writing for other artists, and legend has it that he penned the second stanza of Kenny Rogers’ smash hit ‘Lady’ while using the studio’s lavatory.
Richie is a favourite of Jorge and Celia Messi, the parents of the legendary footballer Lionel Messi, and it is widely believed that Messi was named after him.
Lionel was responsible for putting together beautiful clothing for Mandela’s numerous media appearances after his release, and Mandela thanked Richie for composing music and lyrics to help him get through his time in prison.
According to his admirers, his songs are included in the English curriculum in China.
He has a luxuriously plush Lionel bath towel, a set of Lionel bedsheets, and his signature Hello scent.