Lionel Richie

Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie performing on April 2, 2011.
Background information
Birth name	Lionel Singhi Richie, Jr.
Born	June 20, 1949 (1949-06-20) Tuskegee, Alabama, United States
Genres	Soul, R&B, pop, pop rock, soft rock, country
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, record producer, actor
Instruments	Vocals, piano/keyboards, saxophone
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Island, MCA, Motown
Associated acts	Diana Ross, Commodores, Nicole Richie, Alabama (band), Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Patti Labelle, USA for Africa, Live Aid, Jason Derulo, Natasha Bedingfield, Kenny Rogers, Akon, Trijntje Oosterhuis, Good Charlotte
Website	lionelrichie.com

Lionel Richie (born June 20, 1949) is an American pop singer, best known for his 1980s songs.

Richie was born in Tuskegee, Alabama and spent his childhood there and his teenage years in Joliet, Illinois. He started his career with The Commodores; between him and the band, Three Times a Lady is their best remembered song. His self-titled debut album was one of the biggest music successes of 1982. More successful was its follow-up, Can't Slow Down.

In 1984, as a surprise guest, he sang All Night Long to a worldwide audience of over two billion at the Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

In 1990, Richie adopted Nicole Escovedo. Now Nicole Richie, she co-starred on memorable Fox's The Simple Life with Paris Hilton.

After a few years break, Richie returned to the music industry in 1996 with Louder than Words. Another album of his, Renaissance, came out four years later.

Richie made a dramatic comeback to the top of the charts in 2012 with Tuskegee, a country album made up of new versions of many of his biggest hit songs, each featuring a different guest artist. It became his first Number 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart since 1986, and also reached Number 1 on the Billboard country album chart. Tuskegee also became his first album since 1986 to be certified as platinum (more than 1 million copies sold) by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Other websites

• Lionel Richie at the Internet Movie Database