Lionel Richie Biography, Photos and Posters

Lionel Richie

Biography

Born: June 20, 1949
City and Country of Origin: Tuskegee, AL
Music Training:
Awards:
Top Recordings: "Truly," "All Night Long (All Night)," "Say You, Say Me," "Do It to Me"
Lionel Richie Biography: He grew up on the campus of Tuskegee Institute where most of his family worked and also where he attended college. I believe he was an accounting major. While at Tuskegee he joined the Commodores, Motown's most successful act of the late '70s. Richie was a saxophonist, sometimes vocalist and songwriter. While with the group he penned "Easy," "Three Times a Lady," and "Still." He also wrote and produced music for other artists such as "Lady" for Kenny Rogers. His duet "Endless Love" with Diana Ross became the single most successful recording in Motown's history. By 1981 his celebrity was causing friction in the group so he left to embark on a solo career. In 1985 he co-penned "We Are The World" along with Michael Jackson to help raise money for famine relief in Africa. By the end of the year he returned to the top of the charts with "Say You, Say Me," a song written for the movie White Nights. 1987 became the first year in which he did not write a number one hit record after a successful streak of nine years in a row, a record only matched by the immortal Irving Berlin. He continued to write and record through the '90s, but some of the magic and glitter was gone. His efforts were far less commercially successful.

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