Lionel Richie is an American singer and songwriter who has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best record sellers of all time.
He started his musical career when he was still a student by forming several R&B groups in the mid-60s.
Everything accelerates in 1968 when he becomes saxophonist but especially singer in the group "The Commodores".
He will especially stand out for the quality of his compositions, especially by composing ballads like "Easy", "Three times a lady", "Still" and "Sail on".
At the end of the 1970s, he even agreed to write for others.
This is how he wrote one of the monuments of 80s music in the USA, namely the cult "Lady" by Kenny Rogers.
In 1981 he did it again by composing "Endless love" which he would perform in duet with Diana Ross and which would become a huge hit.
Thus in 1982, with all his personal success, he decided to stand on his own two feet and embarked on a solo career.
His first album “Lionel Richie” was released the same year and contained no less than 3 hits : “Truly”, “You are” and “My love”. The album will sell 4 million copies.
The year 1983 will propel him to the rank of superstar with the release of his second album "Can’t slow down" from which will be extracted the title which will reveal him to the whole world namely the enormous "All night long".
A year later, another huge hit was released, "Hello", in the middle of others like "Stuck on you", "Running with the night" and "Penny lover".
Finally, in 1985, a new musical monument with "Say you, say me", the first extract from the album "Dancing on the ceiling" which will be released in 1986 and which will be his last real success on the album side.
In 1987, exhausted, he decided to put his career on hold, in particular to take care of his sick father.
Temporarily putting an end to an exceptional career, a career which has produced several ballads which will remain for some as among the most beautiful of all time.
He would return later and continue the adventure for decades to come, but without being able to regain the incredible level of success he experienced during the 1980s ...
To discover or rediscover.
Discography (among others ...) :
• Endless love 1981
• Truly 1982
• You are 1983
• My love 1983
• All night long 1983
• Running with the night 1983
• Hello 1984
• Stuck on you 1984
• Penny lover 1984
• Say you say me 1985
• Dancing on the ceiling 1986
• Love will conquer all 1986
• Ballerina girl 1986
• Deep river woman 1987
• Se la 1987
• Do it to me 1992
• My destiny 1992
• Love, oh love 1992
• Don't wanna lose you 1996
• Ordinary girl 1996
• Still in love 1996
• Time 1998
• I hear your voice 1998
• Closest thing to heaven 1998
• Angel 2000
• Don't stop the music 2000
• Tender heart 2001
• I forgot 2001
• The one 2001
• To love a woman 2003
• Just for you 2004
• Long long way to go 2004
• I call it love 2006
• What you are 2006
• Reason to believe 2007
• Face in the crowd 2008
• Good morning 2008
• Just go 2009
• I'm not okay 2009
• Into your deep 2009
Commodores Adventure :
Clips :
1981 ... the HUGE hit that will launch his solo career. A first WONDER which announces so many others and which shows above all that this man does indeed have an already extraordinary talent ...
1982 ... an incredible talent and inspiration which knows no limits, the proof with this new title. In just 2 solo tracks, the singer is already starting to crush the competition ...
1983 ... the tempo accelerates slowly but surely. The singer begins to show a versatility of styles which will allow him to become in a few years one of the greatest singers of this end of the XXth century ...
1983 ... a last ballad of very large caliber before the ignition of the Dancefloor. A talent for the Intimist among the very best of the moment and it is not ready to stop, that's for sure !
1983 ... the HUGE interplanetary tube which makes him definitively enter the musical legend of the 80s. Surely one of the biggest Dance hits of the decade and of this end of the XXth century. MAS-TER-FUL !
1983 ... the year with 4 mega hits ! A record for the artist and a well-deserved consecration for one of the most talented artists of the past 20 years. And he has not yet shown the full extent of his talent !
1984 ... what will remain one of the most incredible Ultimate Slows of the decade. He had already produced a package but this one will remain as his Masterpiece ! MO-NU-MEN-TAL !
1984 ... new sweet break of very large caliber, another one! Between the Commodores and his solo career, how many will he have written in the end ? 5, 10, 15, more ...? It's incredible...
1984 ... and he continues ! But where does he get such inspiration ? A real Alien, there are no other words !
1985 ... and another new WONDER !! He connects them at a staggering speed and everything seems so easy for him that the competition has only his eyes to cry. MAS-TER-FUL !
1986 ... from time to time, he puts the potato back and offers himself some mega Dance hits. An extraordinary versatility which makes him a real musical war machine !
1986 ... the undisputed King of the romantic ballad. Unquestionably one of the greatest composers of this end of the XXth century in this very particular field ...
1986 ... another proof of this extraordinary writing talent. Time is magically suspended and everything literally floats in the air ...
1987 ... a duo for the least original where we find the Alabama group more specially accustomed to doing in the high-end Country. Anyway, and whatever the universes of each, the result is up to par !
1987 ... the years go by and the quality does not weaken by an Iota. We say that at some point, the level of genius inspiration of the artist will weaken. For the moment everything is stable and it's off to last a few more years !
1992 ... big air hole of 5 years which sees the singer disappear from the radars in a very surprising way. Here he is back in this year 1992 in a form that we will call certain. The essential is therefore preserved !
1992 ... a year 1992 which saw him come back in force and again inspired like never before. And so much the better because his pure and simple disappearance would have been completely incomprehensible !
1992 ... even if the style, like the sound, has changed, the fact remains that the level of inspiration remains among the best of the moment. The adventure continues therefore more beautiful !
1996 ... a decade 90 much more complicated to manage than the previous one. Fewer mega hits and more air holes with a 4 year cut this time. But he still manages to deliver us some nuggets of which he has the secret, that's already it !
1996 ... his last notorious hit of the decade. Anyway, a career far from over ... because the gentleman still has it underway. And the following decade will prove it vividly ...
1996 ... a continuation, and above all, a disappointing end of the 1990s, despite a quality that is still in order. But the competition is bloated and is getting harder and harder to counter ...
1998 ... he slowly but surely loses contact with the leading pack. Who would blame him when we see all the wonders he has produced before!
1998 ... what he does not lose, however, is his talent. He's just going to have to ask himself the right questions about the rest of his career, that's all ...
1998 ... the end of the 1990s sees the singer obtaining a last major success. Certainly minor compared to everything he has known, but it's still better than nothing. See you for the next decade !
2000 ... a 2000 decade which ideally starts with a return to the front of the stage, to say the least spectacular. Like what, with him, nothing is ever finished !
2000 ... he knew how to ask himself the right questions and adapted perfectly to the latest musical trends of the moment. After that will it be enough to put him back in the saddle permanently, it is the future that will tell us ...
2001 ... the upturn was unfortunately short-lived. The relapse into the Charts will be severe to say the least and send the singer somewhat into oblivion ...
2001 ... as soon as he goes back to Intimist mode, the general public is no longer interested in him although he has always excelled in this field and still the word is weak. Sometimes you don't have to try to understand ...
2001 ... suddenly he decides to go back to Dance and takes him well since the success in the Charts is back. Of course, we are not talking about a frank and massive return but a slight thrill, which is always better than nothing as they say ...
2001 ... here he is again in shocking but above all charming duo mode, this time with the younger generation. An association that will not really benefit him since this title will go unnoticed to say the least ...
2003 ... new duo of shock two years later once again with the young generation. This time in 100 % male mode, a tandem that will work a little better than the previous one, it is clear ...
2004 ... after a sluggish start to the decade, the singer will regain color from this year 2004 once again thanks to the acceleration of the tempo. It just goes to show that not much is enough for business to pick up ...
2004 ... rarely we will have seen him in the luxury cover and yet it also happens to him. The proof with this revisited version of the title of Def Leppard dating from the previous year which will allow him to return to success on the Intimist side. At last...
2006 ... a mid-decade 2000 that saw him return to his best form, who would have believed it. While we thought he would only play supporting roles, here he comes back to the front of the race in a totally unexpected way. Totally stunning !
2006 ... once again the relapse will be at least severe in the Charts. Now he spends his time doing the yo-yo for success but everything that is taken is no longer to be taken as they say ...
2007 ... no improvement in sight for the moment on the Charts side. But we know that with him there are years with now and years without. For now, it is rather without ...
2008 ... the adventure continues but the singer does more some figuration than anything else. One cannot imagine that with such talent, business does not end up picking up at one point or another ...
2008 ... he continues to believe in it anyway. A desire to move forward always and again which commands respect even if one sincerely wonders what the singer is now running after ...
2009 ... and here he is again on the front of the stage. Like what he is really right to continue to believe in it, the proof !
2009 ... yet another title that will go 'through'. There is definitely Lionel who laughs and Lionel who weeps. On this occasion, it will be rather the second version that will win ...
2009 ... a title which will not even be classified and which will nevertheless remain as one of his finest. Too bad it was not released as a single because it frankly deserved it. It remains to be seen what the artist has in store for the future. Case to be continued as they say ...
Top Bonus: 1980, the jewel offered by Richie to Kenny Rogers. One of the most beautiful romantic ballads of the past 35 years, just that !
Top Bonus : when 2 of the biggest stars of all time push the song together, here is the result !
Top Bonus : 1985...when 2 of the greatest musical geniuses of the 1980s come together to compose a song, we suspected that the result was going to be extraordinary. And that, to be extraordinary, it is. Jackson and Richie sign here quite simply one of the greatest songs of all time, a title which brings together an absolutely amazing skewer of artist and which makes this song a unique moment in the history of mankind. When the human artistic genius puts itself at the service of the most disadvantaged, this is what it is capable of !
Wiki :
Official Website :
Greatest Hits :
Discography :