LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Lionel Richie
built 214 days ago
Lionel Richie (Born June 20, 1949) is a popular American pop singer, most famous for his 1980s songs. Richie started his career with The Commodores; between him and the band, Three Times a Lady is their best remembered effort.
Source:
Lionel Richie is one of those artists you half expect to see appearing as a guest celebrity judge on American Idol. Or you might see him poking fun at himself in a VH1 special about make-out songs of the 1980s. The 80s was after all Richie's moment. But even he probably never expected he'd be reliving this part of that decade.
Source:
Lionel Richie doesn't have that kind of verbal ingenuity or conceptual cleverness. His lyrics are blunt, simple, functional, even clichéd. But he doesn't aspire to art with a capital A, anyway; he probably figures it would exclude too many people. He is an ambassador of good will, and his across-the-board appeal shows he succeeds. He may spend an awful lot of time putting on a bland face, doing the musical equivalent of shaking hands and kissing babies. But Can't Slow Down proves he can ... get down and boogie, all night long. (RS 413)
Source:
Whether singing solo or with the Commodores, Lionel Richie has a warm and instantly recognizable voice that's known mostly for romantic ballads along the lines of "Truly," "Endless Love" and "Hello." His consecutive string of hits (nine years straight authoring at least one No. 1 single) remains a pop phenomenon challenged only by songwriter Irving Berlin and singer Mariah Carey. After releasing several hugely successful solo albums in the 1980s, Richie kept a low profile for most of the '90s before attempting a comeback of sorts with the '98 album Time, and again with Renaissance in '01, though neither album ignited much interest from the public.
Source:
In November 2005, Lionel Richie performed with Kenny Rogers on a CMT Crossroads special. The show gave an informative insight into their friendship both in and out of the music world. Richie was ... the headliner at a 2000 Fourth of July tribute concert with Fantasia Barrino at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Richie released his eighth studio album entitled " Coming Home" on September 12, 2006. The first single of the album was "I Call It Love" and was premiered in July 2006, becoming his biggest hit in the U.S. in ten years. The album was an incredible success for Richie in the United States, peaking at #6.
Source:
After leaving the Commodores, Lionel Richie became one of the most successful male solo artists of the '80s, arguably eclipsed during his 1981-1987 heyday only by Michael Jackson and Prince. Richie dominated the pop charts during that period with an incredible run of 13 consecutive Top Ten hits, five of them number ones. As his popularity skyrocketed, Richie moved farther away from his R+B origins and concentrated more on adult contemporary balladry, which had been one of his strengths even as part of the Commodores. After 1987, Richie fell silent, taking an extended break from recording and touring before beginning a comeback toward the tail end of the '90s. Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr., was born on June 20, 1949, in Tuskegee, AL, and grew up on the campus of the Tuskegee Institute, where most of his family had worked for two generations prior. While attending college there, Richie joined the Commodores, who went on to become the most successful act on the Motown label during the latter half of the '70s.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Lionel Richie