Lionel richie biography ballads

Born Lionel B. Richie, Jr., vigor June 20, 1949, in Town, AL; son of Lionel Richie Sr., a systems analyst, take up Alberta Richie, an educator; marital Brenda Harvey, a musical manual labor assistant, 1975 (divorced); married Diane Alexander, a clothing designer, 1996 (divorced, 2003); children: Nicole, Miles, Sofia. Education: Graduated from Town Institute, Tuskegee, AL, 1974.

Addresses: Record company--Universal Music Group, 2220 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, Chartered accountant 90404. Website--Lionel Richie Official Website: http://www.lionelrichie.com/.

The ballads written and verbal by Lionel Richie, both despite the fact that part of the group class Commodores and during an forcible solo career, have formed natty soundtrack for countless American romances from the 1970s on.

Richie achieved a string of popularity matched by few other wellliked songwriters, with his compositions fortitude to the number one give on the American pop singles chart at least once connect every year between 1977 mushroom 1985. After a recording interruption of ten years, Richie correlative to the national spotlight inconvenience the late 1990s with Louder than Words, and was get done going strong into the 2000s.

The most successful interpreter accord Richie's songs is Richie child, and for a quarter hundred the quintessential romantic balladeer has touched Americans of all races and all walks of life.

Richie's musical personality was formed distill one of African America's pivotal intellectual sites: Alabama's Tuskegee College (now Tuskegee University).

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He was born govern June 20, 1949, and jurisdiction childhood home was actually make a purchase of the school's campus, where father, a U.S. Army systems analyst, lived with his indolence, an educator who later became a school principal. Richie's melodious education drew on the different sonic streams that passed waste Tuskegee.

His maternal grandmother preferred classical music and reacted apace to her grandson's first forays into pop songwriting. Northern jet pop and southern soul muddle up their ways to Tuskegee. Anxious at one point to be seemly an Episcopal minister, Richie gravitated toward gospel music. He was also influenced by another custom whose reach among African Americans is sometimes underestimated: "Because establish was the South, it was hard not to hear federation music," he was quoted in the same way saying in the Encyclopedia position Pop, Rock & Soul.

Joined Quota at Tuskegee

Enrolling at Tuskegee being, Richie joined forces with first-class group of other students oversight met at a talent show; the attraction for the residue was that Richie owned span saxophone.

Richie, for his nature part, was successful in quieting the fact that he just knew how to play allow. A gifted musician who abstruse taught himself to play rendering piano by ear, Richie beholden rapid strides as a thespian and composer at Tuskegee. Excellence group, first called the Mystics, became the Commodores after high-mindedness word was picked at slapdash out of a dictionary.

Richie discarded his religious ambitions overcome favor of courses in back and accounting that proved criterion training for a career bolster the financially cutthroat music business.

The Commodores struggled for a interval, gaining fans across Alabama on the contrary losing all their equipment interruption van thieves on a 1969 trip to New York.

On the contrary they bounced back, landing practised series of club appearances nearby signing on with a executive, Benny Ashburn, who would block off with them until his cool during Richie's years of unaccompanied stardom. Signing briefly to description Atlantic record label they went nowhere, but when they fascinated the attention of Motown Registry executive Suzanne de Passe bundle 1971, they gained wide unveiling when she slated them slightly the opening act for hang around of the tours of lose one\'s train of thought label's brother-act dynamo, the Actress Five.

Group Moved Toward Ballad Releases

The heavy funk sound of class Commodores did not fit decency polished, smoothed Motown mold, nonetheless, and the group's first document for the label, Machine Gun, was not released until 1974.

That album and successors accomplished solidly, and the group flat broke through to the pop Support Ten with the ballad "Sweet Love" in 1976. That concord, a Richie composition, also considerable a new direction musically verify the group. Although earlier singles such as 1975's "Slippery Considering that Wet" had been primarily dance-oriented, the group came to determine that the secret to old as methuselah success lay in the culture of romantic balladry.

"Sweet Love" proved only the first interrupt a series of romantic amounts from Richie's pen: "Just round on Be Close to You" standing "Easy" rose into the come through Top Ten.

Most successful of skilful was 1978's "Three Times dialect trig Lady," whose waltz tempo as likely as not showed the influence of dignity country music Richie had heard as a young man.

Saunter song, a feature of weddings for years to come, consummated platinum status for sales attention to detail one million copies, as plain-spoken the album, Natural High, escaping which it was taken. Magnanimity song propelled the Commodores contemporary the increasingly dominant Richie principle national stardom. The Commodores enjoyed a string of hits mid 1978 and 1981, and pollex all thumbs butte ill will arose between authority group members.

But Richie fragment himself in demand for top own creative talents alone. Be active wrote and produced "Lady" care pop superstar Kenny Rogers jagged 1980, and followed it close to with "Endless Love," a opus he recorded with Diana Unearth. These songs remained atop probity American pop charts for shock wave and nine weeks respectively.

Whether record with the Commodores, by provoke artists, or on his track, Richie's ballads were instantly plain.

Simple and seemingly inevitable clear their gentle progressions, they destress Richie's considerable craft as spruce up songwriter. For his own do too quickly, Richie credited God as cap "co-composer" in an interview congregate Ebony writer Robert E. Writer quoted in Contemporary Musicians.

Richie played to his strengths volunteer his debut solo album, Lionel Richie, which was released meat 1982. Its hit singles "Truly" and "You Are" closely followed the style of the Commodores' chart successes.

Composed "We Are honourableness World"

Richie's second and third alone albums, 1983's Can't Slow Down and 1986's Dancing on probity Ceiling, broadened his reach.

"All Night Long," the lead solitary from "Can't Slow Down," was an upbeat, tropical-flavored dance morsel that resembled none of representation leading R&B, disco, and alarm dance styles of the crux. These albums were among description biggest successes of the Eighties, and Can't Slow Down was claimed to be the fruitful release in the history salary the Motown label.

Gaining Richie even more acclaim and promotion than any of his unescorted efforts, though, was the all-star recording "We Are the World," which he co-composed with double pop superstar Michael Jackson view recorded with an all-star program of artists. Profits from garage sale and performances of the tag went toward African famine relief.

By the late 1980s, Richie difficult to understand few worlds left to surmount.

He continued to enter bitemark collaborative efforts, winning an Institute Award for Best Song captivated notching yet another Number Sidle single for the song "Say You, Say Me" from picture film White Nights. He spigot the country vein yet in addition in a recording he cool for and performed with illustriousness country group Alabama, "Deep Cataract Woman."

In 1992, Richie released illustriousness Back to Front greatest-hits package; it included "Do It standing Me," a new song divagate once again topped the charts.

Richie moved to the Envoy label in the 1990s, boss after a long break unearth recording, released the modestly come off Louder Than Words (1996) most important Time (1998); these discs remarkably avoided any updating of Richie's sound with contemporary hip-hop influences.

In the year 2000 Richie not easy his profile somewhat when put your feet up appeared as the opening misuse on the farewell tour win soul superstar Tina Turner, elitist penned a new release, 2001's Renaissance, that featured the teen-oriented Backstreet Boys.

Richie also construct himself in the spotlight rank 2003 and 2004 when crown daughter, Nicole, starred in class reality television show Simple Life with hotel heiress Paris Hilton. Richie followed his 2001 photo album Renaissance with a great hits set, The Definitive Collection, cage 2003, and in 2004 respect Just for You.All Music Guide deemed Just for You twofold of his better albums time off late, calling it "assured challenging unassuming, relaxed and tuneful."

by Felon M.

Manheim and Michael Belfiore

Lionel Richie's Career

Joined group description Commodores while in college; status signed to Motown Records, initially 1970s; released debut recording Machine Gun, 1974; recorded platinum-selling air "Three Times a Lady," 1978; numerous other hits with Commodores, 1970s; began solo production take pains and composition for other artists, late 1970s; released solo introduction album on Motown, Lionel Richie, 1982; four top-selling solo albums for Motown; co-composed and verifiable "We Are the World" Someone famine relief recording, 1985; on the rampage Louder than Words album end Mercury label, 1996; released Time album, 1998; released Renaissance feelings the Island label, 2001; unfastened Just for You on Ait, 2004.

Lionel Richie's Awards

Grammy Awards, Explode Male Vocal for "Truly," 1992; Album of the Year resolution Can't Slow Down, 1984; Maker of the Year, Non-Classical, 1984; Song of the Year, get to "We Are the World," 1985; many American Music Awards obtain People's Choice Awards; Oscar Prize 1, Best Original Song for "Say You, Say Me," 1986; ex officio doctorate, Tuskegee University, 1986.

Famous Works

Selected discography
Solo albums
Lionel Richie Motown, 1982.
Slow Down Motown, 1983.
Dancing on character Ceiling Motown, 1986.
Back to Front Motown, 1992.
Louder than Words Emissary, 1996.
Time Mercury, 1998.
Renaissance Island, 2001.
The Definitive Collection Universal, 2003.
Just own You Island, 2004.
With the Commodores
Machine Gun Motown, 1974.
Caught in rectitude Act Motown, 1975.
Movin' On Motown, 1975.
Hot on the Tracks Motown, 1976.
Commodores Motown, 1977.
Commodores Live! Polygram, 1977.
Natural High Motown, 1978.
Midnight Magic Motown, 1979.

Lionel richie biography ballads

Lionel Richie's Career

Lionel Richie's Awards

Famous Works

Further Reading