Lionel Richie is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. Beginning in 1968, he was lead singer and saxophonist of the musical group Commodores; established as a popular soul group. Over time, Richie wrote and sang more romantic, easy-listening ballads such as "Easy", "Three Times a Lady", "Still", and the tragic breakup ballad "Sail On". By the late 1970s he had begun to accept songwriting commissions from other artists. He composed "Lady" for Kenny Rogers, which hit #1 in 1980, and produced Rogers' album Share Your Love the following year. Richie and Rogers maintained a strong friendship in later years.
Also1981 Richie sang the theme song for the film Endless Love, a duet with Diana Ross. Issued as a single. The song topped the Pop charts all over the world, and became one of Motown's biggest hits (in the US it sold 2 million copies and became a platinum single record).
Its success encouraged Richie to branch out into a full-fledged solo career in 1982. Afterwards came the success of “Truly,” “All Night Long,” “Hello,” and “Say You (Say Me”) for which he won his Oscar and a Golden Globe. His 1982 self-titled album established a run of platinum plus albums throughout the 80’s, with 1986’s Dancing On The Ceiling “ becoming a pop and R&B classic. He also found time to co-write with Michael Jackson what eventually would become pop’s most famous anthem, the Live-Aid tune “We Are The World.”
Richie has won several awards, among them Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for Truly in 1982. In 1982 he was nominated for Best Original Song for the film Endless Love. He won the Album of the Year for Can't Slow Down and Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) in 1984. Lionel Richie has won four Grammy Awards including Song of the Year in 1985 for "We Are the World". Nominated for two Golden Globe awards and won one. In 1986 he was nominated and won the award for Best Original Song for the film White Nights.
He has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time.
In 2012, Lionel went back to his Tuskegee roots by re-working some of his biggest hits as duets with country superstars such as Shania Twain, Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Darius Rucker, and Little Big Town. The album was one the biggest of his career reaching #1 on the Billboard Top 200 list and garnering huge critical acclaim
Lionel Richie has been given a star on the Hollywood walk of Fame