| Lionel
Richie, after leaving the
Commodores, 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. Richie served as a saxophonist,
sometime vocalist, and songwriter,
penning ballads like "Easy," "Three
Times a Lady," and "Still" (the latter
two became the group's only number one
pop hits). Although the Commodores
maintained a democratic band structure
through most of their chart run, things
began to change when the '70s became the
'80s. In 1980, Richie wrote and produced
country-pop singer Kenny Rogers'
across-the-board number one smash
"Lady," and the following year, Richie's
duet with Diana Ross, "Endless Love"
(recorded for the Brooke Shields film of
the same title), became the most
successful single in Motown history,
topping the charts for a stunning nine
weeks. With the media's attention now
focused exclusively on Richie, tensions
within the Commodores began to mount,
and before the end of 1981, Richie
decided to embark on a solo career.
Richie immediately set about
recording his solo debut for Motown.
Titled simply Lionel Richie, the album
was released in late 1982 and was an
immediate smash, reaching number three
on the pop charts on its way to sales of
over four million copies. It spun off
three Top Five pop hits, including the
first single "Truly," which became
Richie's first solo number one. If
Lionel Richie made its creator a star,
the follow-up Can't Slow Down made him a
superstar. Boasting five Top Ten
singles, including the number ones "All
Night Long (All Night)" and "Hello,"
Can't Slow Down hit number one,
eventually sold over ten million copies,
and won the 1984 Grammy for Album of the
Year. Such was Richie's stature that he
was invited to perform at the closing
ceremonies of the 1984 Olympics in Los
Angeles, a spectacular stage event that
was broadcast worldwide.
In 1985, Richie put his superstar
status to work for a greater good,
joining Michael Jackson in co-writing
the USA for Africa charity single "We
Are the World"; the all-star recording
helped raise millions of dollars for
famine relief. By the end of the year,
he was on top of the charts again with
"Say You, Say Me," a ballad recorded for
the film White Nights but not included
on the soundtrack album. The song was
slated to be the title track on Richie's
upcoming album, but delays in the
recording process prevented the record
from being released until August 1986,
by which time the title was changed to
Dancing on the Ceiling (in order to
promote Richie's next single release).
Three more Top Tens followed "Say You,
Say Me," as did "Se La," which became
the first of Richie's solo singles not
to reach the pop Top Ten. Overall,
Dancing on the Ceiling didn't match the
success of Can't Slow Down, but it still
sold an impressive four million copies,
although Richie's reputation for
sentimental ballads was beginning to
incur a backlash in some quarters.
1987 saw Richie's nine-year streak of
writing at least one number one single
(a feat matched only by Irving Berlin)
come to an end. As a matter of fact,
Richie all but disappeared from the
music business, simply choosing to take
some time off after nearly two decades
of recording and performing (or,
perhaps, quitting while he was ahead).
His silence was broken only in 1992,
when Motown released a compilation
titled Back to Front; in addition to
some of his solo hits and a few
Commodores tracks, Back to Front also
featured three new songs, including the
number one R&B hit "Do It to Me" (which
wasn't as successful on the pop charts).
Richie wasn't bitten by the recording
bug again until 1996, by which time he'd
endured his share of personal loss: his
father had passed away, and his marriage
to wife Brenda -- the muse behind some
of his most successful ballads -- had
fallen apart. In approaching his
comeback, Richie attempted to update his
sound to reflect a decade's worth of
developments in urban R&B. The result,
Louder Than Words, was a moderate
success, reaching the Top 30 and going
gold. However, it didn't produce any
major hit singles, and Richie's nods to
new jack swing and hip-hop were
criticized as awkward. 1998's Time found
Richie in a more familiar element,
relying on his signature sound with only
slight musical updates. However, the
album flopped, spending only a few weeks
in the lower reaches of the charts.
Richie's next album, Renaissance, was
released to a favorable reception in
Europe in late 2000; it was issued in
the U.S. in early 2001. Three years
later, released Just For You. |
