Lionel Richie - Music, Biography and Discography. Download Lionel Richie Albums. Lionel Richie Music.

Lionel Richie

Taking time to sit back and watch and think about what you’ve seen is important. Traveling did a great deal to me.The singer and songwriter by the name of Lionel Richie grew up in the state of Alabama basically on the campus of the Tuskegee Institute. He would later move to the state of Illinois and graduate from Joliet Township High School where he was a scholar athlete and gained a tennis scholarship to the Tuskegee Institute back in Alabama.

He would go on to attend graduate school at Auburn University where he would become a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity before he would begin his career in music. During his time at the university, he would become a player with The Commodores as a singer as well as playing saxophone. He would play with the group for quite awhile, gaining a name for himself until he ventured off on his own in pursuit of a solo career. While playing with The Commodores, Lionel Richie would begin to gain a name for himself in the music community. He would learn the style of funk and dance while with the group although he was more disposed to easy songs of love and romance. While playing with the group, he would eventually begin collaboration with other artists in the form of writing as well as singing.

In 1980, he would help Kenny Rogers write the song Lady, which would be a number one hit in the United States on the top country charts of the day. From this, he would establish a long time relationship with Rogers and the two would continue to collaborate on other albums in the future. Further in his collaborative career, he would perform a duet with the great Diana Ross of the song Endless Love, which was commissioned for the movie under the same title.

The single would become a hit in both the United States as well as the United Kingdom and would be the beginning of Richie’s branch out into the solo world. He would release his first album in the early 1980’s and become one of the leading solo artists of the day. Lionel Richie would make his first full length album debut in 1982 with a self titled album. The record contained many hit singles, on of which was the song called Truly, which would make it to the number one position and be said to have launched his career into stardom. The album would bode well with music audiences as well as it climbed to the number three on the album charts and would be certified multiple times platinum selling more than four million copies in the United States.

He would go on a supporting tour of the album and then back into the studio to begin work on a follow up record. 1983 would see the release of Can’t Slow Down that would be even a bigger success than his debut album and would sell over eight million albums world wide. The record would also feature the track called All Night Long, which would stay at the number one position for several weeks.

Over the next couple of years, Richie would continue to release top ten hits over and over again and would also win Best Album of the Year at an early 1980’s Grammy Awards ceremony. His appearance in the movie White Nights would earn him an Oscar as well as another number one hit in 1985. He has been documented as one of the top grossing artists of the 1980’s and continues to be successful even in the present. His fans may find free music downloads or songs available for internet screening on the internet.

Did you know that...

• ...he would be described as the black Barry Manilow.
• ...he worked with country music greats Alabama.
• ...he also had number one hits in the United Kingdom.