Photo: U.S. State Department / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Lionel Richie's gift, as I hear it, is making sophistication sound effortless. From the Commodores' funk to the ballads that conquered the 1980s, he wrote songs so smooth that critics sometimes mistook ease for lightness — a mistake the Academy Award, the Grammys, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame eventually corrected. Coming out of Tuskegee, Alabama, he chose tenderness as his instrument in an era that often rewarded aggression, and that choice has aged beautifully. What I admire most is the durability: Hello and Easy still work on a first listen today. Richie proves that warmth, executed at the highest level, is its own kind of genius.
Overview
Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recording the hit singles "Easy", "Sail On", "Three Times a Lady", and "Still" with the group before his departure.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Lionel Richie
- Name (Japanese)
- ライオネル・リッチー
- Reading
- らいおねる・りっちー
- Born
- June 20, 1949 (age 76)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Gemini / Ox
- Origin
- Tuskegee, Alabama, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- singer / singer-songwriter / pianist / record producer / film actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Joliet Central High School
- University
- Auburn University
Awards & achievements
- 2011 Humanitarian of the Year
- 2016 Johnny Mercer Award
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
- 1984 Grammy Award for Album of the Year
- 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- 1986 Academy Award for Best Original Song
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Singer — see all → · Singer-songwriter — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-11
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.