Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, 
songwriter, record producer who has sold more than 100 million records.

In the mid-1960s, Richie formed a succession of R&B groups. In 1968 he became 
the lead singer and saxophonist with the Commodores. They signed a recording 
contract with Atlantic Records in 1968 for one record before moving on to 
Motown Records. 

The Commodores became established as a popular soul group, their first several 
albums had a danceable, funky sound (with such tracks as "Machine Gun" and 
"Brick House"). Over time, Richie wrote and sang more romantic, easy-listening 
ballads such as, "Easy," "Three Times a Lady" and "Still."

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 he produced Rogers' 
Share Your Love album the following year. Also in 1981, Richie sang a duet with 
Diana Ross in the theme song for the film Endless Love. Issued as a single, the 
song topped the UK and U.S. pop music charts, and it became one of Motown's biggest 
hits. Its success encouraged Richie to branch out into a full-fledged solo career.

In 1982, Richie released his self-titled debut album which contained three hit 
singles: the huge U.S. #1 song, "Truly" that launched his career as one of the most 
successful balladeers of the 1980's. Other U.S. Top Five hits "You Are" and "My Love." 
The album made it to #3 on the music charts and sold over 4 million copies. 

His 1983 follow up album, Can't Slow Down, sold over twice as many copies and won two 
Grammy Awards including Album of The Year, propelling him into the first rank of 
international superstars. Also, The album spawned the #1 hit, "All Night Long," a 
Caribbean-flavored dance number that was promoted by a colorful music video produced 
by former Monkee, Michael Nesmith.

Several more Top 10 hits followed, the most successful of which was the ballad, 
"Hello" (1984), a sentimental love song that showed how far Richie had moved 
from his R&B roots. Richie had three more Top Ten hits in 1984, "Stuck On 
You"(U.S.#3), "Running With the Night"(U.S.#7) and "Penny Lover"(U.S.#8). 

In 1985, Richie wrote and performed a suitably soothing theme song, "Say You, 
Say Me," for the film White Nights, winning an Oscar for his efforts as well as 
reaching #1 on the U.S. charts and staying there for four weeks, earning him 
the #1 song of 1985 according to Billboard's year-end Hot 100 chart. He also 
collaborated with Michael Jackson on the charity single, "We Are the World," by 
USA for Africa, another #1 hit.

In 1986, Richie released, Dancing on the Ceiling, his last widely popular 
album, which produced a run of US and UK hits including, "Say You, Say 
Me"(U.S.#1), "Dancing on the Ceiling"(U.S.#2), "Ballerina Girl"(U.S.#7) and "Se
 La"(U.S.#20). 

By 1987, Richie was exhausted from his work schedule and after a controversial 
year laid low taking care for his father in Alabama. His father, Lionel Sr., 
died in 1990 and Richie returned to recording and performing following the 
release of his first greatest-hits collection, Back to Front, in 1992.

His albums in the 1990s such as, Louder Than Words, and Time all failed to 
achieve the previous decade's commercial success. Some of his recent work such 
as the album, Renaissance, has returned to his older style, achieving success 
in Europe, but only modest notice in the United States. Since 2004, he has 
produced a total of six Top 40 singles in the UK.

In 2002, Richie's song, "Running with the Night," was featured on the Rockstar 
North video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, though the song was removed from 
later versions of the game.

In 2004, he appeared on Canadian Idol as his songs were featured during a 
Canadian Idol week. 

In November 2005, Lionel Richie performed with Kenny Rogers, who has remained a 
close friend since the days of "Lady," on a CMT Crossroads special. The show 
gave an informative insight into their friendship both in and out of the music 
world. Richie was also the headliner at a 2006 Fourth of July tribute concert 
with Fantasia Barrino at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 

Richie released his eighth studio album entitled "Coming Home" on September 12, 
2006. The first single of the album was, "I Call It Love," and was premiered in 
July 2006, becoming his biggest hit in the U.S. in ten years. The album was an 
incredible success for Richie in the United States, peaking at #6. His adopted 
daughter Nicole Richie stars in the music video for this track. On December 9, 
2006, Richie hosted and performed live on the British television show, An 
Audience with Lionel Richie.

On February 11, 2007, Richie performed his 80s hit song, "Hello," on the 
televised Grammy Awards show. On November 25, 2007, he made a surprise 
appearance on the Australian Idol grand finale performing "All Night Long (All 
Night)" at the Sydney Opera House. 

On May 2, 2008, Lionel Richie was the 21st recipient of the George and Ira 
Gershwin Lifetime Achievement Award at UCLA's annual Spring Sing. In accepting 
the award, Richie said: "Forget about surviving 30 some odd years in the music 
business, Lionel Richie survived 27 years of Nicole Richie."

In November 2008, Richie appeared in South Africa for the radio show called The 
Rude Awakening, on Highveld Stereo where Jeremy Mansfield created a show called 
Lionels where the 4 Rude Awakening DJs Paul Rotherham, Sam Cowen, Whackhead 
Simpson and Bongani Nxumalo all performed as contestants in this Idols style 
show called Lionels. Richie showed how much of a good sport he was when Sam 
Cowen threw off the wig she was wearing to declare how much she loved him, 
Richie went along with it - even running around the room so she could chase 
him. On December 31, 2008, Richie performed in Times Square for the New Year's 
Eve celebration and ball drop.

On May 20, 2009, Richie performed for the season finale of American Idol season 
8 with the contestant Danny Gokey.

After the Success of "Coming Home" in 2006, a new album, "Just Go," was 
released in the Spring of 2009 - around this time Lionel confirmed there is to 
be a Commodores Reunion in the near future or, Richie said, "...in the next 10 
years no one will care."