Wed 09.07.2025
His career began more than 50 years ago when he co-founded The Commodores in Detroit in 1969. The sextet first caused a stir in 1971 as the backing band for the Jackson Five, and the funk'n'soul band celebrated its greatest successes with ‘Easy’, ‘Three Times A Lady’ and ‘Still’. Lionel Richie left the Commodores in the early 1980s and ‘Endless Love’, a duet with Diana Ross, became his first number one hit in 1981. From 1982 to 1985, he reached the top of the Billboard charts with one song every year: ‘Truly’, ‘All Night Long’, ‘Hello’ and ‘Say You, Say Me’: he also received an Oscar for this song from the film ‘White Nights’ in 1986.
In 2012, Lionel Richie released ‘Tuskagee’, a tribute to his hometown in the US state of Alabama. On his tenth studio album, he covered his own earlier hits with guest performers as a country version. He continued to make his presence felt on stage, especially in the USA, whether on his ‘Sing a Song All Night Long’ tour in 2023 or at his residency shows at the Wynn Encore Theatre in Las Vegas. Lionel Richie will return to Europe in 2025 - and play his greatest hits at the same venue ten years after his last appearance in the Olympic Hall.
Fotocredit: Alan Silfen