Lionel Richie on How He Covers When He Forgets the Lyrics on Stage
Lionel Richie
Who has it better than Lionel Richie right now?
On Jan. 25, the singer’s youngest daughter, Sofia, announced that she’s pregnant with her first child. “It was just a blink ago I was holding her!” he says with a flash of his megawatt smile. “Now she’s calling me on the phone and saying, ‘This is happening.’” It’s a moment of sheer bliss because you can see that look on her face and on [music executive husband] Elliot [Grainge]’s face. They’re in the soup now!”
Cover photo by Ramona Rosales
Then there’s his other baby, The Greatest Night in Pop, which started streaming on Netflix on Jan. 29. And make no mistake: The documentary is sheer bliss for anyone who loves music, A-list celebrities and a worthwhile cause (even better if you remember the 1980s). Richie is an executive producer and key narrator of the film, which chronicles the making of the Grammy-winning 1985 charity single “We Are the World.”
It says something about Richie’s considerable stature that “We Are the World” is one of many milestones in a legendary career. The Tuskegee, Ala., native started out in the early 1970s as a member of the R&B group The Commodores. He went solo in the 1980s and promptly earned his first of four Grammys (for the ballad “Truly”). His 1983 album, Can’t Slow Down, sold 39 million copies and won the Grammy for Album of the Year. He'll be a presenter at this year's ceremony airing Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
On the cusp of turning 75 in June, Richie still, well, can’t slow down. A proud father (to entrepreneur Nicole, 42, and model Sofia, 25) and grandfather (to Nicole and rocker Joel Madden’s kids Harlow, 16, and Sparrow, 13), he’s hitting the road this summer for a tour with Earth, Wind & Fire. He also starts his seventh season as a judge with Katy Perry and Luke Bryan on American Idol starting Feb. 18 on ABC.
“He’s a pop icon, right?” says Bao Nguyen, The Greatest Night in Pop director who introduced the film alongside Richie for its premiere at the recent 40th annual Sundance Film Festival. “I’ve seen him in concert a couple of times in the past year, and he knows how to command a stage.”
To top it all off, Nguyen adds, “He’s generous and thoughtful and loves telling great stories.”
To be sure, Richie tells plenty of those stories in the documentary, sharing in fascinating detail—along with participants such as Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper and Dionne Warwick—how on a January evening in 1985, dozens of artists checked their egos at the door and pulled an all-nighter for the worthwhile cause of African famine relief. Bob Dylan showed his nerves; Stevie Wonder tried to tweak the lyrics. Prince, meanwhile, was a touch-and-go no-show. “We walked in the studio as some very hot-shot polished assassins and we left a family,” says Richie, who co-wrote the song with Michael Jackson. The recording raised more than $63 million.
Over Zoom from L.A. on a late Friday afternoon—just two days before the 39th anniversary of the “We Are the World” recording session—a chatty Richie tells all for this week’s Parade cover story.
Mara Reinstein: “We Are the World” won the Grammy for Song of the Year in 1986. As we approach the 2024 awards, what do you remember about that night?
Lionel Ritchie: You have all your peers in the audience and surprisingly enough, they all voted for you. How about that? Somebody has to lose but the vote was for us! It’s a wonderful confirmation because this is the Grammys. The Recording Academy is a hardcore group and they have to believe in what you’re doing. So that really meant a lot to us. Michael kept saying “You talk first.” And I went “No, you talk first!” We weren’t sure how to navigate such a huge moment.
When you’re writing a song, is the ultimate goal for it to reach No. 1 or win a prestigious award?
The top priority is how many people can sing this song without me. When you’re driving down the street and you hear it, you need to be able to sing every lyric. In other words, it’s familiar. If I’m in the middle of the stage and I forget the lyrics, there’s a wonderful period where I go “Come on, everybody.” And they’re singing louder than I am. That’s why you write the song.
That’s kind of an unexpected answer, but it makes sense.
Don’t get me wrong—right after that, it’s how many records did we sell and where’s the check!
Is “All Night Long” still the go-to?
It’s a go-to. But excuse me? I’m walking down the street and every day someone says [the name of his 1984 hit] “Hello.” I walk into a doctor’s office and they “Hello—oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Richie. I didn’t mean that.”
Seriously, Adele released her song “Hello” and people still thought of your version from decades earlier.
I heard people going “What are you going to do? She stole ‘Hello!’” And I had to say, “No, she didn’t steal ‘Hello.’ I don’t own the word ‘Hello’!’” You know what it is? When you have songs people sing every day, you kind of own that lane. That’s a compliment.
What was so great about being a huge star during the ‘80s?
I’m so glad I made it when I did. We didn’t have to worry about finding me on Instagram or TikTok or YouTube. You just had to hear me on the radio. There was a uniqueness to the voice. Prince didn’t sound like Michael Jackson. Don’t get me wrong—everybody can sing their hearts out now but I can’t identify the voices.
Surely you see it on American Idol—even singers with national TV exposure have a tough time breaking through. There’s only one Kelly Clarkson.
I see it every day. Congratulations, you can sing. Now who are you? What the contestants don’t understand is that I’m not looking for singers; I’m looking for stylists. If Willie Nelson is on Idol, every song is going to sound like Willie Nelson. Because the truth is that today everybody can do vocal acrobatics! I say it to Luke and Katy says it to me all the time—we wouldn’t want to compete with those singers on the stage. Thank God we have songs we can use and thank God we are who we are.
What were your original expectations of doing the show?
I did not know what it was going to be. When Simon [Cowell] was there, he kept on asking me to do the show and I was touring. All of a sudden, all these years later, it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever done because now I can give advice. I get to explain that it’s about survival. Can you take the pressure of “no”? Because you’re going to hear “no” a million times before you hear “yes.” I brought in “Three Times a Lady” and I was told it was garbage because nobody wanted to hear a waltz in the middle of funk. Nobody wanted to hear “All Night Long” because it was calypso.
Working on The Greatest Night in Pop, what kind of memories were stirred up?
It was just a flood of everything. My job was to be the hall monitor and make sure it all got done. At 5 o’clock in the morning, we were all in terror. It wasn’t until 7 until I got the feeling that we could land the plane. But I did get my list [of autographs]. I don’t have everyone, though. I think I missed Billy Joel.
What was it like watching your friend and collaborator, Michael Jackson at the height of his fame?
You have to understand something. I live in this world of “Nah, it didn’t happen.” It took this documentary to bring me back into some kind of reality where I can go Holy cow, Michael is not here. But watching Michael brought me back to who he is and what that night was all about.
Why did you get the first line of the song?
Because the line was in my vocal comfort zone. I get a phone call saying Bruce Springsteen is on board. Then Tina [Turner] comes onboard. Then Steve Perry comes on board and he sings above, above the zone. So where would I feel comfortable with all these people? I’m coming in first. I’m no fool!
Beyond the charity aspect, what really made “We Are the World” so special?
You’ve got the greatest vocalists in the world, but we still had to remind Bob Dylan to sing like Bob Dylan! No one will ever put that vulnerability into anything today. You won’t see somebody say, “I’m not sure about this.” But everyone dropped their guard. You saw the real deal. Nothing was manufactured that got cleaned up later.
So you don’t think the likes of Beyoncé and Taylor Swift could ever get together for a big group single?
No, no, no. So many things have just changed. You could never get that much star power and ego standing next to each other without the manager, the agent, the makeup artists. And they’d have to learn the song on the spot! It’s never going to happen. We were standing in a circle and facing each other and had to be brilliant for just a half a line. We were all scared to death! Poor Huey Lewis was in between Michael Jackson and Cyndi Lauper and going “Guys, you’re killing me!”
Related: Lionel Richie on His 'Secret' Performance for King Charles' Coronation
How old were you when you did your first paying gig?
I was probably 19. The Commodores was it. I went on stage and the joke was that the curtains opened and I walked off with the curtains. I didn’t realize I had to be in the middle of the stage. And I was not the singer—I was the saxophone player. Actually, I was the saxophone holder because I just had to hit three notes. We started out in clubs and really had to learn how to perform. Unlike today, nobody would just put us on stage at Madison Square Garden. It’s hard to handle that. That’s why so many singers have 40 dancers around them; it’s to distract you from the singing!
In your Hall of Fame speech, you thanked your family for supporting you even when you weren’t around. What’s the dynamic like now?
It’s a two-fold thing. Yes, there are moments when I walk in the door and go, I need to spend more time with my family because I missed this opportunity. Yes, I was there for Thanksgivings, but as time went on, the rocket got faster. But there are also days when I walk in and go, “You guys have any idea who I am? You can’t talk to me like that!” I want to flex my muscles. But I have to say, the most satisfying words you’ll ever hear in your whole life is “I love you, Dad.”
Do your two grandkids see you in concert a lot?
They know how to work it! They bring the whole class to the concert and we don’t care. They’re so cool about it. Their friends are backstage going crazy and my grandkids are just going, “That’s Pop-Pop. We see him every day.”
“We Are the World” happened before they were born, of course. So, was there a big family screening of the documentary?
I can’t take too much more “before you were born.” So, I’ll tell you. I knew things were serious when I got invited to Sparrow’s class. They’re having famous musicians and songwriters visit for the day, and of course they’re going to bring in Sparrow’s Pop-Pop. And the kids were singing “We Are the World!” They knew the words by heart. That’s what Michael and I set out to do.
Where do you keep all your awards and gold records?
My museum is my library. Every once in a while, I walk in and close the door and think, OK, where was I in ’74? Boom. Where was I in ’84? Boom. It’s just a reminder that the rocket is still flying but that I’m also so blessed and grateful. To have a career that lasts decades and to have 9-year-olds who watch me on Idol stop me and go “Lionel!” is just crazy.
What are your thoughts on retirement?
Retirement is when God says, “That’s it. Lionel, thank you very much. Come on home.” My philosophy when I first got into the business was OK, the light is green. How much money can you take out of the bank or how many things can you put in the grocery cart before it turns red? For me, it’s how many songs can I write? How many tours can I go on? How many things can I do before it turns red? I’m not going to do some stupid thing like retire while the light is still green!
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
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