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Lionel Richie
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Miami Vice Performer
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Born
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June 20, 1949, Tuskegee, Alabama
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Active
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1968-present
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Spouse(s)/Children
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Brenda Harvey (1975-1993, divorced), one daughter
Diane Alexander (1995-2004, divorced), two children |
Lionel Brockman Richie (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter whose song "All Night Long (All Night)" appeared in the episode "Brother's Keeper" of the show Miami Vice, sung by a house band.
Career[]
Richie was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, near the Tuskegee Institute. While attending that institution, he formed the R&B band, The Commodores, in 1968. Over their career, The Commodores had several Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 & Top Soul Tracks singles, including "(Just To Be) Close To You", "Oh, No", "Easy", "Sail On", and their #1 singles "Brick House", "Still", and "Three Times A Lady", mostly written by Richie. He then began writing songs for other artists, such as Kenny Rogers ("Lady", which spent 6 weeks at #1), and his song "Endless Love" from the movie of the same name (sung by Richie & Diana Ross) spent nine weeks at #1. After the success of "Endless Love", Richie left The Commodores to pursue a solo career, and had instant success, his self-titled debut solo album sold well and produced yet another #1 song, "Truly", and two Top 5 singles, "You Are" and "My Love". In 1983 he released Can't Slow Down which featured "All Night Long (All Night)" (#1 for three weeks), where he changed his style from balladeer to dance singer, but returned to his slower beats with "Hello", "Running Through The Night", and "Penny Lover", all of which made the Top 10. He then made a hit for the movie White Nights, "Say You, Say Me" (#1 for four weeks), which won him an Oscar, and was a co-writer (with Michael Jackson) of the famine relief single "We Are The World". His final widely popular album, Dancing on the Ceiling, was released in 1986 and produced two more Top 10 singles ("Ballerina Girl" and the title track). In 1987, exhausted from his workload over the previous few years, he took time off to care for his ailing father in Alabama, who passed away in 1990. In 1992 his greatest hits compilation, Back to Front was released, along with two other albums, Time and Louder Than Words, but none of his albums could match his earlier success. In 2006 he returned to the Top 10 for the first time in nearly two decades with the single "I Call It Love", featuring his adopted daughter Nicole in the video for the song. In 2010 he re-mixed the 25th anniversary "We Are The World", done this time for survivors of the 2010 Haitian Earthquake, his part was sung by Justin Bieber. In 2012, Richie released a new album, Tuskegee, which featured several of Richie's previous hits sung with current Country artists like Shania Twain, Darius Rucker, Jason Aldean, and Kenny Chesney, and classic country/rock artists like Kenny Rogers and Jimmy Buffett (who performed "All Night Long" with Richie). In 2013 his "All The Hits All Night Long" tour was launched and was successful, then an 2015 appearance in the UK's Glastonbury Festival drew over 100,000 fans. In 2017 Richie (along with Katy Perry and Luke Bryan) were chosen as judges for the relaunched American Idol series. In 2022, Richie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Personal life[]
Richie married his high school sweetheart, Brenda Harvey, in 1975. The couple adopted a daughter, Nicole Camille Escovedo (born 1981), the daughter of Peter Escovedo (brother of Sheila E., who performed in Lionel's band, her biological mother was Sheila E's executive assistant). Known now as Nicole Richie, her escapades with friend Paris Hilton as well as her own brushes with the law became legendary. Richie has two grandchildren from Nicole and her husband, musician Joel Madden. The marriage between Richie & Harvey began to fall apart in 1988 when she allegedly found her husband and his mistress, Diane Alexander (who was involved with Richie since 1986), in a Beverly Hills apartment. After a confrontation, Harvey was arrested and charged with spousal abuse, trespassing and vandalism. They divorced in 1993, then Richie & Alexander married in 1995. They had two children: Miles Brockman (born 1995) and Sofia (born 1998) before their divorce in 2004.