Lionel Richie Performs on 'GMA'

ByABC News via logo
July 23, 2004, 3:00 PM

July 23, 2004 — -- Lionel Richie is the lord of love songs. At the height of his fame in the 1980s, he topped the charts almost every year. He has sold 100 million records, had 22 top 10 hits, and he's won enough golden statues to open up a trophy store.

Richie performed on "Good Morning America" as part of the show's summer concert series. He performed his classic hits "You Are" and "All Night Long" in addition to his new hit song, "Just for You," off his new album of the same title. As a special treat, Richie also performed "Brick House," a hit back from the days when he was with the Commodores.

Of Richie's 22 top 10 hits, 13 of them came out between 1981 and 1987. And he has won five Grammys, an Oscar and a Golden Globe.

Richie says he believes that a hit song should touch people of any age or race.

"I want to find the simplest phrase that everybody says, no matter what language you speak," he says on his official Web site. "So much of my career has been about saying things the way people say them, using melodies not that I can sing but that the people can sing."

Born in Tuskegee, Ala., he began his musical career when he formed the Commodores in college in 1967. The Commodores had three platinum albums with hits like "Sail On " and "Three Times A Lady" before Richie went solo.

Richie began to produce some work outside of the Commodores after Kenny Rogers scored a hit with his version of "Lady." Richie then produced Rogers' 1981 album, Share Your Love.

Richie's chart-topping 1981 duet with Diana Ross, "Endless Love," was Motown's most successful single. His achievements made his desire to go solo that much stronger.

In 1982, Richie went out on his own and had instant success. His first self-titled album was a huge achievement and it was quickly followed by two more multimillion sellers, 1983's Can't Slow Down and 1986's Dancing on the Ceiling.

His later albums included 1992's Back to Front, 1996's Louder Than Words, 1998's Time, 2001's Renaissance, 2003's Encore and 2003's The Definitive Collection.