The Richies: Father-Daughter Duet
Sept. 7, 2006 — -- Lionel Richie -- one in a handful of artists who owned the '80s pop charts -- may have made his mark in the music industry through his love songs, but his private life has been riddled with drama, divorce and despair.
Now Richie's new album, "Coming Home," approaches those darker issues. In the album, Richie mourns his mistakes and celebrates his renewed relationship with his family, including with his daughter Nicole.
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Departing from The Commodores to go solo in 1981 established Richie as an artist whose love songs composed the soundtrack of his fans' lives.
"The main praise I get are not from women," Richie said in an interview with "20/20."
"The main praise I get are from guys: 'Lionel, I've made love to you many times, boy.'"
Richie's love life became tabloid fodder in 1988, when reports alleged that his then-wife, Brenda, had uncovered his affair with Diane Alexander -- the woman who would eventually become his third wife.
He divorced Brenda to marry Alexander in 1996, but they ultimately divorced in 2003.
"I remember it didn't affect me quite as badly as the first," Richie said. "It was a dear friend of mine, Elizabeth Taylor, who gave me some great advice. I went to her one day, and I said, 'Elizabeth, you've been divorced seven, eight times. How do you do it?' She said, 'The first one is the hardest. After that, you have an idea what's coming.'"
But marital worries were to be the least of Richie's problems.
As the man who led the star-studded singalong "We Are the World," and who closed the 1984 Olympics with "All Night Long," he was suddenly faced with the threat of losing his most precious gift: his singing voice.
Singing was one of Richie's greatest comforts and coping mechanisms.
"I know this may sound strange," he said. "But, you know, if your father's dying, write a song. If your divorce is going bad, write a song. When your voice goes out."
The next four years, he endured four surgeries to regain his voice.
It wasn't until he saw a holistic doctor, who diagnosed him with acid reflux, that Richie was able to sing again.
"I was the happiest brother on the planet when I found out that's all it was," Richie said.
Richie was instructed to change his bedtime diet, a big change from the years on the road in which he had adhered to an "anything goes" meal plan to try to gain weight.
Remaining robust in the face of stress was a lifelong issue for Richie, going back to his childhood in Alabama where he was known as "Toothpick."
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