Artist Biographies

Starting with The Commodores and then moving onto a successful solo career, singer/songwriter Lionel Richie has become one of the greatest contemporary R&B artists of our time. Beginning with funk hits such as "Brick House," Richie later became known for writing and singing contemporary love ballads like "Easy" and The Commodores number one pop hits, "Three Times a Lady" and "Still". The Commodores went onto become the most successful act on the Motown label during the late '70s.

On top of his successes with The Commodores, Richie also had hits writing for fellow artists as well. He composed #1 hit, "Lady" for Kenny Rogers and in 1981, Richie wrote and then sang with Diana Ross on the theme song for the film Endless Love- which eventually became a mega hit in the UK and the U.S., as well as becoming the most successful single in Motown history, topping the charts for nine weeks.

After signing as a solo artist with Motown in 1982, Richie released his self-titled debut album including his first solo number one hit, "Truly." His sophomore release, Can't Slow Down, went on to win two Grammy Awards including Album of the Year and the album spawned five Top Ten singles including the international #1 hit, "All Night Long (All Night)", catapulting it into even greater success, eventually selling over ten million copies.

By 1984, Richie was widely revered as an international pop star, confirmed by his invitation to perform at the closing ceremonies of the Olympics that year. Taking part in a monumental moment in music, Richie teamed up with Michael Jackson in 1985 to write the USA for Africa charity single "We Are the World," which helped to raise millions of dollars for famine relief. Richie went on to top the charts yet again with "Say You, Say Me," an Oscar winning ballad from the film White Nights.

By 1987, Richie had scored thirteen consecutive Top Ten hits on the pop charts, five of them number ones. After scoring at least one number-one hit per year between 1977 and 1985 on the American pop charts, Richie decided to take a break. Upon his return, Richie released new albums such as Louder than Words , Time, and his 2006 album Coming Home, a Grammy nominated collaboration with an all-star line up, ranging from urban hit maker/rapper Jermaine Dupri to soulful R&B singer Raphael Saadiq. And now, Lionel Richie has just released his latest CD, entitled Just Go with the title track as his first single.

Only on A&E's PRIVATE SESSIONS - In an in-depth exclusive interview, Lionel Richie visits with host Lynn Hoffman to give insight on his decades-spanning career and his ever-growing list of successes and accolades as well as performing hits "All Night Long (All Night)", "Hello", "Easy", "Three Times a Lady" and new music off his highly anticipated new release, Just Go. Plus, don't miss it when we surprise Lionel with questions from Smokey Robinson and Kelly Rowland! Without a doubt, Lionel Richie has, and will continue to, leave a lasting impact on the music industry and we are happy to have him as our guest, here on Private Sessions.