- Lionel Richie was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1949.
- He’s the son of Lionel Brockman Richie Sr. and Alberta R. Encourage.
- His father was a military analyst and his mother a teacher.
- Lionel Richie pondered becoming an Episcopal priest.
- He married Brenda Harvey on Oct. 18, 1975.
- Nicole Richie, Miles Brockman, and Sofia Richie are his three children.
- Lionel Richie is the recipient of four Grammy Awards.
- He won the first RIAA diamond album award.
- He raised $3.1 million for Breast Cancer Research.
- Lionel Richie’s estimated net worth is $200 million.
Lionel Richie is an American artist, musician, music producer, and television judge. His full name is Lionel Brockman Ritchie Jr., and he was born on June 20th, 1949 in the United States.
Lionel Richie‘s Early Life
Lionel Richie was born to U.S. Armed force analytic specialist Lionel Brockman Richie Sr. and teacher Alberta R. Encourage on June 20, 1949, in Tuskegee, Alabama. On March 4, 2011, he appeared on the NBC show Who Do You Think You Are?, where it was revealed that his maternal amazing grandfather was the public head of an early African-American fraternal organisation.
Amazingly, after the end of the Civil War, J. Louis Brown became the head coordinator and Preeminent Great Archon of the Knights of Wise Men, a welcoming organisation for persons of colour. It was formed in Nashville in 1879 as a friendly protection and entombment benefit society, one of many of its kind.
Lionel Richie spent his formative years on the Tuskegee Institute campus before continuing his education at Joliet Township Secondary School, East Grounds. Once a top tennis player in Joliet, he accepted a tennis scholarship to attend Tuskegee Institute, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in economics.
Though he was baptised into the Episcopal Church, Lionel Richie ultimately decided he was not “minister material” and pursued a career in music instead. He is a real-life Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity brother and a member of Kappa Psi, a public honour clique for band members.
Lionel Richie’s Personal Life
In a ceremony held on October 18, 1975, Richie wed Brenda Harvey, the girl he had been in love with since high school. They adopted Nicole Camille Escovedo (now Nicole Richie), then two years old and the daughter of a member of Lionel’s band and the niece of Sheila E., the drummer. Once Nicole was nine years old, the Richies legally took her in and raised her as their own daughter.
Brenda Harvey was arrested in June of 1988 after she found Lionel Richie in Diane Alexander’s Beverly Slopes apartment. She was charged with assault on a companion, resisting arrest, invading, defacing, violence, and disturbing the peace. After nearly 18 years of marriage, Lionel Richie and Brenda Harvey divorced on August 9, 1993. On December 21, 1995, Lionel Richie and Diane Alexander exchanged their vows in a wedding ceremony. Miles Brockman, their son, was born on May 27, 1994, and they also have a daughter, Sofia Richie, who was born on August 24, 1998. In 2004, the couple decided to end their marriage.
For four years, Lionel Richie battled throat problems, ultimately requiring medical surgery on many occasions. This was all before conventional doctors warned him he might have to give up singing forever. A general practitioner he consulted concluded that Lionel Richie’s problem was simply indigestion brought on by the sources of food he was consuming right before bed.
When Nicole Richie gave birth to a daughter with Good Charlotte’s lead singer, Joel Rueben Madden, in 2008, Lionel Richie became a grandfather. In 2009, Richie and his daughter welcomed his second grandchild into the world.
Lionel Richie’s Career
In the 1970s, Lionel Richie rose to prominence as a songwriter and co-lead vocalist of funk band the Commodores, with whom he recorded the smash singles “Easy,” “Sail On,” “Three Times a Lady,” and “Still” before leaving the group. The song “Lady,” which Kenny Rogers recorded and reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 with in 1980, was written and produced by him. The next year, he co-wrote and co-produced the megahit “Endless Love,” which included a duet with Diana Ross and is still one of the 20 best-selling singles of all time.
The album Lionel Richie, released in 1982, marked the beginning of his solo career and went on to sell more than four million copies and produce the hit singles “You Are,” “My Love,” and “Truly.”
With over 20 million copies sold worldwide, including the number one singles “All Night Long (All Night)” and “Hello,” his second album, 1983’s Can’t Slow Down, quickly became one of the best-selling albums of all time and the highest-charting record in the United States. Then in 1985, he and Michael Jackson collaborated on the mega-selling charity record “We Are the World,” which has sold over 20 million copies worldwide.
His third studio album, 1986’s Dancing on the Ceiling, had the top two hits “Say You, Say Me” (from the movie White Nights) and the title song (which peaked at number two). Richie took a sabbatical from making albums between 1986 and 1996, but has subsequently recorded seven.
It’s safe to say that Lionel Richie’s solo career in the ’80s made him one of the most popular male singers of love songs. He is one of the best-selling musicians of all time with record sales of over 100 million copies.
Lionel Richie’s Achievements
The song “We Are the World” and the album “Can’t Slow Down” both won Grammys, giving Lionel Richie a total of four. Both “Say You, Say Me” and “Endless Love” were nominated for an Oscar, but only “Say You, Say Me” took home the trophy for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes.
In 2016, Lionel Richie was presented with the Johnny Mercer Award, which is the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s most prestigious honour.
The Library of Congress awarded him the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song that same year, 2022, and he was also inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame. In 2022, Lionel Richie joined the other music legends in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Lionel Richie‘s Net Worth
As a result of his many accomplishments, Lionel Richie’s net worth is estimated to be in the region of $200 million.