When all is said and done, it’ll be really sad if people only remember Lionel Richie by virtue of (in order of embarrassment): *”We Are the World 2010″ *Getting the tar beat out of him by his ex-wife Brenda back in the mid-Eighties *being Nicole Richie’s father (although Nicole has done a great job disassociating herself from the whole Paris Hilton network). Fact of the matter is, Lionel Brockman Richie has been writing and performing great songs for forty years […]
Posts tagged "Lionel Richie"
Smoothed-Out Sundays: "Easy"
Generally, people think of Lionel Richie as the purveyor of a different kind of smooth…the kind that veers dangerously close to “oily”. 1977’s “Easy” comes from a time when Richie (and the Commodores, the group he was a co-lead singer, pianist and saxophonist for) had not yet crossed over into Lite-FM territory (with songs like “Three Times a Lady” and “Oh No”). It’s mellow, but it’s still funky. It’s got a killer guitar solo, a melody that’s singable without being […]
"We Are the World 25": What Were They Thinking?
25 years ago, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones created “We Are the World”. This song was written and performed to provide relief to famine-stricken Ethiopians. They assembled a group of 45 artists-most of whom were undeniable legends (Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Paul Simon, Tina Turner…even Steve Perry, Kenny Loggins and Hall & Oates), and people worldwide opened their hearts and wallets to donate to the cause. “We Are the World” became a #1 smash […]