Lionel Richie talks about inspiration behind his biggest hits
From 'Easy' to 'Hello', Lionel Richie explains some of the inspiration behind the songs that have earned him the 'icon' status.
Lionel Richie is by far one of the greatest singers of all time.
He is also a phenomenal songwriter.
Ever since he started singing in the 1970s, he hasn't stopped serving the world with the gift of music.
He recently released a remastered HD music video of his 2006 hit, 'I Call It Love'.
He is also still performing at sold out shows and his upcoming show in Wynn, Las Vegas, is scheduled for September.
Lionel says that although he has accomplished a lot in life, his greatest achievement is being a father.
"I’ve been blessed to accomplish a lot in my life. But three of the best accomplishments are right here," he captioned a photo with his three children; Nicole, Sofia, and Miles.
Writing is therapeutic for him. He revealed this during his interview with GQ in 2018.
“I didn't realise it at the time, but it was the greatest form of therapy I ever had in my life because things that I was feeling could actually be expressed in lyrics," he said.
When it comes to writing hits, he says the secret is to "just let it come through".
He released his global hit song 'Easy' in 1977. Talking about the inspiration behind it, Lionel told GQ that it is the first song that showed him that people can relate to what he was singing about.
"I think that was the first song that actually gave me an opportunity to realise that I can write a song and people will walk up to you and go 'I feel the same way'," he said.
When it comes to the 1983 hit single, 'All Night Long', the singer says it took him a while to land on the hook.
"It took me probably about another month of just walking around my house and trying to find what is the hook," he said.
The hook finally came when he went to dinner at his friend's house who was from Jamaica.
In the same year, Lionel released another major hit, 'Hello'. He says he was playing the piano and sang the words 'hello, is it me you are looking for' when R Michael walked in and said to him 'yes'. He then encouraged him to make it into a full song.
"I'm now writing the song to finish it, to make him happy , but I'm not thrilled about it, until I write the lyrics." The song went on to become a success and topped Billboard music charts. The album which the single is taken from, 'Can’t Slow Down', won the 1984 Grammy for 'Album of the Year'.
In total, Lionel has won five Grammy Awards and has sold over 100-million records worldwide.
His other hits include 'Penny Lover', 'Just for You', 'Truly', 'Running With the Night', 'We Are the World', 'Say You, Say Me', 'Stuck on You', 'Endless Love', and 'Dancing with the Ceiling'.
Today, the star is celebrating his birthday and East Coast Gold will be playing some of these classics. Listen here.
For loads of fantastic 60s, 70s, and 80s classics, listen to East Coast Gold via the ECR app or here. We’re also on platforms like Alexa (just enable the ‘East Coast Gold’ skill), MyTuner, Radio Garden, iono.fm, Radioline, and OpenRadio.
Who's on-air when?
See the full line-up by clicking here!