Lionel Richie is an American singer, songwriter, and producer, born June 20, 1949, in Tuskegee, Alabama. He first rose to fame as a member of the Motown group the Commodores from 1968, writing ballads such as “Easy” and “Three Times a Lady,” before launching a hugely successful solo career in 1982 with hits including “Truly” and the 1983 album “Can’t Slow Down,” which sold over 20 million copies. He co-wrote the charity single “We Are the World” (1985) with Michael Jackson and won an Academy Award for “Say You, Say Me.”

One of the top-selling artists of the 1980s and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee (2022), Richie helped define the era’s crossover pop-soul ballad sound.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Richie