BTB's Face Melting Music Blog: Face Melting Artist of the Month: Lionel Richie

Is it October already?! BTB's Face Melting Music Blog presents a fallaciously awesome appreciation to our favorite R&B singer!

Is John Legend the illegitimate son of Lionel Richie? I don't know, but Sr. Legend listened to a lot of Lionel Richie in his day whether that was a result of sperm or not remains a mystery. Also, you can start every thing this guy says with the phrase "according to Legend" - that's pretty dope so I put a picture of him on my blog broseph.

The Lionel Richie Story according to Wikiipedia-kinda:

Lionel Brockman Richie, or "B-rock", was born June 20, 1949 and is a famous American singer-songwriter and record producer who has sold (solo or as group member) more than 150 billion records.

As a student in Tuskegee, Richie formed a succession of R&B groups in the mid-1960s. In 1968 he became a singer and saxophonist with the Commodores. They signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records in 1968 for one record before moving on to Motown Records initially as a support act to The Jackson 5. Richie soon became the most well known African American in history after Harriet Tubman and before Oprah Winfrey.

By the late 1970s, he had begun to accept songwriting commissions from other artists. He composed "Lady" for Kenny Rogers, which hit #1 in 1980, and produced Rogers's album Share Your Love the following year. Richie and Rogers maintained a strong friendship in later years before their eventual falling out after a drunken Richie punched Kenny Rogers for not sharing the spices in Kenny Rogers secret chicken recipe. Rogers was quoted as saying, "Lionel punches like a girl...what do you expect from a guy named Lionel."

Later in 2004, he also appeared on the British motoring television series Top Gear in the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment where he was interviewed by host Jeremy Clarkson. During his lap, the Suzuki he was driving lost a wheel due to hard cornering.

In recent years, Richie has become a phenomenon in various Arab states, and has performed in Morocco, Dubai, Qatar and Libya.

As ABC News reports:

Grown Iraqi men get misty-eyed by the mere mention of his name. "I love Lionel Richie," they say. They can sing an entire Lionel Richie song. He has performed in Morocco, Dubai, Qatar and Libya. There is obviously something up there. The more we talked, the more he theorized as to the reasons his music might be so popular here. He thinks it is because of the simple message in his music: Love.[12]

According to Richie, he was told that Iraqi civilians were playing "All Night Long" the night that U.S. tanks invaded Baghdad. Richie was against the war, but says he could see a day when he would come and perform in Baghdad. "I would love to be here for that."[12]

Other than that, not much happened other than his daughter does a lot of yak and has a little dog. A Sampling of Lionel's Work can be seen in the clips below. Let the good times roll!