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Singer-songwriter Lionel Richie receives the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, Jan. 27 at 10 pm
< < Back to ?p=281854LIONEL RICHIE: THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GERSHWIN PRIZE FOR POPULAR SONG
Friday, January 27 at 10 pm
International superstar Lionel Richie has a discography of albums and singles that are second to none. His music is part of the fabric of pop music. With more than 125 million albums sold worldwide, an Oscar®, a Golden Globe®, four Grammy Awards®*, the distinction of MusiCares Person of the Year in 2016, and Kennedy Center Honoree in 2017. In March 2018, Richie put his handprints and footprints in cement at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX in Hollywood, one of the oldest awards in Hollywood. He recently received the Ivor Novello PRS for Music Special International Award. The Tuskegee, Alabama native is a true music icon.
![Boyz II Men performing](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SD-PBS-LRichie-0516.jpg)
Lionel Richie is known for his mega-hits such as “Endless Love,” “Lady,” “Truly,” “All Night Long,” “Penny Lover,” “Stuck on You,” “Hello,” “Say You, Say Me,” “Dancing on the Ceiling,” and co-wrote one of the most important pop songs in history, “We Are the World,” for USA for Africa. His song catalog also includes his early work with The Commodores, where he developed a groundbreaking style that defied genre categories, penning smashes such as “Three Times a Lady,” “Still,” and “Easy.” Richie has had 11 consecutive years where he wrote #1 songs*.
Richie sold out arenas worldwide with a set list of his brightest and best anthems on his All The Hits, All Night Long Tour. In recent years, he also headlined festivals including Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, and Glastonbury, drawing the festival’s biggest crowd ever with more than 200,000 attendees.
Richie took fans on a spectacular musical journey with his latest album, Live from Las Vegas along with his most recent tour, the “Hello” tour, which kicked off in Summer 2019. The album, which was released on August 16, 2019 was #1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart. The album also marks the legendary artist’s first release on Capitol Records.
![Singer Lionel Richie accepting award](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-PBS-Gershwin-3236.jpg)
Richie was a judge on ABC’s American Idol for the past 4 seasons and is set to return to the ‘Judge’s’ chair for the show’s 20th season. He launched his Las Vegas headlining residency show, Lionel Richie—All the Hits in April 2016. In an unforgettable evening featuring his brightest and best anthems which have defined the music icon’s unparalleled career, Richie took his fans on a spectacular musical journey, performing a variety of his seminal hits. Richie recently extended his “Back to Las Vegas” residency at Wynn Las Vegas’ Encore Theater with a twelve-show engagement in 2022.
* Grammy Awards include: Album of the Year (1984) – Can’t Slow Down, Best Male Pop Performance (1982) – Truly, Producer of the Year (1984), Song of the Year (1986) – We Are The World,
* #1 songs include: 1976 Just to Be Close to You (R&B #1), 1977 Easy (R&B #1), 1978 Three Times a Lady, 1979 Still, 1980 Lady, 1981 Endless Love, 1982 Truly, 1983 All Night Long (All Night), 1984 Hello, 1985 Say You, Say Me + We Are The World, 1986 Dancing on the Ceiling (Radio & Records #1)