Lionel Richie, the visitor on this episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, is a legendary singer/songwriter — first with the Commodores, then as a solo artist — in addition to a file producer, an American Idol decide and, most not too long ago, the chief producer and a topic of the Netflix documentary in regards to the making of the landmark charity single “We Are the World,” The Biggest Night time in Pop. The doc was essentially the most watched English-language movie on the streaming service the week it dropped final January, and went on to obtain three Emmy noms, together with greatest documentary or nonfiction particular. It’s now eligible for the most effective doc characteristic Oscar and is nominated for the most effective music movie Grammy.
This episode was recorded in Studio A on the former A&M Studios in Hollywood, now referred to as Henson Studios, the place Richie and 45 different A-listers recorded “We’re the World” nearly precisely 40 years in the past, on the evening of Jan. 28, 1985 into the morning of Jan. 29, 1985.
Richie has been a significant participant on this planet of music for greater than 50 years — certainly, because the New York Occasions not too long ago put it, he “began out within the age of Motown and has survived into the age of the meme.”
- He’s bought greater than 100 million albums, making him one of many bestselling artists ever.
- He’s had 5 singles attain #1 on the Billboard Sizzling 100 chart — “Countless Love,” “All Night time Lengthy,” “Good day,” “Say You, Say Me” and “Really” — and 13 that cracked its high 10.
- He’s had three albums reached #1 on the Billboard 200 — Can’t Gradual Down, Dancing on the Ceiling and Tuskegee — and 6 that cracked the highest 10.
- He has been nominated for 15 Grammys — together with six for tune of the 12 months, “Three Occasions a Girl,” “Girl,” “Countless Love,” “All Night time Lengthy,” “Good day” and “We Are the World,” which is a determine bested solely by Taylor Swift, who has gathered eight noms within the class — and he’s received 4 Grammys in complete: greatest male pop vocal efficiency for “Really” in 1983; album of the 12 months for Can’t Gradual Down and producer of the 12 months (non-classical) for himself in 1985; and tune of the 12 months for “We Are the World” in 1986.
- He’s additionally been nominated 3 times for the most effective authentic tune Oscar — as a author of “Countless Love” from the 1982 film of the identical identify, of “Miss Celie’s Blues” from the 1985 film The Coloration Purple and of “Say You, Say Me” from the 1985 film White Nights — profitable for the third of these.
- Moreover, he was an inductee into the Songwriters Corridor of Fame in 1994, the Apollo Theater’s Legends Corridor of Fame in 2012 and the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame in 2022. He was the recipient of the BET Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014, the Recording Academy’s MusiCares Individual the 12 months honor in 2016, the Songwriters Corridor of Fame’s Johnny Mercer Award in 2016, a Kennedy Heart Honor in 2017, the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Widespread Tune in 2022 and the American Music Awards’ Icon Award in 2022.
Over the course of this episode, the 75-year-old mentioned his path from small-town Alabama to the largest levels on this planet, first with the Commodores after which as a solo artist; the hits on which he labored alongside the way in which, and why so a lot of them heart on love; and why “We’re the World,” particularly, means a lot to him.
