If there were a world record for the most time a human being has said (or sang) the word “hello,” Lionel Richie would likely hold it. Richie never gets tired of singing his signature ballad and doesn’t appear to tire of joking about it. He has never seemed to be anything but tirelessly upbeat, a major factor in both his chart-topping success in the ’80s as well as the comeback he’s enjoyed in the past several years. The superstar musician parlayed the momentum generated by smash 2012 album Tuskegee into a tour that lasted more that two years, culminating this year in Richie’s All the Hits residency at Planet Hollywood Resort.
Richie is enjoying every minute of playing to audiences that reach six figures and wildly responsive festival crowds that at first left him visibly shocked at how universally loved his hits continue to be. “Mine is just a legal excuse to be a kid again,” he told BBC Breakfast anchor Louise Minchin in 2014. “I never have to grow up as long as I do live shows.” Richie does indeed barely look like he’s aged since winning an Academy Award in 1986 for “Say You, Say Me,” the fourth and final of a run of No. 1 solo hits that helped make his music both soundtrack for and symbol of the 1980s.
It’s more than ’80s nostalgia, though, that once again drives audiences into ecstasy by the millions and puts him at the top of the charts again. (His appearance after last year’s Glastonbury Festival caused a greatest hits package to rocket to No. 1 in the U.K.). Today’s concert-going audiences predominantly want upbeat entertainment, and Richie’s contagious confidence fits right into festival experiences such as 2014’s Life is Beautiful in Downtown Las Vegas, where Richie was a headlining draw. With shows that run through May 18 at the Axis at Planet Hollywood and resume in the fall, Richie will have 18 total opportunities to make life beautiful in Las Vegas during 2016.
Richie’s most fervent fans would say that’s what he’s been doing his whole life. Raised by a musically nurturing family in the supportive community of Tuskegee, Ala., Richie co-founded The Commodores while attending Tuskegee Institute. By 1971, the band began a two-year stint supporting the Jackson 5, then won over audiences as the opening act in The Rolling Stones’ 1975 tour. By 1977, The Commodores were on top of the world with songs such as funk workout “Brick House” and Richie’s ballad “Easy” reaching the Top 5, but the blockbuster success of his No. 1 duet with Diana Ross “Endless Love” in 1981 set Richie on a solo career course. His decision was validated when “Truly” hit No. 1 in 1982.
Richie went to No. 1 again with “All Night Long” in 1983 and “Hello” in 1984, as well as penning USA for Africa’s famine-relief benefit single “We Are the World” with Michael Jackson. His 1983 album Can’t Slow Down reached No. 1, but by the end of the decade, with four Grammys under his belt and pop culture cycling through other superstars, he did begin to slow down. His popularity in the Middle East continued to climb, though, as he would eventually find out, and his childhood predilection for country music that first surfaced when he composed 1980 hit “Lady” for Kenny Rogers emerged again in 2012 with Tuskegee. Reinterpretations of his classics, featuring country superstars Jason Aldean, Luke Bryant, Willie Nelson, Shania Twain and more, made the entertainment world reassess Richie’s work, and he’s been enthusiastically riding the comeback wave ever since. It will be awhile before Lionel Richie can slow down again.
Planet Hollywood Resort, 8 p.m. May 1, 4, 7-8, 11, 14-15 & 18, starting at $59 plus tax and fee. 800.745.3000 Ticketmaster
