Country is bringing in a little rock element… a little ’80s element. Melody is king now. But its just in the music, its not so much in the songwriting, which is still very basic to the storytelling aspect of it. – Lionel Richie
When I came up with the idea for ‘Tuskegee,’ I didn’t want to be confined by boundaries of age, genre or demographics. I am thrilled with how well this album has been received by people from all walks of life. It is truly living up to the vision we had when we created it. – Lionel Richie
I want to let everybody know that I’m from there, and country is Tuskegee. Or should I say rather, my country is Tuskegee. I was born and raised there, it’s not just someplace I passed through one day. – Lionel Richie
You cannot beat the feeling of sitting on top of the charts. I had almost forgotten what it feels like… It feels great! It is really a very exciting time and I am enjoying the ride. – Lionel Richie
I think the whole world is dying to hear someone say, ‘I love you.’ I think that if I can leave the legacy of love and passion in the world, then I think I’ve done my job in a world that’s getting colder and colder by the day. – Lionel Richie
It’s quite interesting that in my growing up I had several influences. We had gospel music on campus. R&B music was, of course, the community, and radio was country music. So I can kind of see where all the influences came from. – Lionel Richie
The best compliment that has ever been given to me was, I was at the airport one day and a guy came in and said, ‘Lionel, my wife loves you, the kids love you, my mother-in-law loves you, the family loves you.’ – Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie, love song, OK, thank you very much, good-bye. And all of a sudden I realized that, in my career, what has made my career has always been the surprises. – Lionel Richie
Taking time to sit back and watch and think about what you’ve seen is important. Traveling did a great deal to me. I found that when I travel and just sit in the corner and watch, a million ideas come to me. – Lionel Richie
Kids will keep it real. If I’ve ever had in my life a great anchor, it’s them. They get in your head, ‘don’t get too famous.’ If you think you’re really famous and think you’re really hip, go hang out with your kids for an afternoon. That’s about as earthbound as it’s going to get. – Lionel Richie
I find the greatest songs in the world come out of pain, and I don’t like it! Here’s what it does: It strips away all of your facade. It makes you so honest. It’s cleansing. – Lionel Richie
Greatness comes from fear. Fear can either shut us down and we go home, or we fight through it. – Lionel Richie
People, as critical as it looks, we’re OK. We are in control, whether we feel it or not. – Lionel Richie
Just when I think it couldn’t get any bigger, ‘Tuskegee’ reaches a new level of success. – Lionel Richie
So much of my career has been about saying things the way people say them, using melodies not that I can sing but that the people can sing. – Lionel Richie
I find myself going out on the road to get my confidence back, because I lose it at home. – Lionel Richie
Country music has always been about as close to R&B as you can possibly get. We’re storytellers. – Lionel Richie
I knew I was going to do a country album one day. But I was just trying to figure out for the life of me, what we were going to do to make it different, unique. – Lionel Richie
By growing up in Alabama, I had a melting pot of the whole pie: R&B, gospel, country. – Lionel Richie
Your kids can say some cruel things to you at times. For example, Nicole, Miles and Sofie are standing there in the room and I’m dressed to kill in my own mind. They’ll say to me, ‘Dad, you’re not going out there looking like that are you?’ If that doesn’t kill a star, I don’t know what does! – Lionel Richie
I grew up with the Grand Ole Opry, Dottie West, Conway Twitty, Buck Owens… not realizing it was influencing me as much as it was. – Lionel Richie
It was very interesting in my world, because I grew up as a fan and I did not know that there was a thing called R&B, pop, country, classical – I just knew that I loved music. – Lionel Richie
Exactly when people are in turmoil is the time that the entertainment business has always been at its best. Because people don’t want to be reminded every day that they are under siege, or that they’re not having a great time of life. – Lionel Richie
