Lionel Richie loves his fans. As a celebrity, he recognizes that puts him in a position where he's interacting with a lot of people who want to meet him.
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As a result, he tries to treat them with common courtesy and respect. His advice for aspiring stars is don't be a d--k to fans.
Richie spoke on the Artist Friendly with Joel Madden podcast with his son-in-law.
"I always say to people: what comes with success are sacrifices," Richie said. "I hope you like people. Because if you don't like people, here's how it's going to sound. You spend the first half of your career going, 'Look at me, look at me, look at me, look at me, look at me.' And then you finally get famous. 'Don't look at me. Don't look at me - don't look at me.'"
He further said, "Oh, you want to be famous and rich without the people? It doesn't work like that. You have to be able to engage."
Richie says that he knows what it feels like to be invisible. Richie can also relate to fans who are scared and nervous to approach.
"You know what it is? I was invisible once," he also said. "There's a person who... they're scared to death of you. And they want to say something to you. And you can see it on their face. They want to say something. And for me to ignore them would be the worst."
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"There's an old expression I have: Sometimes you meet the person you idolize the most, and you're sorry you met them," Richie also said. "I made a promise to myself, I'm never going to be that. Never."
Richie also explained that it only takes a couple of seconds to make a lasting impact and make someone's day. He said, "It takes you five seconds less to say: 'Hey, thanks, man,' or 'How you doing?' That's it."
Alternatively, someone could leave the occasion less than thrilled with a celebrity.
Ritchie puts it bluntly, "You know what travels fast? That guy was a freaking d--k."
"I always relate it to planting seeds," Richie also explained. "When you plant f--k you seeds, you get f--k you flowers. Nothing grows. So, if you plant a career of f--k you flowers, it's coming back to haunt you."
