Nowadays, Lionel Richie is one of the elder statesmen of popular music: a broad umbrella that covers pop, rock, R&B, soul and even country music. This can be seen every time he imparts wisdom on "American Idol" hopefuls.
He entered rare pop cultural air starting in the '70s with The Commodores, a funk and soul group from Richie's hometown of Tuskegee, Ala. Some of the band's defining singles — namely "Easy" — previewed things to come from the future solo megastar. As you'll revisit shortly, Richie's sweet ballads provided a counterpunch to "Brick House" and other raunchier, heavier Commodores classics.
In 1982, Richie recorded a solo album at the behest of both his bandmates and their label home, Motown. Instant success followed, leading Richie to leave The Commodores and embrace his seemingly inevitable run of '80s dominance. One year later came the diamond-certified LP Can't Slow Down, which went on to win the Grammy for Album of the Year. His next album, Dancing on the Ceiling, verified that Richie was among the voices of the decade.
Although a 10-year hiatus of albums followed Dancing on the Ceiling, his star never faded. Scattered songs since his 1976-86 run have reminded us why he's one of the greatest multi-genre ballad singers and writers of the past 50 years.
Read on for Wide Open Country's picks for Richie's 20 best songs.
Paul Natkin/Getty Images Early in his solo run, Richie stuck with the D-flat major tunes that marked his final years with The Commodores. Though his later solo material made a bigger impact on pop culture, this and other tracks off Richie's self-titled album don't fall prey to '80s overproduction. Rick Diamond/Getty Images Richie began the decade he dominated as a member of his hometown band The Commodores. An interesting pivot from his love song repertoire, "Jesus is Love" pleads for peace in a broken world, not unlike the spirituals at the heart of American popular music. Lester Cohen/Getty Images Over 20 years before Miranda Lambert collaborated with Enrique Iglesias, Richie proved that he could once again adapt to the times by keeping pace with one of the early aught's top global pop stars. Though Richie hasn't lost a step between then and now, "To Love a Woman" is the newest song on our list. Brian Rasic/Getty Images The first song on Richie's first album of the 21st century blends the timeless voice of a living legend with turn-of-the-century pop trends. Think of it as him following Cher's lead. Listeners dug it, making it Richie's most recent Top 5 adult contemporary hit. Jacques Bourguet/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images In a gutsy move, a new song topped the track list of a 1992 collection of Richie's best work, solo and as a Commodore. It worked because "Do It To Me" belongs in the same discussion as the various classics compiled by Motown. Mike Prior/Redferns Disco's influence lingered into the '80s on this Commodores classic. It's one of the best marriages of the band's upbeat, funky stompers and Richie's sentimental love songs. Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch via Getty Images Richie recorded a pair of songs with Diana Ross, a fellow Motown band member turned solo sensation, for the film "Endless Love." The most famous of these, "Endless Love" became Richie's first major label without The Commodores. He looped back to it much later as a duet with Shania Twain. Gary Gershoff/Getty Images One of multiple great piano-led ballads from in between Richie's time with The Commodores and his run as one of the biggest solo pop stars on the planet, "Truly" was a huge steppingstone toward him becoming a household name. Paul Natkin/Getty Images The first of several songs on our list from the crucial '80s LP Dancing on the Ceiling, "Say You, Say Me" and its surprise tempo change was first heard in the 1985 film "White Knights." Motown didn't want the surefire hit on another label, so they blocked its inclusion on the movie's soundtrack. Still, it won Best Original Song for a film from both the Oscars and the Golden Globes. Raymond Boyd/Getty Images Leave your streaming service of choice playing after "Say You, Say Me" to hear something from totally out of left field. Richie gets as funky as his Commodores peers while rocking as hard as Prince. Ellen Poppinga - K & K/Redferns Early on, The Commodores were mostly known for such rowdy material as the band's first R&B No. 1, 1975's "Slippery When Wet." That same year, Richie's tamer-yet-no-less-tantalizing ballads got introduced to the mix. Even with 1977's rowdy R&B classic "Brick House" being arguably the band's signature song, Richie-led songs played an equal role in the group's staying power. Gilles Petard/Redferns Richie solidified his status as one of the era's most gifted — and most ever-present — singers in all of popular music with "Still," the final Commodores single of the '70s. The sentimental ballad reached No. 1 on Billboard's pop and R&B charts. It was the group's last No. 1 in the states until 1985's "Nightshift." Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images A couple of things make "Dancing on the Ceiling" compelling nearly 40 years later. One, Richie leaned into the sounds of the time — from new wave to the solo work of Michael Jackson — without losing his voice. Better yet, at a time when truly bizarre music videos made songs stick out in the crowded MTV marketplace, Richie got weird in the best possible way. Raymond Boyd/Getty Images Alabama native Richie worked with the band Alabama on this mid-'80s dream team-up. Randy Owen's always been a top-tier ballad singer in his own right, making this the ideal collaboration to earn Richie a Top 10 country hit. Bobby Bank/Getty Images Richie's decade of chart dominance with The Commodores and as a solo artist began with "Just to Be Close to You," his first No. 1 single as a vocalist. Though Richie has always been able belt out songs with the best of them, here he talk-sings for stretches of one of the most sensual tales in his catalog. Sherry Rayn Barnett/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images One of several monster hits off Can't Slow Down, "Hello" may forever stand as the go-to example for anyone debating that no one in the '80s — and few from any era of popular music — brought more emotion to songs about matters of the heart than Richie. It doesn't hurt that it's backed by the right blend of soft rock finesse and R&B passion. Raymond Boyd/Getty Images The Rolls-Royce of Richie ballads, "Stuck on You," wasn't all that different from the country love songs of its time. It's no surprise, then, that it became the former Commodores member's first minor country hit, reaching No. 24 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. In all likelihood, Motown calculated this by putting a photo of Richie in a cowboy hat on the single artwork. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Stacking selections from Can't Slow Down draws attention to the musical variety on the diamond-certified album. Its lead single — and our pick for Richie's best song — is "All Night Long (All Night)," as it famously crosses the dance-pop of the moment with calypso and reggae. It's Richie's shifts in melodic direction here that remind us why he's an ideal mentor for your next "American Idol." David Redfern/Redferns A pop culture staple that needs no introduction, Richie entered the love song stratosphere of Frank Sinatra and other crooners with the chart-topping hit "Three Times a Lady." The piano-based ballad wasn't all that different from some of the sultrier, softer country love songs at the time. It's no shocker, then, that Conway Twitty turned it into a Top 10 country hit five years later. Rick Diamond/Getty Images Richie's finest moment as a singer and songwriter came when his hometown band The Commodores made a mark on the year of punk rock and Fleetwood Mac's Rumors with one of the definitive Motown singles of the '70s: "Easy." Richie's silky-smooth vocals and the song's overall chill vibe makes it easy to lose sight that it's about a breakup."You Are" (Lionel Richie, 1983)
"Jesus is Love" (The Commodores' Heroes, 1980)
"To Love a Woman" (With Enrique Iglesias) (Encore, 2003)
"Angel" (Renaissance, 2000)
"Do It To Me" (Back to Front, 1992)
"Old-Fashion Love" (The Commodores' Heroes, 1980)
"Endless Love" (With Diana Ross) (Endless Love: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 1981)
"Truly" (Lionel Richie, 1982)
"Say You, Say Me" (Dancing on the Ceiling, 1986)
"Night Train (Smooth Alligator)" (Dancing on the Ceiling, 1986)
"Sweet Love" (The Commodores' Movin' On, 1975)
"Still" (The Commodores' Midnight Magic, 1979)
"Dancing on the Ceiling" (Dancing on the Ceiling, 1986)
"Deep River Woman" (With Alabama) (Dancing on the Ceiling, 1986)
"Just to Be Close to You" (The Commodores' Hot on the Tracks, 1976)
"Hello" (Can't Slow Down, 1983)
"Stuck on You" (Can't Slow Down, 1983)
"All Night Long (All Night)" (Can't Slow Down, 1983)
"Three Times a Lady" (The Commodores' Natural High, 1978)
"Easy" (The Commodores' Commodores, 1977)
