Lionel Richie

• Genre: Adult Contemporary
• Hometown: Tuskegee
• Lionel Richie Website

About

Whether singing solo or with the Commodores, Lionel Richie has a warm and instantly recognizable voice that's known mostly for romantic ballads along the lines of "Truly," "Endless Love" and "Hello." His consecutive string of hits (nine years straight authoring at least one No. 1 single) remains a pop phenomenon challenged only by songwriter Irving Berlin and singer Mariah Carey. After releasing several hugely successful solo albums in the 1980s, Richie kept a low profile for most of the '90s before attempting a comeback of sorts with the '98 album Time, and again with Renaissance in '01, though neither album ignited much interest from the public.

- Linda Ryan