Lionel Richie gets his handprints in Hollywood history
Four-time Grammy winner Lionel Richie cemented his legacy in Hollywood on Wednesday, plunging his feet and hands into a wet paving slab at the forecourt of Los Angeles’ TCL Chinese Theatre, as part of the Hollywood Handprints ceremony.
The 68-year-old R&B singer has sold more than 100 million records over a career spanning six decades. “This is almost beyond the childhood dream,” Richie said.
“When I first came to this town, the Holiday Inn was back there, right behind me, and the first thing I did was ran out the room and put my feet in all the hands and feet on the ground. Now, my hands and feet are going into this thing, it’s beyond belief.”
Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel fresh off his Oscars hosting duties, presented the ceremony while veteran actor Samuel L Jackson was on hand to support Richie, who told the crowd the honor was an “out of body experience.”
Born Lionel Brockman Richie Jr on June 20, 1949, the singer was raised on the private, historically black Tuskegee University campus in Alabama. He formed a series of bands and, while still at college in 1968, joined aspiring Motown group The Commodores, playing saxophone and singing.
He went on to write some of his most enduring songs for the group, including Still, Sail On, Easy and Three Times a Lady, which earned a 1979 American Music Award and a People’s Choice Award.