Lionel Ritchie Hopes To Guide ‘Idol’ Hopefuls
LOS ANGELES — The “American Idol” hopefuls singing at a Hollywood nightclub were a diverse bunch. But most had one thing in common: They did not know how to receive compliments from Lionel Richie.
Based solely on 21st- century record sales, the biggest star on this season’s “American Idol” judges’ panel is Katy Perry, whose qualifications include an ardent fan base and a willingness to be outrageous on television.
But in Mr. Richie — who joined Ms. Perry and the country dreamboat Luke Bryan in March — the show may have found an ideal counterweight for Ms. Perry’s screwball enthusiasm. Only Mr. Richie, 68, can speak with the authority of a man who started out in the age of Motown and has survived into the age of the meme.
Although he has made cameo appearances on both “American Idol” and “Canadian Idol,” his decision to join the judges’ panel full time is a surprise. Mr. Richie has criticized the show over the years for promoting mass-produced talent. In 2009 he suggested that “Idol” would have quickly sent Mick Jagger and James Brown packing.
But when he was asked to join the reboot — “Idol” is on a new network, ABC, after 15 seasons on Fox that ended in April 2016 — Mr. Richie said he began thinking about how to use the platform. He said he has watched the industry fail to mentor artists for the long haul.
“For two days a week, Professor Richie is going to talk about the reality of what it takes to be an artist,” he said. “You think it’s just singing? No, it’s not. What kind of style do you have? What kind of stamina do you have? How many times can you take ‘No’? How many times can you come back? That’s an artist.”
Ms. Perry said she insisted Mr. Richie join the panel after running into him one night at the Sunset Tower and spending hours listening to him talk about his experiences in the music industry. “It was just jaw- dropping,” she said. “I went to the producers and I put my foot down. I was like, Lionel Richie is the uncle, historian, the wisdom that we are missing on this show.”
Had “Idol” existed in the 1960s, when Mr. Richie was of auditioning age, he would have gone nowhere near it. He was painfully shy. He likes to say he thanks God for the Commodores, because without them, he’d never have discovered Lionel Richie.
Mr. Richie was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, and grew up on the campus of Tuskegee University. He was an economics major at Tuskegee when one of his future bandmates spotted him carrying a saxophone case and offered him a spot in the band that would become the Commodores.
His hits for the Commodores could be sentimental, even saccharine, but were also genre- defying. “Sail On” is a lonely lament fit for Jackson Browne; the 1977 smash “Easy” was pure country.
Later, at Motown’s urging, he recorded a solo album, then another. He still assumed he’d retire as a Commodore. He said everything changed after the 1984 Olympics. In front of a worldwide TV audience, Mr. Richie performed “All Night Long,” dancing on a riser like a single man atop a wedding cake.
It didn’t feel like a turning point. “I left the house,” Mr. Richie said, “went and ran around this field for 20 minutes, got back in the car and left the stadium.”
He stopped at an intersection, he said, “and people are walking up to the car.” In that moment, he said, “I became ‘Lionel Richie All Night Long.’
These people have just gotten off the plane from Taipei, but they know Lionel Richie All Night Long.”