Soul pioneer Lionel Richie gets an all-star salute Maeve McDermott
Rihanna, Stevie Wonder and more honor his career
For one of pop music’s most beloved icons, only an all-star tribute would do.
And just about half of the music industry came out to honor Lionel Richie at the Grammys’ MusiCares Person of the Year Gala on Saturday night, honoring the career and philanthropic efforts of the legendary singer.
Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, who began the evening sporting a Richie suit and wig, the night was a greatest-hits retrospective of the star’s career, interspersing music videos with live performances from a generation of artists that can claim Richie as an influence, including Lenny Kravitz, John Legend, Tori Kelly, Little Big Town, Dave Grohl, Usher and more.
Regardless of their preferred genre, the evening ’s performers all tried out the soft-rock timelessness that’s a hallmark of Richie’s music. Rihanna, Demi Lovato and Ellie Goulding delivered soaring versions of Say You,
Say Me, Penny Lover and Sail On, respectively.
On the country front, Chris Stapleton, the Band Perry and Luke Bryan all delivered Richie covers with varying levels of twang, and R&B was represented by Usher and particularly Legend, whose version of Easy Like
Sunday Morning was an easy highlight of the night. (Or, as Kimmel jokingly called it, “The song that convinced (Richie) he didn’t need the rest of the Commodores after all.”)
Also in store for the evening: a performance by one of Lionel’s most notable contemporaries, Stevie Wonder. “I thank you for your talent your gift as a songwriter,” he said onstage before
covering the Richie classic Three
Times a Lady. “We need more writers to come together and change the spirit of America.”
The festivities were all in support of MusiCares, the charity wing of the Grammys that raises money to support struggling artists, which honored Lionel as their Person of the Year for his philanthropy efforts.
The evening culminated with a speech and performance by Richie himself. He took the audience from the Commodores through his time at “Motown University” through the struggles of “putting out Three Times a
Lady in the middle of disco.”
“I’m standing here, celebrating all the songs they told me would ruin my career,” he said in the racially acute speech, referencing the many detractors who told him he was too black — or more often, “acting too white” — over his time in music.
Richie’s final message, before closing with a soaring Hello and a spirited All Night Long with the rest of the night’s celebrity guests, was one of generosity. “We are our brother’s keepers,” he told the crowd. “If you have anything in the world to give, give it all, because you can’t take it with you.”