Lionel Richie And Irving Berlin - 1252 Words

Lionel Richie has a discography of albums and singles second to none and is part of the fabric of American pop music. In fact, Lionel Richie and Irving Berlin are the only two songwriters in history to achieve the honor of having #1 records for nine consecutive years. The real story behind Lionel is essentially the American dream. Lionel was born in Tuskegee Alabama. He lived in a small, isolated, predominantly African American community in the original home of Booker T. Washington. His family home is situated directly on the campus of what is now Tuskegee University and was previously The Tuskegee Institute, home the of the Tuskegee Airmen. Lionel’s grandmother, Adelaide Foster, a classical pianist, lived to be 102. His father,†¦show more content†¦He knew, however, that this act was the beginning of his stardom. This small pack of girls would turn into millions of screaming fans yelling not only his name, but also singing along with every one of his songs at ev ery one of his shows. Motown Records was founded in Detroit, Michigan by Berry Gordy, CEO and Chairman and was huge by 1971. Skip Miller was the Vice President of Motown University as Lionel jokingly calls it today. One night, Skip Miller walked into a club, saw The Commodores perform on stage and realized these kids had talent. Lionel, along with the rest of the group, was presented to Berry Gordy and given a record deal. This record label was prolific at the time because it had the most respected RB and soul acts of the era including The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Smoky Robinson, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, and The Jackson 5, who The Commodores would later tour with. As the opening act for The Jackson 5, The Commodores began the start of their international success. They released their first single, â€Å"Machine Gun† in 1974, which reached #7 on the US RB charts. The Commodores would go on have more singles that topped the charts including â€Å"Brick House†, â€Å"Just To Be Close To You†, â€Å"Too Hot Ta Trot†, Endless Love, just to list a few. Lionel Richie has countless albums, but he is also known as a Music Icon. International Superstar. 100 million albums sold worldwide.