Judge Biography

His music is part of the fabric of pop music; in fact, Lionel Richie is one of only two songwriters in history to achieve the honor of having No. 1 records for nine consecutive years. With more than 125 million albums sold worldwide, he also has been awarded an Oscar®, a Golden Globe®, four GRAMMY® Awards, the distinction of MusicCares Person of the Year in 2016 and Kennedy Center Honoree in 2017. In March 2018, Richie put his handprints and footprints in cement at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX in Hollywood, one of the oldest awards in Hollywood. He recently received the Ivor Novello PRS for Music Special International Award. The Tuskegee, Alabama, native is a true music icon.

Richie is known for his mega hits such as "Endless Love," "Lady," "Truly," "All Night Long," "Penny Lover," "Stuck on You," "Hello," "Say You, Say Me," "Dancing on the Ceiling," and co-wrote one of the most important pop songs in history, "We Are the World," for U.S.A for Africa. His song catalog also includes his early work with The Commodores, where he developed a groundbreaking style that defied genre categories, penning smashes such as "Three Times a Lady," "Still" and "Easy." Richie is one of two sole songwriters who has written eight No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Richie was a judge on ABC's "American Idol" for the past three seasons and will return to the judge's chair for the 2021 season. He launched his Las Vegas headlining residency show, Lionel Richie—All the Hits, in April 2016. In an unforgettable evening featuring his brightest and best anthems which have defined the music icon's unparalleled career, Richie took his fans on a spectacular musical journey, performing a variety of his seminal hits. The highly successful residency wrapped in October 2018 after a three-year run.

With his most recent All the Hits, All Night Long Tour, Richie sold out arenas worldwide with a set list of his brightest and best anthems. In recent years, he also headlined festivals including Bonnaroo, Outside Lands and Glastonbury, drawing the festival's biggest crowd ever with more than 200,000 attendees.

In spring 2019, Lionel was named Global Ambassador and Chairman of the Global Ambassador Group for the Prince's Trust, a charity founded in 1976 by Charles, Prince of Wales that helps young people all over the world achieve their dreams and transform their lives. Richie was also honored at the 23rd Annual Power of Love Gala in Las Vegas in 2019 that raised $10 million for the Cleveland Clinic Nevada to provide service, care and resources for patients in the fight against cognitive diseases.

Richie took fans on a spectacular musical journey with his new album "Live from Las Vegas," along with his most recent tour, the Hello Tour, which kicked off in summer 2019. The album, which was released on Aug. 16, 2019, was No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart. The album also marks the legendary artist's first release on Capitol Records.