Today, the 73-year-old Alabama-born artist Lionel Richie is known for his smooth voice, killer songs and role on American Idol as one of the three judges, along with Katy Perry and Luke Bryan.
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For Richie, who has had an illustrious career that even includes a recent performance at the coronation in the U.K. for new King Charles III, life has been grand. He was even inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
But with such a career and so much attention over the years, fans might wonder what Richie has to say about the world around him. Indeed, what are his thoughts on life and love, his craft and beyond outside of his songs and lyrics?
Here are the best 20 Lionel Richie quotes.
1. “Greatness comes from fear. Fear can either shut us down and we go home, or we fight through it.”
2. “The best compliment that has ever been given to me was, I was at the airport one day and a guy came in and said, ‘Lionel, my wife loves you, the kids love you, my mother-in-law loves you, the family loves you.'”
3. “All artists are egotistical maniacs with inferiority complexes.”
4. “I grew up with the Grand Ole Opry, Dottie West, Conway Twitty, Buck Owens… not realizing it was influencing me as much as it was.”
5. “You cannot beat the feeling of sitting on top of the charts. I had almost forgotten what it feels like… It feels great! It is really a very exciting time and I am enjoying the ride.”
6. “‘Let the music play on’ would be my legacy.”
7. “I find the greatest songs in the world come out of pain, and I don’t like it! Here’s what it does: It strips away all of your facade. It makes you so honest. It’s cleansing.”
8. “People, as critical as it looks, we’re OK. We are in control, whether we feel it or not.”
9. “I find myself going out on the road to get my confidence back because I lose it at home.”
10. “Taking time to sit back and watch and think about what you’ve seen is important. Traveling did a great deal to me. I found that when I travel and just sit in the corner and watch, a million ideas come to me.”
11. “It was very interesting in my world because I grew up as a fan and I did not know that there was a thing called R&B, pop, country, classical—I just knew that I loved music.”
12. “I’m a songwriter, and people will tell you the greatest stories about their lives, whether you want to hear it or not.”
13. “I think the whole world is dying to hear someone say, ‘I love you.’ I think that if I can leave the legacy of love and passion in the world, then I think I’ve done my job in a world that’s getting colder and colder by the day.”
14. “Your kids can say some cruel things to you at times. For example, Nicole, Miles and Sofie are standing there in the room and I’m dressed to kill in my own mind. They’ll say to me, ‘Dad, you’re not going out there looking like that are you?’ If that doesn’t kill a star, I don’t know what does!”
15. “Exactly when people are in turmoil is the time that the entertainment business has always been at its best. Because people don’t want to be reminded every day that they are under siege, or that they’re not having a great time of life.”
16. “I am a country boy and proud of it.”
17. “I just like people. I’ll hold a conversation at a gas station. It’s not about the fame and the fortune, I just like people.”
18. “So much of my career has been about saying things the way people say them, using melodies not that I can sing but that the people can sing.”
19. “People have allowed me into their homes, through my words and my music.”
20. “I always like to challenge myself. I never want to be put into a box.”
Photo by Yui Mok – WPA Pool/Getty Images
