Lionel Richie has Identified an Unlikely Hit amongst His Biggest Songs

Looking back on his career, Music Icon Lionel Richie has singled out the song that stands out for him. Reminiscing on his lengthy career, he remarked that the song that stood out for him over the years and became his all-time favourite was a song he never expected to make waves.

Richie, recently honoured with the Library of Congress’ esteemed Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, sat with CBS Sunday Morning to reflect on his long career. Identifying the song that turned everything around for the famed “The Commodores” group, “Three Times a Lady’ was the game-changer,” he said. He continued, “A number-one song worldwide, and it was the most unlikely song because remember now, funk was king. And I, of all things, write a waltz.”

“Three Times a Lady” was the lead single from The Commodores’ 1978 album Natural High. It was a classic heartfelt ballad that took the group to new levels of fame and success.

The Grammy-Award winning Richie has expressed his disaffection with the way The Commodores is portrayed and repeatedly questioned by the media following the success of the 1978 album. Richie described how the media treated the group as unfair, “I had a big problem with [the term ‘crossover’] ”. “Someone asked me a question one day, ‘Lionel, how does it feel that you’ve left your roots?’ and I said, ‘Did you ask that to The Beatles? Did you ask that to The Rolling Stones?'”

The superstar also took time to explain how his hit song, “Hello”, was written and produced.

You can watch the interview below: