LOS ANGELES: Legendary singer Lionel Richie, 76, has released his memoir, aptly titled Truly after one of his major hits.
Over the past 50 years, Richie has sold more than 100 million albums, served as a voice of reason on American Idol, and performed in sold-out stadiums before huge audiences that “appear oceanic from the stage.”
“This is not a book about who I met and who I knew,” he told the New York Times.
“It was about fear. Can you overcome your worst fears and move forward?”
Truly follows Richie from his boyhood in Tuskegee, Alabama, through his years playing saxophone and singing for The Commodores, his breakthrough as a solo artiste, and his current incarnation as an elder statesman of song.
In the book, Richie admits he had some trepidation about writing a memoir.
He joked that the hardest part was “admitting to myself and to the rest of the world” that he was not an athlete, a standout student, or even particularly popular during his school days.
Richie recalled a pivotal moment at a talent show at Tuskegee College.
“The greatest line I ever heard, coming out of a girl’s mouth: ‘Sing it, baby!'” Richie said.
“It was one of those things where, OK, I think I’m getting kind of cool. I had never been cool in my life,” he added.
Richie described ‘We Are The World’—which he wrote with Michael Jackson and recorded in an all-night marathon session with a host of luminaries in 1985—as a joyous moment in his life.
“‘We Are The World’ changed my life,” Richie said.
“It made me ask, ‘Well, if I’m in my championship season, what good can I do with it?'”
According to the book, the record sold 800,000 copies in three days and raised US$80 million for famine relief in Africa.
Following this success, Richie faced a series of personal crises: his father died, his first marriage ended, and his voice gave out.
Richie had what he described as a “nervous breakdown.”
In 1991, he spent five days alone in Jamaica, sitting in a beach chair and drinking.
He eventually went home to Tuskegee, where his 97-year-old grandmother gave him a pep talk: “Why don’t you get a good night’s sleep? God has your next move.”
Richie admitted that his hiatus was a lifesaver.
“Every time you feel fear, step forward,” he advised. “Is today confusing? Yeah. Tomorrow may not be. Why? Because I faced today.”
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
