 After leaving
the Commodores,
Lionel Richie became one of the most successful male solo artists of
the '80s, arguably eclipsed during his 1981-1987 heyday only by
Michael Jackson and
Prince.
Lionel Richie dominated the pop charts during that period with an
incredible run of 13 consecutive Top Ten hits, five of them number ones. As his
popularity skyrocketed,
Lionel Richie moved farther away from his R&B origins and
concentrated more on adult contemporary balladry, which had been one of his
strengths even as part of
the Commodores. After 1987,
Lionel Richie fell silent, taking an extended break
from recording and touring before beginning a comeback toward the tail end of
the '90s.
Lionel Richie wasn't bitten by the recording bug again until 1996, by which time
he'd endured his share of personal loss: his father had passed away, and his
marriage to wife Brenda -- the muse behind some of his most successful ballads
-- had fallen apart. In approaching his comeback,
Lionel Richie attempted to update his
sound to reflect a decade's worth of developments in urban R&B. The result,
Louder Than Words, was a moderate success, reaching the Top 30 and going gold.
However, it didn't produce any major hit singles, and
Lionel Richie's nods to new jack
swing and hip-hop were criticized as awkward. 1998's Time found
Lionel Richie in a more
familiar element, relying on his signature sound with only slight musical
updates. However, the album flopped, spending only a few weeks in the lower
reaches of the charts.
Lionel Richie's next album, Renaissance, was released to a
favorable reception in Europe in late 2000; it was issued in the U.S. in early
2001. Three years later, on the heels of enduring a very public and bitter divorce with his second
wife Diane,
Lionel Richie released Just For You. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
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