Lionel Richie Net Worth, Money and More
NET WORTH: $200 Million
PROFESSION: Singer-songwriter, record producer, actor and instrumentalist
Officially known as Lionel Brockman Richie Jr., he is a musician over everything else. He was one of the members of Commodores, a musical group. After leaving the group, he started doing his own thing, and made his debut as a solo artist in the year 1982. The album was named Lionel Richie and its number one hit single was “Truly”. He is a man after his own heart! Richie works with a variety of genres like Soul, pop, pop rock, soft rock, country and R&B. He is good with a lot of instruments as well. He plays piano/keyboards, saxophone and drums. Richie is divorced at the moment. He has been married twice, is a father to two natural born children and one adopted child. He became a grandfather in the year 2008, when his adopted daughter, Nicole Richie, gave birth to a pretty little baby girl who was named Harlow Winter Kate Richie Madden and in 2009, he Nicole Richie gave birth to Sparrow James Midnight Madden.
EARLY LIFE
Lionel Brockman Richie Jr., was born and bred in Alabama. His parents are Alberta R., and Lionel Brockman Richie. Richie has a simple and humble childhood. He did his graduation from Joilet Township High School and was a tennis star. He even got a tennis scholarship in Tuskegee Institute and that is where he earned his degree in economics. Richie had joined the Kappa Kappa Psi fraternity. Till this date, he is an active member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He also attended Auburn University, from where he graduated.
CAREER
Lionel Richie started out as a member of the musical group The Commodores. The group started in the mid- 1960s. He was a singer and played the saxophone for the group and had managed to sign a contract with Atlantic Records in the year 1968. It was a popular soul group. Some of the hits by this group include Machine Gun, Brick House, Easy, Three Times a Lady, Still and Sail On. In the year 1983, Richie was removed from The Commodores and was replaced by Skyler Jett. Following this occurrence, Richie started his own solo career with the album Lionel Richie. The song, Truly, from the same album, showed that his music was still being influenced by his old The Commodores ways.
Richie’s first album did wonder and established him as among the most successful balladeers of the 1980s. Some of his most successful songs include Hello, Stuck On You, Running with the Night, Penny Lover, Say You Say Me, We Are The World, Dancing on the Ceiling, Ballerina Girl, and Se La. He released his first album, a collection of his greatest hits, in the year 1992. The name of the album is Back To Front. His following albums Louder Than Words and Time were not as good as the albums that had come before. Later on, he shifted to his older style and his album Renaissance was received pretty well by the audience in both Europe and United States.
Following 2004, Richie has done a lot of different things for his career. He appeared on Canadian Idol, performed with Kenny Rogers, was a part of Fourth of July tribute and also, performed and hosted the British television show. He also made a surprising guest appearance on Australian Idol. Richie was released albums like Coming Home, Just Go and Tuskegee. Richie has also expressed his wish of reuniting The Commodores. In 2013, he started touring again, with his debut North American Tour called All The Hits All Night Long. In the recent years, Richie has become a favorite in the music world of Arab. He has performed in placed like Morocco, Qatar and Libya.
ASSETS
- Beverly Hills Home
- Ferrari Scaglietti
- Mercedes S550
- Range Rover L322
PERSONAL LIFE
Lionel Richie has been married twice. His first wife, Brenda Harvey, was his college sweetheart and the couple tied the knot in 1975. The adopted Nicole Camille Escovedo in 1983. The couple got a divorce after Richie cheated on his wife by having an affair with Diane Alexander. Harvey caught the two in a hotel room after she broke into the room claiming to be room service. She also attacked the two and several charges were pressed against Harvey. The couple divorced in 1993, after almost 18 years of marriage. Soon after the divorce, in 1995, Richie married Diane Alexander and had two children: one son named Miles Brockman and a lovely daughter named Sofia. The couple, however,divorced in 2004. Lionel Richie is also a grandfather to two lovely children borne by Nicole Richie. He became a grandfather for the first time in the year 2008 when Nicole Richie gave birth to Harlow Winder Kate Richie Madden and the second time, when she gave birth to Sparrow James Midnight Madden in the year 2009. After so many ups and downs in Richie’s life, he ended up pretty good. He is a family man and gives a lot of importance to his family.
Richie also has a kind and generous heart. He helped in raising almost $3 million for Breast Cancer Research Foundation. He got involved in the process mainly because his grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. For him, she was the symbol of enduring strength and hope.
