Lionel Richie talks Mariah Carey | mcarchives.com

Friday 11 August 2017

Lionel Richie talks Mariah Carey

There are few more pleasant artists to talk to than Lionel Richie. He's unfailingly upbeat, lasers in on his interviewer with interest and is never less than candid. And here's another thing - he likes being Lionel Richie. As he jokes as soon as he gets on the phone during a day off from his "All the Hits" tour with Mariah Carey (coming to Infinite Energy Arena on Sunday), "Someone asked me, 'How long is this tour going to last?' Are you kidding me? I've been on the road since 1973!"

There is much to discuss with the man responsible for some of the most durable songs in the pop-R&B canon - "Brick House", "Easy", "Sail On" among his Commodores treasures, "Truly", "Hello", "All Night Long (All Night)" from the solo vault - and he is eager to talk.

Here is what Richie, 68, had to say about his odd-couple tour with Carey (delayed from earlier this year after he underwent a knee procedure), his recently announced selection for the Kennedy Center Honors and his possible judgeship on the "American Idol" reboot.

I think a lot of people, when they heard about this tour, thought, huh, that's an interesting pair. So why Mariah?
I found that I thrive on the odd couple, and I mean that in a nice way. The most successful tour to date for me was Lionel Richie and Tina Turner (in 1984). If that's not the odd couple, I don't know what is! But it's the idea of the bang for the buck. When Mariah said yes and everyone said, "What the hell are you doing?" I said, "The marriage is in the hit records. The marriage is in the opposite in terms of personality." She's campy. I'm fun.

I told her, bring all of that drama to the show. That's what her fans are looking for. I don't want her to tone it down - you have to be Mariah. I'm a fan of hers. My daughter Nicole - I'm a little upset about this - but she had never asked for 300 tickets for her friends across the U.S. to come see me. But she's meeting me in Chicago, in Atlanta, in all these cities because she is Mariah crazy. I'm not going to take it personally. But that's what I was looking for. I want it to create the conversation. Most of my career has been based on the three words "Are you crazy?" When I wrote "All Night Long" - are you crazy? "Sail On" - are you crazy? So this is in the fine tradition of, "Are you crazy?"

Do you see much of each other at the shows?
I make sure I see her every night when she comes off stage to tell her she was fantastic. I'm an artist and you have to understand, this is not competitive. I'm pulling for her, she's pulling for me. We are two artists that are trying to make sure the audience gets exactly what they want from us.

(excerpt from MyAJC)



COMMENTS
Betty from Canada wrote:
Nicole Richie is such a lamb.
(Saturday 12 August 2017; 08:14)
B from USA wrote:
I've always loved Nicole.
(Saturday 12 August 2017; 15:32)
Special K from USA wrote:
I love the way Lionel talks about Mariah in this article. He appears to understand Mariah and accepts her for the person that she truly is. Campiness and all honey, lol.
(Saturday 12 August 2017; 16:46)

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