By the end of the 70s, Lionel Richie was emerging as a star within the successful R&B group The Commodores. They had began as a funk band but found greater commercial success by focusing on pop ballads, the most successful of which were written and performed by Richie. After penning the biggest hit in Motown history - "Endless Love", a duet with Diana Ross - Richie was sure that he could pursue a successful solo career, and quit The Commodores at the end of 1981.
His conviction was not misplaced. A self-titled debut solo album sold over four million copies, but Can't Slow Down (1983) far exceeded that: thanks to over a year spent in the Top 10, and the Album of the Year Grammy, it sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Two massive hit singles from that album - "Hello" and "All Night Long (All Night)" - are usually considered Richie's signature songs. His third solo album, Dancing on the Ceiling (1986), was another multi-platinum success, and featured the chart-topping "Say You, Say Me".
Richie took a well-deserved break after Dancing on the Ceiling, and didn't release an album of new songs for 10 years. Although he has failed to enjoy any further charting singles, his newer albums still sell several hundred-thousand copies each.
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