The Songwriters Hall of Fame will honor Lionel Richie as the 2016 recipient of the Johnny Mercer Award at the 47th Annual Induction and Awards Dinner onThursday, June 9th at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.
The Johnny Mercer Award is the highest honor by theSongwriters Hall of Fame.The award is exclusively reserved for a songwriter or songwriting team who has already been inducted in a prior year, and whose body of work is of such high quality and impact, that it upholds the gold standard set by the legendary Johnny Mercer. Lionel Richie was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994.
Richie is an international superstar with a discography of albums and singles that are second to none. Richie is one of only two songwriters in history to achieve the honor of having #1 records for nine consecutive years. With over 100 million albums sold worldwide, an Oscar, four Grammy awards and the distinction of MusiCares Person of the Year, the Tuskegee, Alabama native is a true music icon.
As a member of The Commodores who signed to Motown Records,they developed a groundbreaking style that defied genre categories, penning smashes such as “Three Times A Lady,” “Stuck on You,” “Still,” and “Easy.”
As a solo artist artist he became one of the most successful artists of the 1980’s, earning 13 top ten hits between 1981 and 1987, including nine #1 singles. The first was “Endless Love,” a ballad that he wrote and sang as a duet with Diana Ross. The single earned both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. His hits singles include “Truly.” “All Night Long (All Night),” “Penny Lover,” “Stuck On You,” and “Hello,“We Are The World,” for USA for Africa and the album We Are The World with Michael Jackson. His song “Say You, Say Me” would achieve an Academy Award® and Golden Globe Award for “Best Original Song.”
In 2012, Richie returned with his tenth full-length album Tuskegee, which featured duets with Shania Twain, Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Darius Rucker, and Little Big Town. It would mark his third number one debut on the Billboard Top 200 and go platium.
This year, Lionel was honored as the 2016 MusiCares Person of the Year. At the 2016 Grammy Awards Luke Bryan, Demi Lovato, Tyrese Gibson, John Legend, and Meghan Trainor combined their talents to perform some of his greatest hits, paying perfect tribute to his iconic career.
Lionel continues to tour worldwide. In 2015 he performed at Glastonbury to the largest crowd in the festival’s history. He is currently performing a Las Vegas residency at Planet Hollywood.
Past Johnny Mercer Award recipients have included songwriting giants: Van Morrison, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Phil Collins, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Paul Anka, Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Billy Joel, Jimmy Webb, Hal David and Burt Bacharach, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Paul Simon, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Stephen Sondheim, Cy Coleman, Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne.
Inductees at this year’s event include Elvis Costello, Marvin Gaye*, Tom Petty, Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards* and Chip Taylor. Seymour Stein will receive the Howie Richmond Hitmaker Award.
*Marvin Gaye and Bernard Edwards will be inducted posthumously.
This article was first published on Examiner.Com on June 9, 2016 http://www.examiner.com/article/lionel-richie-to-be-honored-by-the-songwriters-hall-of-fame
