Lionel Richie recalls nervous breakdown, how a fan stopped his spiral in new book Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAYSeptember 30, 2025 at 6:00 AM 0 Lionel Richie says there are two truths to his life. On a daily basis he reminds himself that without The Commodores, "there would be no Lionel Richie.
- - Lionel Richie recalls nervous breakdown, how a fan stopped his spiral in new book
Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAYSeptember 30, 2025 at 6:00 AM
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Lionel Richie says there are two truths to his life.
On a daily basis he reminds himself that without The Commodores, "there would be no Lionel Richie."
The other is it wasn't until he became a songwriter that he began to "heal" his "brokenness."
Fans might look at the perennially smiling R&B/pop star as a beacon of unwavering happiness. But in his thorough memoir, "Truly" (Harper Collins, 496 pp., out now), Richie exposes his vulnerabilities as a musician and husband, not dodging his mistakes but also celebrating his hard-won triumphs as one of the most prolific artists in contemporary music.
Lionel Richie, shown performing in Houston in 1986, has sold more than 125 million albums with The Commodores and as a solo star.
Separated into four sections of his life - Origin Story (1949-1970); Liftoff (1970-1982); Flying Solo (1982-1999); and Reinvention (1999-present) – the book benefits from Richie's natural gift of lyrical storytelling. His voice is authentic even as he acknowledges his recollections are "faithfully rendered" if not "word-for-word reenactments."
Richie writes about a life rooted in segregation and racial conflict in his home of Tuskegee, Alabama. He takes fans through his platinum success in The Commodores and as a solo superstar, as well as his emotional breakdowns and delicately framed infidelity. He says he did this to inspire. And bridge divisions. And show the kids who look to him for advice as a judge on "American Idol" it's OK to struggle.
Here are some revelations from "Truly," named for Richie's 1982 debut solo single.
The Commodores' breakthrough came opening for The Jackson 5
In 1971, years before "Just to Be Close to You," "Easy" and "Brick House" would cement The Commodores' standing as one of the premiere R&B/pop-funk purveyors of the decade, the group needed exposure.
Suzanne de Passe, the trailblazing Motown Records executive, had recently discovered the Jackson 5 and, after watching The Commodores electrify an audience at a show at Lloyd Price's Turntable Club in New York, tapped them to open for the J-5, which included 12-year-old Michael Jackson.
Richie was immediately struck by the "purity" of Jackson's voice and his "old soul" vibe. When the two met backstage, Richie was introduced by a fellow Commodore as "Lion-nel Richie," thick with Alabamian influence. Jackson repeated the pronunciation and "for the next 39 years, Michael pronounced my name like he too was born and bred in Tuskegee," Richie writes.
The Commodores opened every show on the J-5 tour, which provided them a platform in front of the world.
Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra and Lionel Richie circa 1982.'Three Times a Lady' was meant for Frank Sinatra
Richie wrote the 1978 ballad "Three Times a Lady" after hearing his father, Lyonel Richie Sr., toast his mother, Alberta, at a family gathering.
"She's a great lady, she's a great mother and she's a great friend," Richie Sr. said, the cadence of his words striking Richie and inspiring what would become The Commodores' first No. 1 hit.
But Richie originally intended the song for Frank Sinatra, whom he did not know.
After some persuasion from his producer James Anthony Carmichael, Richie agreed to keep the song for The Commodores, especially after some at Motown Records claimed it "would ruin" the group's career, a comment Richie took as a challenge.
The same year the song hit, Richie met Sinatra while in the VIP dining room at the famed Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
"You know, kid, I like you," Sinatra told a humble 29-year-old Richie. He lightly smacked Richie on the cheek and continued, "Not only do you have one song, you've got more than one. But not only that, you wrote 'em all."
And with that, Sinatra turned and walked away.
Lionel Richie sits with grandmother Adelaide Foster, a classical pianist.The birth of 'All Night Long' and 'Hello'
As The Commodores' future was unraveling – an inevitability that Richie staved off despite a disconnect with the rest of the guys – he was still writing songs.
While hanging out in Kenny Rogers' guest house shortly before the release of his eponymous debut solo album in 1982, Richie was tinkering at the piano when producer Carmichael popped by.
Richie, hitting random piano chords, said, "Hello, is it me you're looking for?"
Carmichael urged him to finish recording the song, which Richie hated. "It was the corniest (expletive) I could ever think of," he writes.
The song was discarded from his first album, but resurrected and titled "Hello" for his 20-million-selling "Can't Slow Down," which boasted five Top 10 hits among its eight tracks, starting with 1983's party anthem "All Night Long (All Night)."
Writing what has become his signature song, Richie needed a hook. While leaving dinner at the home of a Jamaican friend to return to writing, Richie called out, "There's work to be done. I gotta get back to the studio, mon … I gotta go back to work all night long."
And thus, he writes, "Lionel Richie Marley has just been born."
Prince, Sheila E and the adoption of Nicole Richie
After Richie enlisted percussionist Sheila E. to play in his band in 1984, he and Prince – Sheila's sort-of boyfriend at the time – became good friends.
Lionel and wife Brenda were invited to a Prince concert during his "Purple Rain" era and at the show noticed "an adorable little girl, barely 3 years old, playing a tambourine by herself."
The child was the daughter of Sheila E.'s brother, Peter Escovedo, who also frequently toured and had split with the girl's mother. The instability surrounding little Nicole – whom everyone called Nikki – led to the suggestion that the Richies could be her foster parents "until her birth parents were in a better situation."
Nikki, as Richie calls her throughout the book, "became the light of my life" and he and Brenda formally adopted Nicole Richie at age 9.
Lionel Richie's "Truly," out Sept. 30, is a comprehensive memoir about the music superstar's life.Lionel Richie experiences a nervous breakdown
The combination of the death of his father in 1990, the acrimonious dissolution of his marriage to first wife Brenda Harvey and undergoing numerous unsuccessful procedures to repair a vocal cord issue sent Richie into a spiral.
"If anyone questioned whether this could be labeled a nervous breakdown, I answered it when I found myself in Jamaica, alone," Richie writes. He spent five days sitting at the water's edge as the tide splashed above his waist and drinking bottles of Cristal until the hotel staff would come bring him back to dry land.
"Ladies and gentleman, this is what a nervous breakdown looks like," Richie concluded.
He was wrenched back to reality when a local Jamaican man – a fan – approached him and simply said, "You must survive because you are our beacon of hope."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Lionel Richie survived fame, divorce and a nervous breakdown
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