Music Icon, Producer and Philanthropist
Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award
The Atlantic Council Distinguished Leadership Awards honors music icon, Lionel Richie.
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International superstar Lionel Richie has a discography of albums and singles that are second to none.
His music is part of the fabric of pop music; in fact, Richie is one of only two songwriters in history to achieve the honor of having #1 records for nine consecutive years. With more than 100 million albums sold worldwide, an Oscar®, a Golden Globe®, four Grammy Awards®, the distinction of MusicCares Person of the Year in 2016, and Kennedy Center Honoree in 2017. In March 2018, Richie put his handprints and footprints in cement at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX in Hollywood, one of the oldest awards in Hollywood. He recently received the Ivor Novello PRS for Music Special International Award.
The Tuskegee, Alabama native is a true music icon.
Lionel Richie is known for his mega-hits such as “Endless Love,” “Lady,” “Truly,” “All Night Long,” “Penny Lover,” “Stuck on You,” “Hello,” “Say You, Say Me,” “Dancing on the Ceiling,” and co-wrote one of the most important pop songs in history, “We Are the World,” for USA for Africa. His song catalog also includes his early work with The Commodores, where he developed a groundbreaking style that defied genre categories, penning smashes such as “Three Times a Lady,” “Still,” and “Easy.”
Richie was a judge on ABC’s American Idol the last three seasons and has returned to the ‘Judge’s’ chair for the 2020-21 season.
With his most recent All the Hits, All Night Long Tour, Richie sold out arenas worldwide with a set list of his brightest and best anthems. In recent years, he also headlined festivals including Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, and Glastonbury, drawing the festival’s biggest crowd ever with more than 200,000 attendees.
In Summer 2019, Richie took fans on a spectacular musical journey with his new album, Live from Las Vegas along with his latest tour, the “Hello” tour. The album, which was released on August 16 was #1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart. The album also marks the legendary artist’s first release on Capitol Records.
Learn more about the Distinguished Leadership Awards
Each year the Atlantic Council’s Distinguished Leadership Awards celebrates high achieving leaders for their versatile contributions to the strengthening of the transatlantic relationship. These luminaries are honored for their achievement in the fields of political, military, business, humanitarian, and artistic leadership.
