“When you receive this award from the Library of Congress, it basically tells me that there's a moment in time where you have to say ’I've arrived,’" explained Lionel Richie during a TCA press conference. On Tuesday, May 17th, Richie will be honored as this year’s recipient of The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize, airing on PBS. “If you ever wanted to be a writer, this is the destination. If you ever wanted to be a communicator, this is the destination. If you wanted to touch the hearts and minds of so many wonderful people around the world and across the nation, this is that destination. So when you get recognized by, I would say, your home, America, when you get recognized by your home, it means everything… I must tell you I am quite humbled by this honor.”
(Courtesy of Joe Shymanski/Sora Devore)
Brothers George and Ira Gershwin were pioneers of popular music in the 1920s and 30s, paving the way for generations of songwriters and inspiring the Library of Congress to create the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2007. “They epitomize the word ‘popular,’” Lionel Richie shared. “That is the top of the food chain. So when you mention Gershwins and your name happens to be next to it or associated with it, it is the best honor you can have. I can't imagine anything more, should I say, recognizable in our nation's history than those particular songs that they wrote. It is just amazing.”
Lionel Richie joins a lineup of past honorees that include Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson, two artists who were influential in his own career. Looking back, Richie recalls daydreaming in school and creating songs, but it wasn’t until he joined this league of legends that he connected the dots. “I didn't put the whole puzzle together until I went to Motown and joined Motown and was a signed artist to Motown, but it gave me access to Stevie and to Marvin and Smokey.” Richie’s process is to let songs come to him wherever inspiration strikes, taking a moment to write it down so he can revisit them later, but he doesn’t do it alone. “God actually comes into my house and sits down and helps me write these songs,” Richie explained. “I can give you some Lionel Richie lyrics, they are absolutely terrible. And somewhere magically around 3 o'clock in the morning, this other thing comes out, and all I have to do is just write it down. My process is very simple. The melody comes first, and then you go back and fill in the dah, dahs. That's the actual process. That's the simple version of it. But how it gets to me is probably divinely guided; that's all I can say. Because there are only twelve notes, and so to find the right three, that's all you need to make a complete record, but you need four if you want to go and really show off. Melody is it. Me and God have figured out how to manipulate those twelve notes.”
Lionel Richie: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize is a star-studded affair, with Gloria Estefan, Chris Stapleton, Andra Day, Miguel, Yolanda Adams, Boyz II Men, and Richie’s fellow American Idol judge Luke Bryan taking on his hits. “There's no greater honor, tribute, than your fellow Martians saying, ‘My favorite song is this,’” Richie said of watching other artists take on his songs. “I didn't realize until later on that Bob Dylan would do a sound check singing ‘Easy.’ When they told me that, that was like, oh, what?… MusiCares honored me and all of these artists walk on stage and they start singing these songs, and a lot of times I crack the joke when I walk up at the end, I say to them, ‘I am so happy God gave me those songs first before they sang it,’ because they take it and turn them into Usher; they turn it into Stevie Wonder; they turn it into Rihannas and the Lenny Kravitz of the world. It's very sobering when people actually acknowledge the fact that not only do they like your songs, but they know all the lyrics to your songs.”
In addition to his Las Vegas residency, Lionel Richie can be seen as a judge on the ABC reboot of American Idol, now in its 20th season. “Katy [Perry] asked for me, and I asked for Luke [Bryan],” Lionel Richie revealed about the current lineup of judges. “We put our dream team, magic group together, which is more fun than I could ever tell you. But we are a judging team of artists. I like that. So we actually know what these kids are going through… The first year was a little strange because I didn't quite know exactly how this was going to work. But then as it kept going, you realized that this was a magical moment, because when I see that kid shaking, scared to death, I realize I'm looking at myself. That's me standing there in front of an audition trying to get a record deal.” Part of the job includes telling hopeful contestants no, but it’s always a full-circle moment for Richie, who once experienced the same thing with the Commodores. “When they said that to us, I had a nervous breakdown with the Commodores, and one guy said, ‘You're five years away from where you want to be.’ And I couldn't fathom five years later, at the age of 19, what is this man saying to me? But he was right, five years later we actually were the Commodores we were thinking we were going to be in life. So telling these kids no and letting them understand and letting them down easy enough to tell them, ‘It's not now, but you have the goods.’” It’s one of many ways Lione Richie gives back and helps open door for a new generation of artists. “I love the experience of giving back to them and also to America, because when parents say to me, ‘We make this the family hour, when American Idol comes on, because this is something we can all learn from as a family,’ I think it's a beautiful thing.”
Don’t miss Lionel Richie: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize premiering Tuesday, May 17th at 9/8c on PBS.