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The Lionel King... of country?

LIONEL Richie is dancing on the ceiling with a country twang as he prepares for an Australian tour, writes Cameron Adams.

Adelaide Now - Australia
By Cameron Adams
March 17, 2011

When you're as famous and successful as Lionel Richie, after 40 years of making music, it's the little things that count.

Such as enlisting the herbally enhanced Willie Nelson to record a cover of The Commodores' classic "Easy."

"I've got the bad boy of country, Willie Nelson, singing, 'I wanna be high'," Richie says with a laugh. "Now that's the money shot. Willie said, 'Lionel, what part do you want me to sing?' and I said, 'Well, you're singing that line, for sure'."

Nelson is a guest on Richie's latest project - his material, recorded as duets with country acts, due out later this year.

"It's my songs on steroids," he says. "Once the first single drops in May, I don't think they'll be able to hold it that long, it's so fresh and believable. It's ridiculous."

Ridiculous, in Lionel-speak, is good. Very good. Like his duet of "Endless Love" with Shania Twain.

"Have you heard from Shania Twain in six years?" Richie asks. "No. She claims she can't sing. Or that she doesn't want to sing. Then we do "Endless Love" country-style with power chords and steel guitar. You've never heard anything more ridiculous in your entire life. Your entire life."

Also on the album are Kenny Rogers, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flats, Jimmy Buffett and, if everything goes to plan, Taylor Swift. Richie is staying tight-lipped on that one, merely stating "she's phenomenal".

"I've been in the Country Music Association for the last 30 years but I've never gone that route, it's always been R&B pop. Now I'm letting myself in, they're embracing it.

"It's a group of people that would never, ever be on the same record, they're different parts of country.

"I've got the young, the old, the good, the bad and the ugly of country. Now we're trying to close the door and everyone's finding out about it in Nashville. We may have to do a part two. That's a compliment."

Richie has been surprised by how well his songs work in country style and the familiarity with his back catalogue.

"We'll get to a session, I give a lyric sheet to the artist and they start laughing, 'Lionel, I know this song by heart'."

It's the latest change in a career that has seen sales of 100 million albums thanks to hits such as "All Night Long," "Hello," "Running With The Night," "Say You Say Me" and "Dancing On The Ceiling."

That doesn't include Richie's pre-solo career in The Commodores - with global hits Easy and Three Times A Lady and 75 million album sales.

The country move is clever. While Richie's past few solo albums have been big sellers in Europe (with contributions from younger R&B stars such as Ne-Yo, Akon and Wyclef Jean, who grew up on Richie's '80s hits), the country collaborations will tap into a new market.

Richie is still writing songs and has increased his touring schedule.

After breaking a 20-year drought with an Australian tour in 2007, Richie is back - with his full European production.

"There's no half-ass here," Richie says.

He also has Guy Sebastian opening proceedings.

They met in LA last month when Richie invited Sebastian to duet on a new version of "All Night Long," released tomorrow to aid flood charities in Australia.

Richie says the song is the least he could do. "It's like, 'Let me help you, let me take one of my biggest songs and give it to you'," he says.

The track is produced by Red One, one of today's hottest artists via his work on most of Lady Gaga's biggest hits.

"He's on Cloud 88 right now," Richie says of mate Red.

"I know exactly where he is in his head. It's a moment in time when the heavens open up and go 'Here'. That's what happened with me and 35 years later the heavens are still open. You have to accept it's a gift - don't make it complicated, be humble about it.

"I see the guys with two hit records and 12 bodyguards and I think, 'You've missed the point'."

Richie's also a Gaga fan. "I love how people criticise her: 'She's like Madonna.' Look, Prince was like James Brown, Michael Jackson was like Jackie Wilson. She's the hybrid of the next thing," he says.

"Anybody who's a singer, songwriter, producer, I've got respect. If you just sang the song someone gave to you, that's great. If you happen to be the creator of your own thing, I have to bow down.

"I'm always a champion of the writer. There's creative artists and there's created artists. Lady Gaga's a creative artist, she's got my props."

Richie says he deliberately didn't choose a ballad for the Aussie charity single.

"It's going to make some money for the relief and it's uplifting. The rhythm changed, we sped it up, but it's familiar.

"It's exactly what they need. They don't need to be any more sombre. It's a feelgood thing. When you're sitting there and everything you had is gone, let's bring back a memory of better days," he says.

Will he and Sebastian perform the song in Australia?

"Are you kidding me? Of course. The goal is by the time I get to Australia, this version is so big people have forgotten about how it used to sound," he says.

Richie sang for a special audience last December at the wedding of daughter Nicole to Good Charlotte's Joel Madden.

"You're talking to the father of the bride who survived," Richie says. "I had more fun than the bride and groom. I saw the whole thing coming."

One thing Richie didn't foresee at the wedding, held at his Beverly Hills mansion, was the elephant in the room.

"It was literally an elephant in the room," he says of the rented pachyderm.

"That was one thing I didn't plan on. The other was the singer at the reception came over and handed me the microphone. I got through the first and second verse of You Are. People stated applauding and I said, 'This wasn't in the budget, I don't think we can afford Lionel Richie'.

"Nic had said, 'Dad, don't do something silly like sing'. Regardless of how hip I think I am I'm still under the title 'parent'. I sat down and it was Nic and Joel's night."

Madden has already outed Richie as the "coolest father-in-law ever" who offers advice on new Good Charlotte music. It wasn't always this way.

"Ask any father, in your mind's eye, to describe the guy who will marry your daughter," Richie says. "I had a guy from Ascot, from an aristocratic family, a well-bred chap, Lord Pumpernickel's son.

"I open my eyes and there's a guy covered in tattoos, with the worst occupation ever: rock star. But when we met, what got my attention was he was nervous. Fathers like nervous.

"He said, 'I love your daughter, I want to ask her to marry me'. That's old-fashioned. If I could blink and put the perfect scenario together, this is it."

Richie is also enjoying the one role he was dreading - grandfather.

"Harlow's a dream, she's Nic; Sparrow is Joel - they've both had themselves. I get to play with the babies and give them back, which is the best fun of all," he says.

"I didn't know if grandpa ... well, when you think sexy, 'grandpa' is not a word you'd use. When they first told me Nicole was pregnant, I thought 'Gpa' might be a hipper term. But when Harlow started going 'Papa! Papa! Grandpa!' - hey, I'm in love. I don't care what they call me."

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IT'S A GUY THING

Lionel Richie thinks Guy Sebastian has what it takes to break into the US.

"He absolutely does," Richie says. "Two words: vibe and swagger. Some people come from Italy and the vibe is wrong. Or they're from Sweden, they look and walk and talk like they're from Sweden.

"Then a guy walks in and if he didn't tell you where he's from, you wouldn't know. That's Guy."

They recorded All Night Long in the same room, but Richie left before Sebastian did his take.

"Sometimes, by staying in the room, it's intimidating. I wanted to make sure he owned it, don't try to be Lionel Richie, don't copy it.

"He changed the melody on the second verse, which I love, he owns it. As soon as I heard him do that I left the room and went, 'Thank you, I'll see you in Australia'. It feels natural for both of us. It doesn't feel like something where you put a voice on and people go, 'It's not believable'. The two of us sound like we've been doing this for 40 years, we blend in perfectly."

All Night Long (Liberation) out digitally tomorrow. All proceeds go to the Queensland Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal.

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SEE Lionel Richie

> NSW

Acer Arena, Tue, $108.15 to $251.70, Ticketek.

A Day on the Green, Bimbadgen Estate, Hunter Valley. March 26; Centennial Vineyards, Bowral, March 27, $125 to $290, Ticketmaster.

> QLD

Brisbane Entertainment Centre, March 25, $108.15 to $251.70, Ticketek.

> VIC

Rod Laver Arena, March 29-30, $107 to $251.40, Ticketek.

A Day on the Green, Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley, April 2, $125 to $290, Ticketmaster.

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