Tuskegee’s Lionel Richie among Kennedy Center honorees

Musician Lionel Richie, a native of Tuskegee, Ala., was among a group honored Sunday by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

According to a story on the Tuskegee University website, https://www.tuskegee.edu/, he was one of five artists chosen for the 2017 Kennedy Center Honors.

Richie attended the university before taking off for a career in music.

According to the Tuskegee report, Richie’s co-honorees included American dancer and choreographer Carmen de Lavallade, Cuban American singer-songwriter and actress Gloria Estefan, American hip hop artist and entertainment icon LL COOL J, and American television writer and producer Norman Lear.

The honorees received their Kennedy Center Honors medallions on Saturday, Dec. 2 at the State Department Dinner and Awards Ceremony hosted by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The 40th Annual Kennedy Center Honors Gala, held the following evening, was recorded for broadcast as a two-hour primetime special to air on CBS on Tuesday, Dec. 26 at 9 p.m.

“The Kennedy Center Honors spotlights the extraordinary careers of five artists whose talent and ingenuity have enriched and shaped cultural life in America,” said Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein in the Tuskegee report. “Lionel Richie’s irresistibly recognizable melodies capture the heart and transcend generations.”

The report says in a career spanning three decades Richie is one of only two songwriters in history to achieve the honor of having No. 1 records for nine consecutive years. With more than 100 million albums sold worldwide, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, five Grammy Awards, 16 American Music Awards, and the distinction of MusicCares person of the year in 2016, he is a true music icon.

His accolades don’t stop there. Richie has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an ASCAP Lifetime Achievement Award, a United Negro College Fund Achievement Award, induction into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Alabama Music Hall of Fame, and the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences’ Governors Award — just to name a few. And, in 2010, Tuskegee University bestowed upon him an honorary doctorate of music degree.

Richie’s celebrated mega-hits include “Endless Love,” “Lady,” “Truly,” “All Night Long,” “Penny Lover,” “Stuck on You,” “Hello,” “Say You, Say Me,” and “Dancing on the Ceiling.” 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.”

This story was originally published December 4, 2017 at 5:56 PM with the headline "Tuskegee’s Lionel Richie among Kennedy Center honorees."