Lionel Richie looks back on his journey to staring in his brand new memoirs RealAnd the stories are just as surprising as inspiring.
The 76-year-old music legend revealed that before music took over his life, he actually considered becoming a priest.
“I couldn’t find out what my life had to do, couldn’t come out,” Richie shared as he promoted the book Today with Jenna & Friends on October 3.
“I am as shy as I can be. And then I realized, maybe the priesthood might be the best way to go.”
All of that changed after he had the commodores at his university band, and felt the hurry to make contact with an audience for the first time.
Richie remembered a decisive moment during one of their early versions.
“This is what happened to change his mind. I became a member of the Commodores in my second semester of my second year and something great happened. A lady in the first row of a club said:” Sing it, darling! “
It was enough to push him in a different direction.
“I called the priest and I said,” I don’t think I’m going to be a college material. I just have to be honest with you, “Richie said laughing. “There is a time when you have that moment.”
Even after choosing music, Richie admitted that performance never came for him for him.
“Afraid to death, can you imagine that panic attacks have on stage?” He revealed. “But I really wanted to be in this band and I wanted to be in this company.”
His decision has paid off.
Richie then achieved a huge success, both with the Commodores and as a solo artist and became one of the world’s best -selling musicians.
With four Grammy Awards to his name and timeless hits such as Hello” All night long” Simple” To decreaseAnd Endless loveHe built a career that has overstrained for decades.
Richie’s memoirs RealHe was released on September 30, gives readers a further consideration of the personal moments that his extraordinary life has formed and is now available everywhere.
