WW: I found an old Jet magazine article from 1992, and the headline on it was, "I'm Back After Tackling Five Ds: Disease, Divorce, Disgrace, Disaster and Dad's Death."
LR: Hey, man, that was enough.
Oh, what a feeling: Lionel Richie says hello again.
Details
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 17
$35.25-$79.25
303-405-1111
with Lionel Richie
Pepsi Center, 1000 Chopper Place
Related Content
More About
WW: But when you look back on that period, do you feel you were really back? Or were you in denial about the true situation?
LR: Truthfully, when I was doing that interview, I actually didn't know how bad it was. When you're recovering from cancer and people say you look great, well, at what point do you look great? Is that right after chemotherapy? There's a point where you think you're back to normal but you're really not. It takes a moment to get yourself back in focus, and because I'd been hit from so many different angles, I first thought I was ready to jump right back in it. But then I realized, "You know what? I am not ready yet."
WW: There were also the changes in musical trends -- the grunge, the gangsta rap...
LR: That didn't frighten me as much as the merging of all the record companies. Motown was being sold, which was interesting, because I'd gotten so used to Motown and it being a family-oriented-type company. If I had a problem with a record, there's nothing like taking it to the president of the company, who's also a songwriter [Berry Gordy]. But all of a sudden, corporate America was coming in, and these conglomerates were buying up the record companies. So now if you had a problem with a record, you'd take it to a lawyer who wouldn't know a two and a four [count] if it hit him in the face. It was just another world. Then hip-hop came in, which was fabulous -- but the only thing wrong was, they didn't know how to market anybody else around it. I'd talk to members of U2, or Sting or Billy Joel, and ask what they were up to, and they'd say, "Nothing right now." We were all sitting in the same boat saying, "What's happening here?"
WW: You dabbled in hip-hop a bit on your Louder Than Words album.
LR: I was trying to get onto radio, which was being bought up by two or three companies, just like all the music business was being bought up by two or three companies. And all of them were using the word that I hate the most in the whole world: format. Everybody had a format. For example, if we tried to pull off "We Are the World" right now, I'm embarrassed to tell you that they wouldn't play the record on certain stations because it wouldn't fit their format. You follow me? You used to be able to write a record and say, "I want to be different. I want to drift over to that area." But now you can't drift. They have you in slot number one, and that's where they want you to stay. And it's hard to play around outside of that. So I tried to fit in, but after a while I found myself wondering, "Do I really want to go over to hip-hop? I don't think so." And then Flavor Flav came along and told me, "Man, stay over in the melody business. The only reason I'm rapping is because I can't sing." [He laughs.] And it was at that point that I realized, "Let me stay where I am and not go too far left or right." Which is what I'm doing on the new album.
WW: Tell me a little about that. I know the Backstreet Boys are appearing on the record; do you feel that the rise of groups like that is an indication that the time is ripe for your return?
LR: Absolutely. There would not be a better time in life. Number one, pop music is back in style. Number two, melody is always going to be king, no matter what. And number three is the idea of two very important mediums coming together. My evaluation of true superstardom is, How many records did you sell and how many people showed up at the concert? And so many people who have number-one records now can't perform. But the Backstreet Boys and these other guys can get up on the stage and perform.
WW: Is that the message you'd like to pass along to the latest generation of pop-music listeners? That you can still perform, too?
LR: That, and to hold onto your seat -- because between writing and performing, you'll see a lot of me this year.
WW: I'll let them know.
