#544 - Lionel Richie on Writing “Hello” and “All Night Long” + What Michael Jackson Was Like + Meeting the Commodores and Not Wanting to Go Solo + What “We Are the World” Still Means to Him
Bobby Bones Presents: The BobbyCast
Nashville Podcast Network
4.8 • 4.6K Ratings
🗓️ 7 October 2025
⏱️ 80 minutes
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Summary
On this episode of the BobbyCast, Bobby sits down with music icon, Lionel Richie at the State Theater in Austin, Texas to have a one-hour candid conversation about Lionel's new memoir titled 'Truly'. Lionel opens up like never before — taking us from his childhood in Tuskegee, Alabama, to the global stages that made him a household name. He shares how his grandmother’s wisdom shaped his outlook on life, the humor that helped him navigate the Jim Crow South, and the moment music truly became his purpose. Lionel looks back on the Commodores forming while in college, what it was like opening for the Jackson Five, and the stories behind timeless hits like “Hello,” “Lady,” and “All Night Long.” He also reflects on the magic of “We Are the World,” the sacrifices behind success, and why family still anchors everything he does.It’s a warm, inspiring conversation filled with laughter, lessons, and a few unforgettable stories from one of music’s most enduring legends.
Check out Lionel's memoir titled Truly HERE: He tells stories about his early life in Tuskegee, Alabama, being super shy as a kid, joining The Commodores, struggles, loss, faith and more.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an IHeart podcast. |
| 0:07.0 | The murder of an 18-year-old girl in Graves County, Kentucky, went unsolved for years, |
| 0:14.0 | until a local housewife, a journalist, and a handful of girls came forward with a story. |
| 0:20.9 | America, y'all better work the hell up. |
| 0:22.9 | Bad things happens to good people in small towns. |
| 0:32.5 | Listen to Graves County on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And to |
| 0:39.1 | binge the entire season, ad free, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. |
| 0:47.0 | People called them murderers. Ten years later, they were gods. Today, no one knows their names. |
| 0:56.8 | A group of maverick surgeons who took on the medical establishment who risked everything to invent open heart surgery. Welcome to the Wild West of American |
| 1:03.1 | Medicine. I'm Chris Pine and this is Cardiac Cowboys. If you like medical dramas, if you like |
| 1:09.0 | heart-pounding thrillers, you will love |
| 1:11.1 | cardiac cowboys. Listen on the IHeart Radio app or wherever you listen to podcasts. |
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| 1:20.8 | Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa once promised to break both of Bobby Kennedy's arms. |
| 1:25.6 | Bobby, JFK's Attorney General, wanted to take down the mob, |
| 1:28.6 | starting with Hoffa. Like, no one gives a shit about Bobby, right? So this is Bobby trying to get the |
| 1:34.0 | world to care about him, which I think explains all this passion and anger going into this, |
| 1:40.6 | even though it's all kind of ineptly handled. On United States of Kennedy, we dive into the hidden stories fueling our cultural fascination |
| 1:48.0 | with the Kennedy Dynasty. |
| 1:49.4 | Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. |
| 1:57.6 | I found enough guts in my heart to bend over and kiss that girl on the front room. |
| 2:05.9 | There was such a scream in this huge arena that the problem the Commodore's had from that point on was Lionel. |
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