Editing Lionel Richie (section)

==Early life==
Richie was born on June 20, 1949, in [[Tuskegee, Alabama]], the son of Lionel Brockman Richie (1915–1990),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lionel Brockman Richie|url=https://www.geni.com/people/Lionel-Richie-Sr/6000000007008604145|website=Geni|date=October 8, 1915|access-date=May 11, 2023|archive-date=May 11, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511122733/https://www.geni.com/people/Lionel-Richie-Sr/6000000007008604145|url-status=live}}</ref> a U.S. Army [[systems analyst]], and Alberta R. Foster (1917–2001),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alberta R. Richie|url=https://www.geni.com/people/Alberta-Richie/6000000011660311843|website=Geni|date=January 27, 1917|access-date=May 11, 2023|archive-date=May 11, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511122734/https://www.geni.com/people/Alberta-Richie/6000000011660311843|url-status=live}}</ref> a teacher and school principal. His grandmother Adelaide Mary Brown was a pianist who played classical music.<ref name="usmagazine.com" /><ref>Richie, Lionel. ''[[Who Do You Think You Are? (U.S. TV series)|Who Do You Think You Are?]]'', March 4, 2011.</ref> On March 4, 2011, he appeared on [[NBC]]'s ''[[Who Do You Think You Are? (U.S. TV series)|Who Do You Think You Are?]]'', which found out that his maternal great-grandfather, J. Louis Brown, was most likely the biological son of federal judge and slaveowner [[Morgan Welles Brown]].<ref name="WhoDoYouThinkYouAre">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp1QRtwWQSM|title=Lionel Richie tracks his great-grandfather from slavery to civil rights activist!|date=August 25, 2023 |publisher=Who Do You Think You Are?}}</ref> He was also the national leader of an early Black American [[fraternal organization]].<ref name="knights">{{Cite web|url = http://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2011/03/lionel-ritchie-and-knights-of-wise-men.html|title = Lionel Ritchie and the Knights of Wise Men|date = March 5, 2011|access-date = November 6, 2015|website = Freemasons for Dummies|last = Hodapp|first = Christopher L.|archive-date = October 18, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151018080954/http://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2011/03/lionel-ritchie-and-knights-of-wise-men.html|url-status = live}}</ref> Notably, J. Louis Brown was:
{{blockquote|[P]rincipal organizer and Supreme Grand [[Archon]] of the Knights of Wise Men, a fraternal organization for black men in the post-[[American Civil War|Civil War]] period. Formed in [[Nashville]] in 1879, it was a fraternal insurance and [[Burial society|burial benefit society]], as were so many others during the period.<ref name="knights" />}}

Richie grew up on the campus of [[Tuskegee University|Tuskegee Institute]].<ref name= "allmusic">{{cite web| last= Huey| first= Steve| title= Lionel Richie Biography| url= http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lionel-richie-p5267/biography| website= Allmusic| access-date= March 4, 2011| archive-date= March 14, 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110314100525/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lionel-richie-p5267/biography| url-status= live}}</ref> Their family home was given to his grandparents as a gift from [[Booker T. Washington]].<ref name= "usmagazine.com" /> He graduated from [[Joliet Township High School]], East Campus in [[Joliet, Illinois]].<ref name= "Lacher-Feldman">{{cite encyclopedia| first= Jessica | last= Lacher-Feldman | url= http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2614 | title= Lionel Richie | encyclopedia= Encyclopedia of Alabama | date= January 16, 2017 | access-date= February 15, 2018}}</ref> A star tennis player in Joliet,<ref>{{cite web|title= My Life in Pictures: Lionel Richie|first= Joey|last= Bartolomeo|date= June 1, 2009|url= https://people.com/archive/my-life-in-pictures-lionel-richie-vol-71-no-21/|access-date= March 20, 2019|work= People|archive-date= August 3, 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200803083428/https://people.com/archive/my-life-in-pictures-lionel-richie-vol-71-no-21/|url-status= live}}</ref> he accepted a tennis scholarship to attend Tuskegee Institute, where he was a member of the marching band, the [https://www.tuskegee.edu/student-life/student-organizations/band Marching Crimson Pipers] ,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Band {{!}} Tuskegee University |url=https://www.tuskegee.edu/student-life/student-organizations/band |access-date=2023-10-05 |website=www.tuskegee.edu}}</ref> and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics with a minor in accounting.<ref name= "Lacher-Feldman"/><ref name="usmagazine.com" />

Richie considered studying divinity to become a priest in the [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]], in which he had been baptised, but ultimately decided he was not "priest material" and decided to continue his musical career despite not knowing how to read or write music.<ref name="usmagazine.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/lionel-richie-25-things-you-dont-know-about-me-w202392|title=Lionel Richie Doesn't Know How to Read or Write Music?|website=USMagazine.com|date=April 17, 2016|access-date=September 18, 2017|archive-date=October 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019060650/http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/lionel-richie-25-things-you-dont-know-about-me-w202392|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Esquire">{{cite web|last1= Fussman|first1= Cal|title= Lionel Richie: What I've Learned|work= Esquire|url= http://www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/lionel-richie-quotes-0412|date= March 22, 2012|access-date= February 9, 2015|archive-date= November 2, 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131102032245/http://www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/lionel-richie-quotes-0412|url-status= live}}</ref> He is a member of [[Kappa Kappa Psi]], a national honor fraternity for band members,<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.kkpsi.org/prominentmembers.asp |title= Prominent Members of Kappa Kappa Psi | website= kkpsi.org |access-date= March 17, 2012 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://archive.today/20110716182330/http://www.kkpsi.org/prominentmembers.asp |archive-date=July 16, 2011 }}</ref> and an active life member of [[Alpha Phi Alpha]] fraternity.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://psuchronicles.com/2011/10/05/greek-life-alpha-phi-alpha-fraternity-inc-2/ |title= Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity |work= Psuchronicles.com |date= October 5, 2011 |access-date= March 17, 2012 |archive-date= March 11, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120311215742/http://psuchronicles.com/2011/10/05/greek-life-alpha-phi-alpha-fraternity-inc-2/ |url-status= live }}</ref>