Editing Lionel Richie (section)

===Commodores===
{{Main|Commodores}}
As a student in Tuskegee, Richie formed a succession of [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] groups in the mid-1960s. In 1968, he became a singer and saxophonist with the [[Commodores]]. They signed a recording contract with [[Atlantic Records]] in 1968 for one record before moving on to [[Motown Records]] initially as a support act to [[The Jackson 5]]. The Commodores then became established as a popular soul group. Their first several albums had a danceable, funky sound, as in such tracks as "[[Machine Gun (Commodores album)|Machine Gun]]" and "[[Brick House (song)|Brick House]]". Over time, Richie wrote and sang more romantic, easy-listening ballads such as "[[Easy (Commodores song)|Easy]]", "[[Three Times a Lady]]", "[[Still (Commodores song)|Still]]", and the breakup ballad "[[Sail On (song)|Sail On]]".

In 1974, Richie achieved his first commercial success as a songwriter with "[[Happy People (The Temptations song)|Happy People]]", which he co-wrote with Jeffrey Bowen and Donald Baldwin. Originally intended as a Commodores track, it was recorded by [[The Temptations]], who had their No. 1 R&B with the song. By the late 1970s, Richie had begun to accept songwriting commissions from other artists. He wrote "[[Lady (Kenny Rogers song)|Lady]]" for [[Kenny Rogers]], which hit No. 1 in 1980, and produced Rogers' album ''[[Share Your Love]]'' the following year. Richie and Rogers maintained a strong friendship in later years. Latin jazz composer and [[Salsa music|salsa]] romantica pioneer [[La Palabra (musician)|La Palabra]] enjoyed international success with his cover of "Lady", which was played at Latin dance clubs. Also in 1981, Richie sang the [[Endless Love (song)|title theme song]] for the film ''[[Endless Love (1981 film)|Endless Love]]'', a duet with [[Diana Ross]]. Issued as a single, the song topped the Canada, Brazil, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and US pop music charts, and became one of Motown's biggest hits.