Lionel Richie wows Birmingham crowd of all ages with timeless classics

One of the biggest selling artists of all time - over 100m units sold as a solo artist not to mention millions more with the Commodores - Lionel Richie has also always had the reputation of being Mr Smooth.

And he didn't disappoint on the music or with the patter, the Alabama native joking with the crowd about the British weather, his age, his divorces, forgetting the words and how he said he might be still going into his 90s when he spotted two youngsters in the crowd . 

On the day the music industry lost Sly Stone, Richie showed he was alive and kicking with a two hour set that would struggle to fill full versions of every song from an illustrious career which has put him many times in the superstar bracket.

Starting with Hello, he wowed the audience with hit after hit, the 1980s songs proving the most popular including the singalongs Running with the Night and Dancing on the Ceiling in which he encouraged the crowd to - well sing a long.

Richie is known as much for his ballads, songs like Hello, Stuck on You, Penny Lover (from Footloose) and Say You Say Me hitting the mark with the 75-year-old at the piano for all of them.

He also joked how he would love to get to sing 'Endless Love' with Diana Ross once more but she keeps turning him down as she is too busy, so again the crowd had to step in.

Not forgetting the Commodores years which lasted 11 before he went solo and produced unforgettable songs like Easy, Three Times a Lady and Sail On.

In fact his career has spanned over 50 years collectively and included writing with Michael Jackson the massive US charity single We are the World which was the penultimate song of an emotional night before the inevitable encore song of All Night Long.

With three costume changes, an electricity and connection with the audience that can only have been honed by countless gigs as well as being a natural showman, this was a top quality night of musical entertainment that covered all the bases and left people singing the anthemic tunes long after they had left the arena.

The Manchester leg of The 'Say Hello to the Hits' tour commences tomorrow (Wednesday).

Paul Jenkins