Singer-songwriter Lionel Richie has revealed that he once considered joining the priesthood before discovering his passion for music.
Speaking on “Today with Jenna & Friends” on Friday, Oct. 3, while promoting his new memoir, “Truly,” the 76-year-old artist said he initially struggled to decide on a life path.
“I couldn’t figure out what the heck to do with my life, couldn’t figure it out,” he said. “I’m as shy as I can be. And then I realized, maybe the priesthood might be the best way to go.”
Richie said that his plans shifted after an early performance with the Commodores during college. The audience’s enthusiastic response convinced him that music, not ministry, was his calling.
“Here’s what happened to change my mind,” he recalled. “I joined the Commodores in my second semester of my sophomore year and something amazing happened. A lady on the front row of some club said, ‘Sing it, baby!'”
That moment, Richie said, made him rethink his future.
“I called back to the priest and I said, ‘I don’t think I’m going to be college material. I just gotta be honest with you,'” he said. “There’s a moment when you have that moment.”
Richie graduated from Tuskegee Institute in 1974 with a degree in economics and business, according to The Guardian. By that time, his involvement in music was already shaping his future. He joined the Mystics before becoming a founding member of the Commodores, which went on to achieve international fame.
Despite his success, Richie said performing never felt effortless in his early years.
“Scared to death, can you imagine having panic attacks on stage?” he said. “But I wanted to be in this band so badly, and I wanted to be in this business.”
Richie’s decision to pursue music led to a career spanning five decades, with multiple Grammys and a catalog of enduring hits including “Hello,” “All Night Long,” “Easy,” “Sail On,” and “Endless Love.”
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