Lionel Richie Quotes

When I was growing up, music was music and there were no genres. We didn't look at it as country music. Popular music in Tuskegee was country music. So I didn't know it in categories. It was the radio.

Forget about surviving 40 years in the music business. Just surviving 27 years of Nicole Richie has been a struggle-and-a-half, I want to tell you. I stand here as a survivor, I want you to know, for all the parents out there.

Soul is a feeling, not a color,

I'm a songwriter, and people will tell you the greatest stories about their lives, whether you want to hear it or not.

I find myself going out on the road to get my confidence back, because I lose it at home.

Simplicity is the key to what I do.

So much of my career has been about saying things the way people say them, using melodies not that I can sing but that the people can sing.

Growing up with country, R&B, gospel, and classical music from my grandmother and pop, Tuskegee was the perfect melting pot for my influences as a writer.

I find the greatest songs in the world come out of pain, and I don't like it! Here's what it does: It strips away all of your facade. It makes you so honest. It's cleansing.

People have allowed me into their homes, through my words and my music.

It's quite interesting that in my growing up I had several influences. We had gospel music on campus. R&B music was, of course, the community, and radio was country music. So I can kind of see where all the influences came from.

I always like to challenge myself. I never want to be put into a box.

The music business was not safe, but it was FUN. It was like falling in love with a woman you know is bad for you, but you love every minute with her, anyway.

I'm easy like Sunday morning.

By growing up in Alabama, I had a melting pot of the whole pie: R&B, gospel, country.

I just like people. I'll hold a conversation at a gas station. It's not about the fame and the fortune, I just like people.

My earliest memories of country music are the Grand Ole Opry.

'Let the music play on' would be my legacy.

Believe me, I love commerce as much as the rest of the readers of 'Businessweek.' But in art, you have to be true to yourself and your musical vision. People have known me well for a long time, so if I was chasing a trend and doing something that wasn't authentic to who I am, they would know it in just a few seconds.

I travel around the world, experiencing every language, every religion ... some places where there's just no reason to smile, because their lives are so difficult.

Today we've learned to celebrate mediocrity. Back in the day we had creative artists; today we have created artists.

Your kids can say some cruel things to you at times. For example, Nicole, Miles and Sofie are standing there in the room and I'm dressed to kill in my own mind. They'll say to me, 'Dad, you're not going out there looking like that are you?' If that doesn't kill a star, I don't know what does!

All artists are egotistical maniacs with inferiority complexes.

I just had to find all my friends that used to be in the business. As I say, the music business didn't die, it just moved to Nashville.

Country is bringing in a little rock element ... a little '80s element. Melody is king now. But its just in the music, its not so much in the songwriting, which is still very basic to the storytelling aspect of it.

No one can deny, this love I have inside, and I'll give it all to you, my endless love.

You cannot beat the feeling of sitting on top of the charts. I had almost forgotten what it feels like ... It feels great! It is really a very exciting time and I am enjoying the ride.

When I came up with the idea for 'Tuskegee,' I didn't want to be confined by boundaries of age, genre or demographics. I am thrilled with how well this album has been received by people from all walks of life. It is truly living up to the vision we had when we created it.

I grew up with the Grand Ole Opry, Dottie West, Conway Twitty, Buck Owens ... not realizing it was influencing me as much as it was.

Just when I think it couldn't get any bigger, 'Tuskegee' reaches a new level of success.

I don't think I'm going to be priest material.

I think the whole world is dying to hear someone say, 'I love you.' I think that if I can leave the legacy of love and passion in the world, then I think I've done my job in a world that's getting colder and colder by the day.

Country music has always been about as close to R&B as you can possibly get. We're storytellers.

It was very interesting in my world, because I grew up as a fan and I did not know that there was a thing called R&B, pop, country, classical - I just knew that I loved music.

Greatness comes from fear. Fear can either shut us down and we go home, or we fight through it.