NEWNow you can take heed to Fox Information articles!
Lionel Richie revealed that he nearly joined the Episcopal priesthood earlier than one encouraging shoutout from an viewers member satisfied him to pursue a musical profession.
In his new memoir “Really,” the 76-year-old music icon recalled rising up, he was a “disastrously shy altar boy” who thought-about changing into a member of the clergy and was coaching for the priesthood.
Throughout a Friday look on “Right this moment with Jenna & Pals” to advertise his tell-all, Richie recalled the pivotal second, whereas performing along with his school band, The Commodores, that impressed him to decide to music.
SINGER LIONEL RICHIE ATTRIBUTES FAMILY, GOD TO HIS GENERATIONAL STAYING POWER
“I couldn’t work out what the heck to do with my life, couldn’t determine it out,” the four-time Grammy Award winner mentioned. “I’m as shy as I will be. After which I noticed, possibly the priesthood is likely to be one of the best ways to go.”
Lionel Richie recalled that he nearly grew to become a priest earlier than one enthusiastic shoutout from a fan satisfied him to pursue music. (Kristy Sparow/Getty Photographs)
“Right here’s what occurred to vary my thoughts,” Richie continued. “I joined the Commodores in my second semester of my sophomore yr and one thing superb occurred. A woman on the entrance row of some membership mentioned, ‘Sing it, child!’”
Richie mentioned that the viewers member’s remark prompted him to contact church management and abandon his coaching for the priesthood.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
“I known as again to the priest and I mentioned, ‘I don’t suppose I’m going to be school materials. I simply gotta be sincere with you,’” the “All Night time Lengthy” hitmaker mentioned. “There’s a second when you have got that second.”
An viewers member shouted “Sing it, child!” whereas Richie was performing with the Commodores. (Mike Prior/Redferns)
“Impulsively, I bought an acknowledgment from the opposite aspect,” Richie continued. “From that time on, I stored considering, now how does this go ahead? I did not know I used to be a author, did not know I used to be a singer. Thank God for The Commodores as a result of I might have by no means found Lionel Richie.”
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Richie admitted that he continued to wrestle along with his shyness whereas he was performing with The Commodores.
“Scared to loss of life, are you able to think about having panic assaults on stage?” the “American Idol” decide mentioned. “However I wished to be on this band so badly, and I wished to be on this enterprise.”
Richie mentioned that the songs he has written are his “actual sermons.” (VALERIE MACON/AFP)
In “Really,” Richie recalled telling the monks at his church that he had second ideas about his vocation for the priesthood.
“They gave me sensible phrases of encouragement and informed me that if issues modified the door was at all times open,” Richie wrote. “In reality, within the coming years, each time I anxious that the music factor was to be short-lived, I’d discuss returning to my earlier plans.”
He continued, “I even picked out a seminary in Wyoming. By no means went. The second of reality in all probability arrived after I started to jot down songs—and realized they had been my actual sermons.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Really” will probably be launched nationwide on Oct. 15, 2025, by way of HarperCollins.
