ASCAP Golden Note Award

The ASCAP Golden Note Award is presented to Lionel Richie – Songwriter and Performer of Universally Beloved Songs of Romance, Joy and Hope Earning Him an Extraordinary Place in American Popular Music

ASCAP Golden Note Award recipient Lionel Richie's achievements as a songwriter and recording artist include the Oscar, multiple Grammy Awards and chart statistics that make him one of American music's greatest success stories. But to music fans, Richie is the ultimate Pop and R&B balladeer of love, a man who has crafted enduring songs of romance, "Still," "Easy," "Three Times a Lady," "Endless Love," "Lady," "Truly," "Hello," "You Are" and "Say You, Say Me" are just a few examples. Of course, he is also a creator of exceptionally danceable hits that include "Brick House," "All Night Long (All Night)" and "Dancing on the Ceiling," as well as co-writer of "We Are the World," the song that brought together the greatest group of American musical talent ever assembled in one place to record as USA for Africa – a project that raised tens of millions of dollars for the famine-ridden masses of sub-Saharan Africa in 1985.

Lionel Richie was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. As a freshman at Tuskegee Institute in 1968, he joined a band as saxophonist with some fellow students. The group, whose name was chosen out of the dictionary, was called the Commodores. Their reputation for musical excitement and excellence soon brought them a contract with Motown Records and a slot as opening act for the Jackson 5. While the Commodores had a gift for funky dance floor jams, they could also slow down and perform ballads with a country music twist. The saxophone player, Lionel Richie, proved himself to be a compelling songwriter and singer, fronting the band and penning many of their biggest hits, like "Still," "Easy" and "Three Times a Lady," the latter two topping the R&B and Pop charts. In 1980, Richie stepped out to write and produce a giant Pop and Country hit for Kenny Rogers titled "Lady." A year later, Richie's duet with Diana Ross on the movie theme song, "Endless Love," topped the Pop charts for nine consecutive weeks. Not long afterward, Lionel Richie took off on his storied solo career.

The first album, Lionel Richie, showed that the newly minted solo star's success with the Commodores was no fluke. The set featured three Top Five singles – "My Love," "You Are" and "Truly," a Number One hit. 1983's Can't Slow Down, a multi-Platinum smash and Grammy Album of the Year, contained five major hit singles: "Running with the Night," "Penny Lover," "Stuck on You," "Hello" and the Reggae-flavored "All Night Long (All Night)." Can't Slow Down solidified Richie's status as a creator of Pop who had his finger trained squarely on the music-buying public's pulse.

Following the powerful public awareness and fundraising campaign by the British pop stars who put together Band Aid for starving Africans, Lionel Richie, Harry Belafonte, Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson were instrumental in organizing an American effort, USA for Africa, in 1985. Jackson and Richie pooled their talent to create "We Are the World" a song performed and recorded by an historic gathering of stars that made a tangible difference. "We Are the World" brought Richie a "Song of the Year" Grammy in 1986.

The third chapter in Lionel Richie's 80s album juggernaut was the 1986 release, Dancing on the Ceiling, another hit-packed collection that included "Say You, Say Me," the Oscar-winning song written by Lionel for White Nights. Richie then took a long break to recharge creatively and personally. "Part of it was I didn't know how to stop," he has said of beginning his hiatus, a period when his marriage dissolved and his father passed away. Nonetheless, he contributed three new songs to his 1992 "best of" set, Back to Front, including the Number 1 hit, "Do It to Me."

He made his return to full-time performing, recording and songwriting in 1996 and has issued five studio albums since then. All of them are filled with the balladry magic Lionel is best known for. The most recent, Coming Home, features collaborations with such hot producers as Rafael Saadiq, Jermaine Dupri, Dallas Austin and Chuckii Booker. Last year, Lionel issued Live in Paris, a CD/DVD set that finds him performing music from all phases of a "Truly" brilliant career.