Lionel Richie - Tuskegee

Although he’s renowned for r&b’s the Commodores and his own soulful solo hits, Lionel Richie was exposed to plenty of country sounds growing up in Tuskegee, Alabama. So it seemed like a natural idea to duet with some of country music’s biggest stars on 13 of his best-known songs. Says Richie: “I’m going back to where I wrote all of these songs in the first place.”

            What’s most surprising is not the range of singers—from Rascal Flatts and Tim McGraw to Willie Nelson—who join the Grammy- and Oscar-winning artist, but how well his songs adapt to countrified arrangements. “Stuck on You” perfectly suits the yearning rendition sung with Darius Rucker of Hootie & the Blowfish, while it’s hard to imagine “Say You, Say Me” now without a pedal steel guitar. Meanwhile, together with Shania Twain, Richie brings pure Nashville-style romance to “Endless Love.” Clearly, the man’s country roots run deep.