Lionel Richie hospitalized after St. Louis show in latest health concern

Lionel Richie checked himself into a hospital over the weekend following a show in St. Louis, according to TMZ, the latest health concern for the former Commodores singer.

While performing at The Muny on Saturday night, Richie appeared at one point to lean on a piano for support, according to video from the show. Later, fans said, the 77-year-old singer asked for a chair to sit down for his final number, “All Night Long.”

After the show, Richie checked himself into a local hospital to have some tests, potentially for slight dehydration, TMZ reported.

This isn’t the Grammy-winning artist’s first onstage health scare this year.

In June, he took a seat on stage in Minnesota during a performance of “Dancing on the Ceiling,” citing dizziness, before ending the show early and postponing shows in Chicago and Columbus, Ohio.

Then, in July, he joked about needing electrolytes in between songs during a show at Madison Square Garden.

Richie is currently in the middle of a 26-city “Sing A Song All Night Long” tour with Earth, Wind and Fire. 

He is widely regarded as one of the best pop songwriters of the late 20th century. He was a member of the highly successful band the Commodores in the 1970s — releasing songs like “Easy,” “Three Times a Lady” and “Brick House” — before going solo in the early ’80s. As a solo artist, he released a string of hit ballads like “Hello,” “My Love” and “Say You, Say Me.”

Richie also co-wrote the global smash hit “We Are The World” in 1985 with Michael Jackson, which helped raise millions for famine relief efforts in Ethiopia. He has been a judge on “American Idol” since 2018.

The singer has been nominated for 33 Grammys and won four, including album of the year in 1985 for “Can’t Slow Down” and song of the year in 1986 for “We Are The World.”