Lionel Riche talks ‘celebrating’ King Charles ‘stepping into new role’

Lionel Richie is looking forward to performing at the upcoming Coronation of King Charles next month.

The iconic singer, 73, was announced as one of the headliners along with Katy Perry and other artists for the concert on May 7th, 2023.

After the announcement, the All Night Long singer had a conversation with People Magazine during the Breakthrough Awards at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles Saturday night, April 15th, 2023, in which he expressed his gratitude for the honour.

“I mean, you don’t get in the business and say, ‘You know what? I’ll be at the King’s coronation.’ You know, that just never comes up,” Richie said. “[It’s] A, a surprise. B, what an honour. And C, the fact of all the names that are out there that he could have had for this, he called my name.”

The singer mentioned that he has known the British monarch “for a long time.” He added, “I really do celebrate his now stepping into the king role.”

Richie continued, “He’s been in that prince role for a long time, but I’m anxious to see what he’s going to now change as far as his reign. And so, I know him as a wonderful person.”

When asked what he’s looking forward to most at the historic event, Richie said that wants to “see all the lights.”

“I want to see the pomp and circumstance because I don’t care what you thought Michael Jackson did. I don’t care what you thought Prince did. I don’t care what you thought Madonna did. Nothing’s going to be like this. This is the grandiose of grandiose right here,” he enthused.