Lionel Richie says ‘Hello’ is his best "pick-up" song.
The 68-year-old music legend admits his bevy of hits have become the soundtrack to many people’s love lives but thinks his 1983 track – which features the famous line, "Hello, Is it me you’re looking for?" – is the track to take inspiration from when you want to hook up.
Speaking about his songs, he mused: "Hello is definitely the pick-up line of life. So they move in with Hello. You have to have strategic shots, right? ‘Truly is the closer’. ‘Three Times a Lady’, it means it’s just all over. But if you don’t start with ‘Hello’, you’re going to lose. Like a big dog."
And when inevitably asked by USA Today which one of his songs brings people to tears, he revealed it’s his most uplifting songs that are often played at funerals because they induce "happy tears".
He mused: "This is not fiction here, but at funerals (people) play ‘All Night Long’ and ‘Dancing on the Ceiling’. Do you think that applies? And you start thinking, how did I get to a funeral? But that was their favorite song. Even though they are up-tempo, happy songs, it’s what people remember. It’s happy tears."
But his own personal favourite is his 1983 hit ‘All Night Long’.
He added: "On stage every night, I just look forward to when you play that, you know it’s just going to be perfect. All Night Long will be the one where you know where it’s going."
Meanwhile, Lionel recently admitted he feared a knee injury was going to end his career, after he suffered a torn meniscus and was forced to undergo surgery on the injury in February.
He said: "You go into denial and you are like, ‘Oh, OK, I am having a little knee problem, I will just do some more shows and work it out.’
"In the old days if you got a little pain, you work it out. Well, the more I started doing shows, what I had was a torn meniscus and the guys said what you do with that is you have to stop, and I didn’t know how to stop."
Lionel had to be convinced that he could return to touring after suffering the injury.
The ‘All Night Long’ hitmaker is back to full health and is set to co-headline the ‘All the Hits’ tour alongside Mariah Carey from July.
Lionel Richie ranks hit Hello as his best pick-up song
