Lionel Richie: ‘This is a well-oiled Kardashian machine’
SINGER Lionel Richie speaks out about Mariah Carey - and what he really thinks of his daughter’s boyfriend, Kourtney Kardashian’s ex, Scott Disick.
Stellar
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SINGER Lionel Richie on being a grandpa, touring with Mariah Carey and what he really thinks of his daughter’s boyfriend, Kourtney Kardashian’s ex, Scott Disick.
You had a knee operation last year and had to postpone a US tour. Was that frightening for a cheerful and animated man like you?
Absolutely. Some people stand onstage and sing. I don’t. The thought of not being able to simply walk from left to right onstage is like saying Mick Jagger is going to do his show sitting in a chair. Once they gave me the clean bill of health, I was one relieved brother. It gave me an opportunity to sit still, but I’m raring to go now.
Prince did his hips in from doing the splits onstage.
Between my platform shoes and Prince’s stiletto heels the shoes will win in the end! The only person who survived the whole shoe issue was Tina Turner. She’d jump from one riser to the next in high-heel shoes at 70. When you’re onstage and the adrenaline hits, you’re invincible. When those lights hit your face you can’t remember if this is 1971 or 2018. Only your body tells you the truth.
Was Prince’s death as much a surprise to you as everyone else?
Totally. I could see disaster with Michael [Jackson], but you always hope there’s going to be a U-turn. George Michael and Prince took me out completely. I didn’t realise they were that ill. It’s too much talent to lose. One of the reasons I’m here is because we had great competition. You had to have somebody to kick your arse. Prince and I were friends. To lose that person who was your rival or writing competition — you don’t want to win by default, you want to win because you’ve made a great record.
Your 19-year-old daughter Sofia is dating Kourtney Kardashian’s 34-year-old ex Scott Disick, who has three kids. What’s that like for you?
Now I know what my parents meant when I came through the door with my Afro and my girlfriend and said “Dad, I’m in love” and [he] looked at me and said “OK, we’re going to leave you alone for a minute and you’ll figure it out.” My daughter is getting me back for my Afro days! She’s 19. When you’re 19 you know everything. Is it going to be for life? I don’t know. But for right now it’s just a phase and I’m going to stand real still in the corner, get me a good drink and not make too much noise.
What is Scott himself like?
From what I met of him he’s a very nice guy. When you hang around the reality world, who knows what you are really doing? This is a well-oiled machine, the Kardashian machine. I don’t really know what to think. I told Sofia I will have no opinion. I’ll continue to be my cheerful self and move on.
Wasn’t Sofia planning to be a singer before she became a model?
She has an excellent voice, but to be honest I’m so happy she didn’t pursue singing. The competition is so fierce. Not that modelling is not equally hard. You’re getting the stories from Hollywood now through the #MeToo movement — it’s a very tough business. And imagine being Frank Sinatra Jnr; you’re constantly being compared to your parents. I’m happy [daughter and former reality-TV star] Nicole went into TV, that’s not my wheelhouse at all, and Sofia and my son Miles are also in fashion. It makes very good sense they stay away from Dad.
What are you like as a grandpa?
Maybe I was a very slow kid growing up, but my grandkids are the smartest kids I’ve met in my life. The way Joel [Madden] and Nicole have raised them, they know real facts. When I try to give them a grandpa story from 1975, they say “Pop Pop, that’s not real!” They Google everything. They like to take me out to burger places and love to see me get confused when they keep changing the order in the drive through, and laugh because I can’t remember it. I am trying to give them the best memories ever. We just came back from Hawaii watching the dolphins — not from the boat, but in the water. They laughed about Pop Pop nearly drowning.
You toured with Mariah Carey last year. How was that?
People were saying, “Watch out, Lionel!” But she was a delight. There are moments when surviving your career is harder than making your career. She’s in that stage now and she’s doing a great job. When you fall on the floor you brush yourself off and you keep moving.
You will turn 70 next year. Is there an autobiography in the pipeline?
I’ve had offers. It’s about time. I’ll have to have volumes one, two and three. Normally, you talk about the good old days [but] for some weird, wonderful, crazy, blessed reason I’m not done yet. I’m still having so much fun. I’ve got more stories to tell. But I need to write the first volumes before I forget the early stories.
Lionel Richie and CHIC featuring Nile Rodgers’s Australian tour starts in Sydney on March 29; tegdainty.com.