Pop Quiz: Lionel Richie

Pop Quiz: Lionel Richie

Aidin Vaziri | Lionel Richie may have conquered the charts in the 1970s as the lead singer of the Commodores. He might have also started a stratospheric solo career in the 1980s, selling 18 million albums, performing at the Olympics and co-writing "We Are the World." But what we'll always remember him for is the awesome video for "Hello," in which he stalks a blind girl who makes a ceramic bust of his head. After a few years out of the spotlight raising socialite daughter Nicole Richie and becoming the biggest pop star in Iraq (seriously), Lionel returns with a new album called "Coming Home," which sees him collaborating with Jermaine Dupri, Raphael Saadiq and Dallas Austin.

Lionel Richie
Q: Good news! I just finished making my very own clay Lionel Richie head.
A: Ha, ha, ha, ha! I love it. Now that's hilarious.
Q: You've had 20 years to think about this: Why did the head come out so wrong in the video for "Hello"?
A: That's the joke. I spent the entire video walking around with the director going, "It doesn't look like me." He kept saying, "Don't worry about it, Lionel." But I kept saying, "It doesn't look like me." So finally he turned around and said, "Lionel, she's blind. It's not supposed to look exactly like you."
Q: That's a terrible excuse. It looks like a football with a mustache.
A: Yeah, I know. I kept saying, "The face is so long! Look at the mustache! And what about the hair? Come on, you've got to help me!"
Q: Maybe we could get George Lucas to go in and work some of that CGI magic.
A: If anybody can save it, he can.