Lionel Richie to groove with fans in Genting Highlands

All set: Lionel Richie is looking forward to singing with his fans on Sunday.

KUALA LUMPUR: Multi-award winning R&B singer Lionel Richie is looking forward to his performance in Genting Highlands on Sunday for a special reason — to be able to sing along with his fans.

He said it was an advantage that many of his Malaysian fans knew the lyrics of his hits.

“The thing I am amazed about is that the younger crowd here know the lyrics just as well as the older ones.

“So, what I am going to do is, come there and bring all the songs I can, hopefully I can stay on stage as long as they keep singing and it is going to be a great show,” he said in an e-mail interview.

The 64-year-old five-time Gram­my Award winner is certainly a big favourite among Malaysians.

His “All The Hits All Night Long Live in Malaysia 2014” show at the 5,000-capacity Arena of Stars pro­mises to be a bumper one.

The singer already made Ma­lay­sians dance on the ceiling with concerts in Kuala Lumpur in 2006 and 2010.

Saying it was difficult for him to pick the perfect concert set list, Richie said he was “blessed to have enough songs to play for two or three nights”.

“We just tried to find the songs that hopefully fit that region that we figure that they would know best,” he said.

Asked about his secret to longe­vity in the music business, Richie, whose written and recorded chart-topping hits include Hello, Say You Say Me, Stuck On You, Easy, All Night Long and Endless Love, said that it was just as important to “stay alive”.

“Just stay alive! And the second one is you have to come up with hit records no matter what other gimmicks they have about you,” he said.

“Sooner or later, you have to come up with another hit record, year after year after year. And you have to tour.”

The performer also said that it was his grandmother and Uncle Bertram, who was a passionate musician, who had inspired his career as a musician.

“I grew up in a community where the gospel choir was on the campus. The Motown Records was in the community and we danced all day long and night.

“So, I was inspired all the way around and music was just in the vibe of the community,” Richie recalled.

Tickets for the show, organised by Star Planet, are still available at RM320 and RM550 each, with the other categories sold out.

For enquiries, call 03-9223 3667/Ticket Charge 03-9222 8811/Genting 03-2718 1118 or visit www.starplanet.com.my