There is no questioning that Lionel Richie is a music legend at this point in his career.

Ever since he broke from being lead singer of The Commodores with the launch of his first chart-topping album, the self-titled Lionel Richie, which debuted back in 1983, Richie has been gracing the world with his songs.

Fast-forward 37 years later, and Lionel Richie is still actively thriving in the world of music.

The multi-talented musician, singer, songwriter, and composer has only gained more skill and insight into his industry over the last few decades. He’s been able to add such notable skillsets as actor and record produce to his vast amount of experience.

Even though he has grown far beyond just a singer and songwriter, the man hasn’t forgotten his roots.

In a tip of the hat to his hometown, Lionel Richie released Tuskegee in 2012, his first chart-topping album in 26 years.

The album was a collaborative effort with some of country music’s major stars, including Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Kenny Rogers, Shania Twain, and Jason Aldean, among others. The tracklist is a collection of 13 of Richie’s most famous songs rehashed and reinterpreted as duet performances with country celebs.

It was Lionel Richie’s steamy duet performance of Hello with Jennifer Nettles, though, that brought down the house at ACM’s Lionel Richie and Friends – In Concert performance later that year.

Tuskegee was an unexpected hit.

While Richie and those that worked on the album with him knew it was going to sell, they had no idea it was going to be such a raging success. It topped the all-genre Billboard 200 chart and held the number 1 position for an impressive 3 weeks. It topped the Billboard Country Music chart for 4 weeks, and Richie later received the highly coveted certified Platinum disc for selling over a million copies in the US alone.

“This album continues to amaze me and I am so grateful for all that it has accomplished. Just when I think it couldn’t get any bigger, ‘Tuskegee’ reaches a new level of success. When I came up with the idea for ‘Tuskegee’, I didn’t want to be confined by boundaries of age, genre or demographics. I am thrilled with how well this album has been received by people from all walks of life. It is truly living up to the vision we had when we created it,” Richie said in an interview with The Boot.

In the video of Nettle’s and Richie’s duet for Hello, it begins with Richie slowly walking out on the stage. He instantly captivates his audience with his silky-smooth, rich, sexy voice that we have all come to know and love him for.

Two of Lionel Richie’s daughters, Nicole and Sofia, are in attendance and they are just as mesmerized as the rest of the audience is. They stare up at their dad fully enchanted by his masterful singing.

After singing the opening verses to the iconic song, Richie speaks softly over the music to introduce the mystery woman that would be performing with him.

Jennifer Nettles walks out onto the stage, elegantly booming out the following verse as she approaches Richie.

Their vocals pair so well together that it completely enthralls the audience.

The duet gives us a powerfully emotional rendition of the old classic that leaves everyone speechless.

Though they are definitely nailing down the emotional character of the song, the two didn’t forget to have fun with it.

Throughout parts of their performance, you can catch Richie and Nettles smuggling smiles and laughter as they belt out the beautiful words.

When the song comes to a close, you can tell they just had the time of their lives with the performance. The video is pure and perfect evidence that music truly does bring people together and speaks a universal language to us all.

See what has millions of viewers tuning in even 8 years later in the video below.

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Source: Billy Haido/Wikipedia/WKBR/Wikipedia