Lionel Richie is opening up about his life like never before in his new memoir, Truly. Luckily, Richie’s interests in the priesthood shifted after he got his first memorable audience reaction while performing with his college band, the Commodores. Lionel Richie performs with the Commodores in 1970. “But I wanted to be in this band so badly, and I wanted to be in this business.”Lionel Richie performs on August 2025 in Madrid, Spain. Richie’s memoir, Truly, was released on Sept. 30 and is available everywhere books are sold.