American Idol judge Lionel Richie, 73, has still got it… sort of. While appearing on The View alongside his other Idol judges, the 73-year-old musician revealed the backstory of his hit song “All Night Long”, which was released 40 years ago. “Let me give you the first part that I have to really, really say to you. When I wrote ‘All Night Long,’ it was truly all night long,” he told Sara Haines, 45. “Now my ‘all night long’ is down to a fierce 15 minutes.”
After Lionel joked about his sexual stamina, the crowd and his co-judges responded with a round of laughter. “But, don’t worry, we’ll talk about that later!”, he jokingly added. Songstress Katy Perry, 38, even shook his hand and commended him for being able to go that long. “Fifteen minutes, that’s long, bud,” she exclaimed. After country star Luke Bryan, 46, also applauded Lionel, the father-of-three replied, “Damn right, and don’t you forget that, alright?”
Later, the “Firework” hitmaker added that his “15-minutes” is fair, as long as “it’s not four times a night, seven days a week.” Lionel finally got to explain his creative process in writing the hit song, and admitted that he struggled to complete it. “I had everything but the hook,” the Grammy-winner said. “I said, ‘Guys, I gotta go back to the studio, man. I got to go back, man, ’cause I gotta go work all night long, all night long.'” And soon enough, that simple phrase led to him creating the catchy hook.
He even revealed that he was able to complete the song at his friend’s house over Thanksgiving and after it was released, a third party asked the friend if he profited off Lionel’s song. “He said, ‘No, man. I didn’t write the song. He just wrote it at my house,’ and he said, ‘Man, you got ripped off,'” the recording artist added. That was when The View co-host Joy Behar, 80, suggested that Lionel send his old pal some money, to which he replied, “Alright, Lloyd, I’ll send you a check.”
Lionel’s candid conversation on Tuesday comes two days after American Idol held their final round of auditions for Season 21. A few of the rising stars that received golden tickets during the Mar. 26 episode included Kaeyra, 21, Elise Kristine, Sarah Mac, Jayna Elise, Nate Peck, Mikenley Brown, and many others. The next episodes of the show are set to air on April 2 and April 3, per the show’s official Instagram account. Lionel has been a judge on the hit singing TV competition since Season 16 and continues to be a fan-favorite.