Lionel Richie stops Co-op Live show for Manchester revelation as thousands enjoy iconic hits

Yahoo

17 hours ago

Superstar Lionel Richie embraced his love of Manchester during the first of two nights in the city as part of his greatest hits tour.
Quite startlingly, it has been 10 years since Lionel Richie's iconic Glastonbury legend slot at Worthy Farm for what the famous American singer-songwriter dubbed 'Glastonberry' throughout.
A decade on, Lionel has lost none of his quick-witted nature or dazzling showmanship displayed as he opened the first of two nights at Manchester's Co-op Live Arena - quickly following on from a visit from another US great Bruce Springsteen.
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Thousands headed to the venue on Thursday evening in sparkling jackets, the odd curly wig and other Lionel-inspired regalia as his Say Hello to The Hits 2025 tour stopped in the city. Some piled in early to catch support act Brooke Combe while others enjoyed covers from a Huddersfield three-piece performing in the arena's newly-relaunched Co-op Backstage Club.
All were present-and-correct, in their auditorium seats, just after 9pm when the man they were longing to see took to the stage. Slightly tardy (doubtful many will hold it against Lionel), a sweeping montage featuring Lionel down-the-years preluded his arrival, featuring an enviable plethora of award and gong citations from the star's career, which dates back to the 1960s, alongside nods to some of the musical icons he's collaborated with.
Then quite simply, Lionel had them at Hello as he launched from under the catwalk-like stage set-up to adoring adulation from the Manchester masses. Lionel, who turns 76 next week, wasn't messing about with big numbers coming fast.
The opener followed by Running With The Night and the 1980s idol, who donned a snazzy white jacket, taking to his piano for Commodores classic Easy.
As billed, the evening was something of an open-top trophy parade tour of major songs with a large helping of that Lionel Richie charisma dropped in for good measure. The towering figure enthusiastically declared: 'It's Manchester. We've got to blow the roof off the joint.'
Lionel regularly informed the audience of his Mancunian experiences over the mere '230 years' that he has been visiting the city on tour. At one point, as our video shows, he stopped proceedings to embrace that unique Manchester weather - so lauded and admired across the globe.
Lionel said: 'I want you all to clear this up for me. I woke up this morning and I opened up the curtains and I saw sunshine. I didn't know you had sunshine in Manchester. My god.
'And, I said 'quickly, quickly let's go downstairs I want to get some kind of a tan'. The guy at the (hotel) counter said 'I wouldn't do that if I were you, it might rain later on tonight'.'
Laughter ensued and cries of 'go on, Lionel!' quickly followed ahead of Stuck On You. The white jacket was dispensed as fire erupted from the rear of the stage for the funk-laden Brick House which saw Lionel strut down his catwalk with his talented accompanying band. The superstar paused to make a mental note to turn the heat down for Friday night's follow-up performance.
He quipped: 'I was taking a moment to think about just how hot that fire really was.'
Alongside the music, Lionel's live events go a long way to encapsulate a sense of fun, often lost during big shows, and there were a lot of beaming smiles on faces at the Co-op on Thursday.
The former Commodores singer was regularly joined by thousands of backing vocalists who made up the crowd and gave them a chance to hit the right notes, taking the Diana Ross role, for Endless Love.
My Destiny and Dancing On The Ceiling, the latter being met by rapturous applause at its conclusion, were added set highlights. The main portion of the proceedings concluding with a second piano appearing and Lionel being lifted up high on it for Say You, Say Me before an impassioned declaration for equality preceded We Are The World.
A quick addition of a green sequinned jacket came as Lionel returned for the one-song encore All Night Long, a party mandate his fans were keen to adhere to. Although with curfew being pushed at 11.05pm, the curtain came down with Lionel telling the city: 'I love you so much, Manchester.'
Hello
Running With the Night
Easy
Penny Lover
Se La
Stuck on You
Sail On
You Are
Brick House / Fire
Three Times a Lady
Fancy Dancer / Sweet Love / Lady (You Bring Me Up)
Truly
Endless Love
My Destiny
Dancing on the Ceiling
Still
Say You, Say Me
We Are the World
Encore
All Night Long (All Night)