Lionel Richie

“Hello. Is it this mustache you're looking for?”

90STACH SCORE

✂ Chevron Musician Era: 1980s Born 1949 🏆 HOF Inductee

Is this a Legendary Stach?

Stach Stats

Stash Power88

Ruggedness40

Curl Factor15

Legend Status93

Stats are for entertainment purposes. The mustache committee's decisions are final and occasionally arbitrary.

Style: Chevron
Peak Era: 1980s
Born: 1949
Hall of Fame: Inducted 2025
Fan Votes: 0 legendary · 0 meh

The Story

About Lionel Richie

Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1949 and grew up on the campus of the Tuskegee Institute, where he later enrolled and joined a group of fellow students who became the Commodores. Signed to Motown, the band scored with funk hits like "Brick House" before Richie's ballads, including "Easy" (1977), "Three Times a Lady" (1978), and "Sail On" (1979), made him the group's breakout songwriter.

He went solo in 1982 and became one of the defining pop stars of the decade: "Truly," "All Night Long (All Night)," "Hello," "Say You, Say Me," and the album Can't Slow Down (1983), which won the Grammy for Album of the Year. He co-wrote "We Are the World" with Michael Jackson in 1985 and won an Academy Award for "Say You, Say Me" in 1986.

Richie has remained a major touring act and, since 2018, a judge on American Idol. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2017, was named MusiCares Person of the Year in 2016, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. The mustache has been with him for the entire ride.

The Verdict

Why the Stach Became Iconic

Lionel Richie's mustache is the mustache of the slow jam. Neat, full, and slightly tapered, it has presided over more wedding first dances than any other lip in this collection. It has also been remarkably consistent: compare a 1978 Commodores photo to an American Idol judging panel and the mustache has barely changed.

That consistency is the point. Trends came and went; Lionel and the mustache stayed all night long.

On the Record

Appearances

Commodores, "Easy" (1977)
Commodores, "Three Times a Lady" (1978)
"Endless Love," with Diana Ross (1981)
Can't Slow Down (1983)
"Hello" (1984)
"We Are the World," co-writer (1985)
"Say You, Say Me," Academy Award for Best Original Song (1986)
American Idol, judge (2018–present)

Fun Facts

He co-wrote "We Are the World" with Michael Jackson in 1985.
Can't Slow Down (1983) won the Grammy for Album of the Year.
He won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Say You, Say Me" from White Nights (1986).
He was a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2017 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
He grew up on the campus of Tuskegee Institute, where his grandfather had worked with Booker T. Washington.