Lionel Richie says he hopes to collaborate with a stack of UK artists, including Welsh crooner Duffy.

The R&B / soul-pop legend, who releases his new album 'Just Go' in May, is quoted by the Daily Star as saying: "I love Duffy, whom I've just discovered – does she write her own stuff? If she does we're on fire because she's great."

"I like The Ting Tings," Richie added, "I love Coldplay and U2. I want to work with them, let me put it out there."

"Your diversity gives me inspiration and makes me say 'I wanna try that'." Lionel also explained why he admires UK artists, adding: "What I love about British music is you still experiment, you don't get stuck in one rut."

Then on his own album 'Just Go', which includes artists like Akon and Ne-Yo, Richie explained his decision to work with younger, contemporary names: "It was walking into a room with some of today's great writers and saying, 'OK, come up with the Lionel Richie of 2009'."

"What I didn't want to do was to be Lionel Richie out to do hip hop and of course, they delivered. Like the single Just Go – I went to Akon and said: 'Did I write this just after All Night Long?' Because it sounds like something I'd do."

The ting tings collabo has to be interesting

I love some of his old stuffs.