CROONER Lionel Richie has become cool again after Bruno Mars asked him for advice.
Hits such as Hello and Easy are being rediscovered, and he headlines Barclaycard British Summer Time at Hyde Park in July.
Lionel, 63, told me: “The new generation are discovering that guys like me can do melodies. Bruno Mars is a killer for melodies and lyrics, and he came to my show.
“He asked me afterwards: ‘Can you tell me how you do it?’, and I said: ‘Don’t worry, you’re doing just fine.’
“These new guys are hungry for longevity. Daft Punk’s album shares some of that R&B sound, and they know it’s all about writing great songs.”
But Lionel admitted he had no idea his classics – many with his old band The Commodores – would be timeless when he wrote them in the ’70s and ’80s.
He said: “The words of Three Times A Lady apply in 2013 just as they did in 1978, but at the time disco was happening and I was worried about being a laughing stock.”
Speaking about the Summer Time gig, he said: “Hyde Park is as big as it gets, and you’ll have total hit power on that stage.”
