Lionel Richie has announced that he will be headlining a 20-show run at the AXIS Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas next year. The announcement was made on Wednesday morning on the “Today” show.
The “All the Hits” show featuring the Grammy Award winning singer begins in April and will run through May. A second run is scheduled for September and October. Tickets for the shows go on sale Friday.
Several big stars, including Elton John, Rod Stewart and Celine Dion, have had successful runs with shows in the city. The Axis Theater stage was also the setting for Britney Spears’ “Piece of Me” run of shows.
The former Commodores singer will sing many of his greatest hits during the show, including “All Night Long”, “Dancing on the Ceiling”, “Hello” and “Stuck on You.” Richie has said that he will stay true to the originals and the songs would not be given present-day treatments.
He wants the audience to be transported back in time in their minds to when the songs were meaningful to them. Richie said in an interview that he wants the crowd to feel like they are in the concert, as opposed to just coming to watch it.
Veteran pop-soul singer and songwriter Richie has been on a hot streak lately. He performed at the Glastonbury music festival in southwest England in June, wowing the audience. Then, he topped the British music charts a week later. He is also scheduled to receive the MusiCares Foundation’s prestigious Person of the Year award at its annual benefit gala before the Grammy Awards in February.
Richie says that he is working as hard at age 66 as he ever has in the past. He also performed at the Bonnaroo festival and is working on new music. Richie said in the interview that he has four or five songs that will hopefully come out before the start of the show in Las Vegas.