Hello (Lionel Richie song)

"Hello" is a song by American singer and songwriter Lionel Richie. Taken as the third single from his second solo album, Can't Slow Down (1983), the song was released in 1984 and reached number one on three Billboard music charts: the pop chart (for two weeks), the R&B chart (for three weeks), and the Adult Contemporary chart (for six weeks). The song also went to number one on the UK Singles Chart for six weeks.

The song was subject to a lawsuit by songwriter Marjorie Hoffman White, who accused Richie of plagiarizing her 1978 composition "I'm Not Ready to Go".

Reception
Cash Box said that the song "is as melodic and heartwrenching as anything [Ritchie] has done previously and that’s saying something."

Composition
The song is written in the key of A minor. The verses follow the chord progression of Am9—Cmaj7/G—Fmaj7—C6/G—Fmaj7. The chorus features a Neapolitan chord (Bb).

Music video
The music video for "Hello", directed by Bob Giraldi, features the story of Richie as a theater and acting teacher having a seemingly unrequited love for a blind student (Laura Carrington) until he discovers she shares the feeling as demonstrated by the discovery that she is sculpting a likeness of his head in clay.

Pop culture
The song is memorable for the line "Hello, is it me you're looking for?" The phrase started the song's composition, as when James Anthony Carmichael visited Richie, the singer greeted him that way, to which Carmichael replied, "Finish that song." Richie initially felt that the song was "corny" but ultimately "by the time I finished the verse, I fell in love with the song again." Several publications have commented on similarities in the theme of the song and accompanying video with that of "Hello" by British singer Adele.

Personnel

 * Lionel Richie – vocals, acoustic piano, rhythm and vocal arrangements
 * Reginald "Sonny" Burke – Fender Rhodes
 * Michael Boddicker – synthesizers
 * Darrell Jones – electric guitar
 * Tim May – acoustic guitar
 * Louis Shelton – guitars
 * Joe Chemay – bass
 * Paul Leim – drums
 * James Anthony Carmichael – rhythm and string arrangements
 * Harry Bluestone – string concertmaster

Cover versions

 * Greek singer Yiannis Parios covered the song in his 1985 album Εγώ κι εσύ (You and I).
 * A UK garage cover by Jhay Palmer featuring MC Image reached No. 69 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 11 on the UK Dance Singles Chart in 2002.
 * In 2011, American bachata singer Berto La Voz covered the song which was released as the first single from his debut album Llego La Voz. This version peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Tropical Songs chart.
 * In Sept 2015, Jimmy Fallon and Lionel Richie covered the song in a humorous duet on the Tonight Show and the YouTube clip got over one million views.
 * As a part of the tribute to Richie at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards on February 15, 2016, American singer Demi Lovato gave a rendition of the song.  Her cover version eventually peaked at 15 on the Billboard Twitter Top Tracks chart.