Lionel Richie gets personal in new memoir “Truly,” dropping this September

Iconic American singer Lionel Richie has announced that his upcoming memoir, Truly, will be released on 30 September, 2025.

Titled after his 1982 debut solo single, Truly will feature Richie sharing his life story in his own words.

While he is best known for his successful solo career, Richie also gained fame as the lead vocalist and saxophonist for the Commodores, a band he co-founded in 1968 during his college years at Tuskegee Institute.

Giving fans a glimpse into the memoir, Richie recently shared a short anecdote about the book on his Instagram page.

Here’s what he said as he invited fans along on this personal journey:

“From my first solo tour in 1983 and featured in my forthcoming memoir, TRULY.

“The tour began in Las Vegas with a nightclub act at the Aladdin. Heading it up as director was Broadway veteran Joe Layton – who I had watched years earlier direct the Jackson 5. Joe challenged my vision of doing a version of the Commodores’ Showtime opening – how we would hype the show beforehand and then kick into three big-ass up-tempo numbers,” he wrote.

Story behind opening his Vegas show with “Truly”

Continuing his storytelling, Lionel went on to say in his post:

“Joe insisted that I open my debut Vegas show with—what? A ballad. This can’t be right. We don’t want to reinvent the wheel here. Joe sounded to me like a crazy man when he repeated that I was going to begin the show by singing my new ballad Truly – which was already #1 on the Pop charts and cranking up to #2 on R&B. Joe said I should trust my ability to tell a story and let the song cast a spell. The stories behind all the music are in TRULY, available for preorder now at the link in my bio,” he wrote.

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