Lionel Richie has regretted missing out on Endless Love performances with Diana Ross again since the Oscars in 1981.
The legendary singer, during a recent chat on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, admitted: "That's one of the things I miss about my entire career."
"From that time on that stage to the present day, we have never stood together onstage... either I was on tour, she was on tour, she was in this part of the world, I was in that part of the world; we could never get our schedules together," he added.
The much-loved duet began as an instrumental for the Franco Zeffirelli romance of the same name, and snowballed into a summer hit that remained at the top of the US charts for about three months.
But the track was hurriedly recorded in Canada, in between Ross's concerts, and the two former Motown superstars only ever performed it once - at the Academy Awards - before the hit lost to Arthur's Theme by Christopher Cross.
Lionel Richie deeply regretted that he has not done Endless Love performances with Diana Ross again since 1981.
One of my very favourite Diana tv performances. Lionel wasn’t bad either lol.
One thing that has always bugged me is the quality of the sound. I remember watching it as a kid when first televised and having to turn up the volume control considerably higher. It sounds like they are singing from under a duvet.
I guess i can let the cat out of the bag now, but Lionel had been lined up to join Ms Ross on stage at Glastonbury in 2020. Sadly the festival was cancelled as indeed it has been in 2021. I don't know if they will revive the plan should she ever commit to Glastonbury 2022. It was kept under wraps, but i am no longer under any contract so i am able to speak freely. It would have been something else.
He was scheduled to perform 3 songs with her. I suspect You are everything would have been one of them, but i do not know for sure. I did also hear rumours he would perform "lady" as part of a possible medley with her which may have also included All night long. Lionel obviously wanted it to be worth his while even though he was already scheduled to be in the country.
Barry Gibb was the other special guest.
Sadly i do not see this happening now.
I cannot get over that I missed all three of them!! I have never seen Diana live and one of my biggest fears is that she passes away before I see her live.
There are a lot of missed moments for everyone and many will never be recovered
In what world would Lionel be singing 3 songs at a Diana Ross concert?
Andy Coen also asked LR about a possible Commodores reunion. LR said there were talks pre-pandemic but things are up in the air now... it did not sound promising.
They would be duet performances in a medley so i was told.
The way it was described to me it sounded like it would be a fun performance. Lionel would not have been performing 3 solo songs but he would have been involved in 3 songs. I think Barry was also scheduled to contribute to the medley and also perform a duet with Diana. Three all time musical legends sharing the Legends stage at Glastonbury would have been an iconic moment.
Last edited by Bluebrock; 05-04-2021 at 05:24 PM.
i love her leaving Motown on such a high with "Endless Love" at the top for what ? 9 weeks ? if i remember correctly...such a classy way to go out on her biggest record...I hope the Academy Awards perfomance one days makes it on to cd release..so much of her tv work is worthy of release
It always struck me as odd that in 30 years, Lionel wouldn't have just show up to a DR concert. EL has been in her set list for decades; I don't see why she wouldn't have allowed an impromptu duet. The audience would have gone nuts.
I would have thought his biggest regret would have been recording DANCING ON THE CEILING
I wonder if we just might have got Diana and Barry singing Islands In The Stream?!
I find it interesting that they recorded this song in Canada I wonder where 🤎
I also wished that everytime I saw her singing EL in concert that LR would walk on stage and join her. But I think scheduling conflicts probably stopped it, not that she would not "allow" him. After all, she let Gloria join her for Survive when she was in Newark. We went wild when Gloria walked out and joined Diana.
And on a personal note, wishing you a very Happy Birthday this weekend
I've always assumed it was because of his "fee" to perform the song with DR. How much would he ask for to perform. But looking over Diana Ross's history she has a history of doing duets, but rarely if ever doing them live. Going back to 68/69 when the Supremes and Temptations song I'm Gonna Make You Love Me went to #2 on the charts the groups never performed the song together either in concert or on tv. Same with her duets with Marvin Gaye. Did she and Julio Iglesias ever perform their duet together either in concert or on tv. What about her song with Al B. Sure? Notice a pattern?
This is the first time I heard that it was Canada. It was always reported that Diana Ross was doing an engagement at Lake Tahoe Nevada. And after her show real late at night. Drove down to Reno Nevada to meet Lionel Ritchie for the recording. I believe Lionel has told this story many times
the vocals were recorded in Reno May 8th 1981....in 1983 for Lionel's shows at the Universal Amphitheatre Richie sang the song with a film clip of Diana performing her segment..the question is was this the Academy Awards footage or was it specially shot for the show ?
Diana’s portion of the “duet” in Lionel’s concert must have been filmed specifically for his show, it was not footage from the Oscars telecast. It was quite creative as I recall. The screen with Diana’s image moved, giving the appearance the two were walking in synch. Although I only saw it once, Lionel performed this version of Endless Love in both his 1983 and 1984 tours...
I wonder if the reason they haven’t performed it since then is because Diana went out of her way to help him. Then perhaps when she called on him to sing it with her at one of her concerts, he declined or was too busy. So she she said to herself “never again”. If they were ever to sing it again, I would not want her to sing it like her solo version. I would want to hear it sung like the duet version- with the “my love, my love” ending.
It's quite possible.
I wish she had done something similar in her concerts rather than perserving with her awful solo version.
I do recall her performing the duet with one of her backing singers for a short while. Cannot remember his name off hand, but i recall him being quite nervous at the prospect of fluffing the lines! Thankfully to the best of my knowledge he did a fine job.
I've long wondered how they have never had the occasion to sing that song live since the Oscars telecast 40 years ago. EL is the biggest song in both of their catalogs by some measures [weeks at No.1 ?] It would have been quite an event -- and still could be.
I guess I am relieved to learn that it is not due to any personal animosity between the two. I recall during the 2019 Q&A after the Radio City show she was asked her favorite duet partner and she answered "Julio Iglesias." After some murmurs from the audience she then said "...and Lionel." Didn't know what to make of that given that the Q&A was rehearsed.
Interesting. At the time of the Ross duet -- which was first released on the Iglesias album -- there were rumors that they were an 'item.' But even my 15 year old spidey-sense told me that was just very suggestive PR intended to promote the recording.
Or was it?
I mean, I was genuinely surprised that in 2019 she would claim that the favorite duet of her storied career was that moderate chart hit; arguably the least memorable duet in her catalog.
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