Lionel Richie: Friends always come to shows

Lionel Richie never wants to miss a thing.

The 65-year-old singer is still as busy as ever since first releasing his self-titled debut album in 1982. He has tons of shows coming up, many of which are in the UK as part of his 2015 All Night Tour, and Lionel is getting ready to enjoy himself.

"It's fun to go on tour now, because all of my friends show up. They're dotted all over the world. It's exhausting, I'll be doing promo in the day, a show at night and then seeing friends in the evening," he smiled to eveningtimes.co.uk. "I never want to miss anything. It motivates me to do another album, and to keep on touring, so I can keep up with the great friends I've made in the last century."

He has a host of A-list stars he considers pals. Talking about his collaboration Brick House with the Commodores, Lionel recalled how his buddy Steve stopped by during recording.

"Oh sorry, Stevie Wonder," he laughed when asked who Steve was. "I forget sometimes. I'll be talking about a conversation I had with Michael years ago, and then I have to say it's Michael Jackson I'm talking about. Or Marvin. The other person will be like, 'Marvin who? Marvin Hagler?' and I have to say, 'No, Marvin Gaye'.

"But believe it or not, Marvin Hagler is a great friend of mine, and a big fan. Every time we play in Italy, he's there."

Despite being a part of the older generation of music, Lionel insists he doesn't let the younger stars get past him. He explained he's "eye to eye" with the likes of Justin Bieber so he knows what they're up to and how to compete with them.