(Debuted October 9, 1982, Peaked #1, 17 Weeks on the Chart)
It's easy to forget just how big Lionel Richie was in the music world of the 1980s. After leaving The Commodores in 1981, his first 13 singles (not counting "We Are the World," which he co-wrote and sang on) all went top 10 on the pop, R&B and contemporary charts. The 14th single was "Deep River Woman," which missed those heights but still went Top 10 on the country chart. For a five-year period, it was hard to find a performer with more crossover success.
His first non-duet solo single was called "Truly," a song that started the new phase of his career on the right note. It went to #1 for multiple weeks on both the pop and AC charts, was #2 on the R&B survey and even went Top 10 in the U.K. Despite sounding a lot like The Commodores' song "Still," which he also wrote and sang, it was a tender ballad of devotion that ranked among the year's top songs at a time when the "old" ways of the 1970s weren't supposed to be in vogue anymore. However, all bets and conventions are off when the subject concerns matters of the heart.
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