Lionel Richie checked himself into a St. Louis hospital for testing after his August 29, 2026 concert at the Muny, and the 77-year-old singer spent three days under doctors’ care. TMZ, citing sources familiar with the situation, reported that he was in an intensive care unit and undergoing testing for cardiac-related issues, with doctors also looking into possible mild dehydration. No representative, hospital or physician has confirmed that on the record. He was discharged on September 2 and flew home to Los Angeles, where a source close to him told People he is “back home in Los Angeles and doing great.” His representatives have issued no statement.
The check-in has been described throughout as precautionary, and it has for the moment taken the veteran performer off the road.
Inside the Muny Show
For most of the evening at the theater formally known as the St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre in Forest Park, the night looked like any other Lionel Richie concert, and video from that night suggests he was in fine voice. Witnesses said he was laboring by the closing stretch, and rather than stand for the last song he asked his crew to bring out a chair. Clips circulating online show him seated in the middle of the stage as he sang “All Night Long (All Night),” his 1983 smash. He did not fall or stop the song. Electrolyte drinks stayed within reach all evening. “I’m telling you, this stuff is nasty — but it works,” he told the crowd.
Richie laid the situation out for the audience himself. “Some things have been happening on this tour that kind of shook me up a little bit, because I couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on,” Richie told the crowd. “I went back to the doctor, and he said, ‘You are suffering from dehydration.’”
June’s Scare in St. Paul
Twice this summer a Richie performance has ended with a hospital trip. The first came June 24 at the Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minn. — the opening show of his joint “Sing a Song All Night Long” tour with Earth, Wind & Fire. About 55 minutes into the set he called an intermission nobody was expecting, and explained that dizziness had already forced him into a seat earlier in the evening, during “Dancing on the Ceiling.”
“When you’re feeling dizzy, sit your ass down,” Richie said onstage.
Roughly 40 minutes later his saxophonist, Dino Soldo, stepped out to face the audience. “Unfortunately, Lionel is not feeling well,” Soldo said. “He won’t be able to continue.” A St. Paul Fire Department spokesman later confirmed that someone was taken from the arena to a local hospital by Saint Paul Fire-EMS that night.
Richie postponed his next two concerts, in Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, and was back onstage June 30 in Pittsburgh, getting through the remainder of the run without further trouble. A separate emergency cost the tour another date: Earth, Wind & Fire drummer John Paris, 58, suffered a cardiac incident minutes before the band was due to play San Francisco on August 6, and the show was called off shortly after 7 p.m. for a 7:30 start. Paris was placed in an induced coma and faces two major surgeries.
St. Louis was a standalone solo booking and the Muny’s season finale, dropped into a gap in the Earth, Wind & Fire tour rather than scheduled after it.
From Tuskegee to the Rock Hall
Born Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. in Tuskegee, Ala., he first made his name with the Commodores, the Motown funk and soul band from his hometown, serving as songwriter, co-lead singer and saxophonist. His vocals turn up on “Easy,” “Lady (You Bring Me Up)” and “Three Times a Lady.” He left the group in 1982, and his solo career delivered “All Night Long,” “Stuck on You” and “Hello.” Diana Ross joined him on his biggest seller, “Endless Love,” cut for the soundtrack of the movie that shares its title; it held No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks in 1981. Induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a performer came in 2022, and ABC has counted him as one of the judges on “American Idol” since the network revived the series in 2018. He has three children and four grandchildren.
What Comes Next on the Calendar
More work is waiting, and none of it has been called off. If Richie gets a clean bill of health, he and Earth, Wind & Fire will regroup for three makeup shows: San Francisco on September 26 — the rescheduled Chase Center date — then Chicago on September 30 and Columbus on October 2. After that Richie heads into a six-show residency at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas in October and November, with further dates booked into 2027.