Lionel Richie was admitted to an intensive care unit in St. Louis after his Aug. 29 concert at the Muny, the second time this summer that a show has ended with the 77-year-old singer in hospital. A source close to his tour told Rolling Stone he is fine, without giving further detail.
Reports from TMZ and PEOPLE said Richie went in for testing as a precaution and that doctors were investigating possible mild dehydration, with the singer hoping to be discharged on Tuesday. His representatives have not announced a diagnosis or issued their own update.
He had already told the audience what was going on. Speaking from the stage in St. Louis, Richie said something on the tour had shaken him up because he could not work out what was happening, and that his doctor had told him he was suffering from dehydration. "Some things have been happening on this tour that kind of shook me up a little bit," he said. He took electrolyte breaks through the set and stayed standing for most of it, moving through solo songs and Commodores material before asking his team for a chair so he could finish the closer, All Night Long, seated.
The precedent was in June. On the opening night of the Sing a Song All Night Long Tour with Earth, Wind & Fire in St. Paul, Richie told the crowd he felt dizzy during Dancing on the Ceiling, called an unexpected intermission about 55 minutes in and did not return. Paramedics met him backstage and he was taken to hospital as a precaution. Doctors told him to rest, and shows in Chicago and Columbus were postponed before he returned to the stage in Pittsburgh on June 30.
Earth, Wind & Fire drummer John Paris said at the time that Richie had seemed healthy beforehand and that he believed the problem was slight dehydration. The St. Louis show was Richie's first since that tour ended, and it closed the Muny's 2026 season to an all but sold-out house.
No changes to his schedule have been announced. He and Earth, Wind & Fire are due to play the rescheduled San Francisco, Chicago and Columbus dates in September and early October, with the San Francisco booking at the Chase Center on Sept. 26, before a Las Vegas residency in October and November. The rnb-soul and pop veteran has now had two of these in ten weeks, after he said he was doing well following the health pause and after Earth, Wind & Fire postponed the San Francisco concert.
The facts
- Lionel Richie, 77, was admitted to an ICU in St. Louis after his Aug. 29 Muny concert.
- TMZ and PEOPLE reported that doctors were investigating possible mild dehydration.
- He asked for a chair to finish the closing song, All Night Long, seated.
- He told the St. Louis crowd his doctor had diagnosed dehydration.
- In June he cut a St. Paul show short after feeling dizzy during Dancing on the Ceiling.
- His next listed date is Sept. 26 at San Francisco's Chase Center.
How this checks out
Confirmed
Reported by 5 outlets
Independent outlets reported it separately, enough to treat it as confirmed.
Cited sources 5
Every outlet that reported this, linked to what it published. Equal credits, in alphabetical order.