Truly

Album: Lionel Richie (1982)
Charted: 6 1
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This was Richie's first solo single after leaving the Commodores earlier in the year. With that group, he wrote and sang on a number of hits, including "Three Times A Lady" and "Still." While still with the group, he wrote and produced the Kenny Rogers #1 hit "Lady" and also the smash duet with Diana Ross, "Endless Love."

    "Truly" stayed in his sweet spot of devotional ballads, and again he rose to the top: the song hit #1 on the Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts, and rose to #2 R&B.
  • Richie's co-producer on this track was James Anthony Carmichael, who worked on most of the Commodores material.
  • After 18 nominations (mostly for songs with the Commodores), Richie finally won his first Grammy when this took the award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male in 1983. Richie almost skipped the ceremony, as he was nominated each of the previous five years and had come up empty handed each time.
  • This song got no help from MTV because Richie didn't make a video for it. He had little reason to: The network shied away from ballads and didn't play black artists in earnest until Prince and Michael Jackson broke through the following year. He made a video for his next single, the uptempo "You Are," but MTV didn't play it. The following year, he made videos for the singles from his, Can't Slow Down album, and they became some of the most-played on the network, especially "All Night Long (All Night)" and "Hello."

Comments: 1

  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn this day in 1982 {October 23rd} Lionel Richie performed "Truly" on the ABC-TV Saturday-afternoon program, 'American Bandstand'...
    At the time "Truly" was at position #36 on Billboard's Top 100 chart, seven weeks later it would peak at #1 {for 2 weeks} and it spent eighteen weeks on the Top 100...
    And on November 7th, 1982 "Truly" peaked at #2 {for 9 weeks} on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart, for the nine weeks it was at #2, the #1 record for those nine weeks was "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye...
    Between 1981 and 2006 the Tuskegee, Alabama native, as a solo artist, had twenty records on the Hot R&B Singles chart, fourteen made the Top 10 with five* reaching #1, "Endless Love", with Diana Ross, for 7 weeks in 1981, "All Night Long" for 7 weeks in 1983, "Hello" for 3 weeks in 1984, "Say You, Say Me" for 2 weeks in 1986, and "Do It To Me" for 1 week in 1992...
    Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. will celebrate his 71st birthday come next June 20th, 2020...
    * He just missed having three more #1 records when his "You Are", "Love Will Conquer All", and the above "Truly", all peaked at #2 on the Hot R&B Singles chart...
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Philip Cody

Philip CodySongwriter Interviews

A talented lyricist, Philip helped revive Neil Sedaka's career with the words to "Laughter In The Rain" and "Bad Blood."

Michael Franti

Michael FrantiSongwriter Interviews

Franti tells the story behind his hit "Say Hey (I Love You)" and explains why yoga is an integral part of his lifestyle and his Soulshine tour.

Graham Parker

Graham ParkerSongwriter Interviews

When Judd Apatow needed under-appreciated rockers for his Knocked Up sequel, he immediately thought of Parker, who just happened to be getting his band The Rumour back together.

Dennis DeYoung

Dennis DeYoungSongwriter Interviews

Dennis DeYoung explains why "Mr. Roboto" is the defining Styx song, and what the "gathering of angels" represents in "Come Sail Away."

Chris Frantz of Talking Heads

Chris Frantz of Talking HeadsSongwriter Interviews

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz on where the term "new wave" originated, the story of "Naive Melody," and why they never recorded another cover song after "Take Me To The River."

Dar Williams

Dar WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.