After selling more than 100 million albums worldwide one might rightly think Lionel Richie has been there, done that in his career. Then comes 2003, more than 20 years after his first solo hit, and Lionel’s new greatest hits package, The Definitive Collection, goes Top 20 pop/Top 40 R&B – and is certified gold. He teams with Rob Zombie for a hard rock “Brick House 2003.” He is lauded in a Rolling Stone feature, is a guest judge on American Idol and earns a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And now there’s Lionel Richie’s first-ever mid-line collection: The Best Of Lionel Richie edition of 20th Century Masters/The Millennium Collection (Motown/UMe), released October 7, 2003. Spanning 25 years of recordings, both his tenure with the Commodores and as a solo artist, the album certainly deserves its title – seven of the 11 selections were Top 10 pop and R&B. Included are three of his four solo gold-certified pop #1s: “Hello” and “All Night Long (All Night)” from the 1983 Grammy Album of the Year Can’t Slow Down and “Say You, Say Me,” the Golden Globe and Oscar winner for Best Original Song from the film White Nights. Each also charted #1 R&B and #1 Adult Contemporary. Also featured are “You Are” (#4 pop/#2 R&B/#1 AC) from his 1982 self-titled solo debut album, “Dancing On The Ceiling” (#2 pop/#6 R&B/#3 AC) from the 1986 album of the same title and the Commodores’ “Lady (You Bring Me Up),” Lionel’s final lead vocal with his former group (#8 pop/#5 R&B/#13 AC).

But the other tracks are truly what mark The Best Of Lionel Richie as a perhaps surprising must-have for fans. With the tunestack selected by Richie, included are a rare pair of Commodores tracks: the 1977 classic “Zoom” and his powerful, hard-to-find gospel ballad “Jesus Is Love”; plus solo hits not available on any previous retrospective: “My Love” (#5 pop/#6 R&B/#1 AC in 1982), “Deep River Woman,” his Top 10 Country smash duet with Alabama from 1986, and “Cinderella” from his 2001 album Renaissance.