Singer Lionel Richie, who has a line of luxury home entertaining products called Lionel Richie Home Collection, shared 25 interesting facts about himself with Us Weekly.
1. When I was growing up, I wanted to be an Episcopal preacher.
2. I am restoring the family house in Tuskegee, Alabama, that I grew up in. It was given to my grandparents as a gift from Booker T. Washington.
3. I was an economics major at Tuskegee University, with a minor in accounting.
4. I’m an active gardener and well-versed in plants and flowers. I go to my garden when I need a quiet place to reflect.
5. My favorite flower in my garden is the bougainvillea.
6. I used to be painfully shy.
7. I joined the Commodores when I was in college. I told my dad I would drop out of school to join a band that would become “the black Beatles.”
8. I am a junior. My dad was Lionel Richie Sr. and the funniest man.
9. My mother was a school principal.
10. My favorite food is homemade Southern cuisine.
11. When traveling, I spend most of my time in art galleries.
12. If I didn’t spend my career singing, I would have been a landscape architect or interior designer.
13. I’m addicted to design magazines.
14. And I’m a collector of fireplaces.
15. My grandmother was a classical pianist in the middle of the civil rights movement.
16. I took Nelson Mandela shopping in 1990. It was an incredible moment.
17. I make a pretty mean peanut butter sandwich.
18. I don’t know how to read or write music.
19. I have a sweet tooth and love oatmeal cookies and carrot cake.
20. My daughter Nicole [Richie, 34] calls me “L-Train.”
21. And my grandkids [Harlow, 8, and Sparrow, 6] call me “Pop Pop.”
22. I’m a news junkie. CNN is always on in my house and hotel rooms.
23. Every morning, I drink a glass of hot water with lemon.
24. [Soccer player] Lionel Messi, 28, was named after me.
25. My dog Napoleon (Poly) is a King Charles. He doesn’t listen to me — ever.
