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

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"They're Playing My Song

The Nails lead singer Marc Campbell talks about those 44 women he sings about over a stock Casio keyboard track. He's married to one of them now - you might be surprised which.

Jeff Trott

Jeff TrottSongwriter Interviews

Sheryl Crow's longtime songwriting partner/guitarist Jeff Trott reveals the stories behind many of the singer's hits, and what its like to be a producer for Leighton Meester and Max Gomez.

Which Restaurants Are Most Mentioned In Song Lyrics?

Which Restaurants Are Most Mentioned In Song Lyrics?Song Writing

Katy Perry mentions McDonald's, Beyoncé calls out Red Lobster, and Supertramp shouts out Taco Bell - we found the 10 restaurants most often mentioned in songs.

Rupert Hine

Rupert HineSongwriter Interviews

Producer Rupert Hine talks about crafting hits for Tina Turner, Howard Jones and The Fixx.

Victoria Williams

Victoria WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

Despite appearances on Carson, Leno and a Pennebaker film, Williams remains a hidden treasure.

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat WorldSongwriter Interviews

Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.