A new report indicates that Lionel Richie was recently hospitalized after a mid-concert health scare, which HELLO! can confirm.
Per TMZ initially, the singer, 77, admitted himself to the hospital in St. Louis after apparently struggling to finish his performance while on tour without sitting down.
During his performance of his hit “All Night Long,” the singer requested a chair on stage from one of the production crew members, and had to sit down for the rest of the performance.
Lionel himself has not yet commented on the matter. He is currently in the midst of a co-headlining tour with Earth, Wind & Fire. According to TMZ’s initial report, doctors are looking into him suffering from “slight dehydration,” and he is likely to be discharged on Tuesday.
The Sing A Song All Night Long Tour with Earth, Wind & Fire kicked off in June, but after falling ill mid-show for the opening, the group were forced to postpone the next two shows so Lionel could recover.
“Under advisement by doctors to rest and return to full health, Lionel Richie has postponed his next two shows on Friday, June 26 in Chicago, IL and Saturday, June 27 in Columbus, OH,” the statement from Live Nation at the time began. “He and Earth, Wind & Fire will return to the stage on Tuesday, June 30 in Pittsburgh, PA.”
© Getty ImagesIt continued: “Lionel is heartbroken to postpone these two shows and cannot wait to be back performing for his fans. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes fans who have tickets for these two shows. Rescheduled dates will be announced soon.”
Soon after, following his return to the stage, the “Dancing on the Ceiling” singer returned to social media with an update for fans, writing: “Thank you for every message, every kind word, and for all your love. I’m doing well, and I’m grateful for all of you.”
“Pittsburgh and Detroit were an absolute joy. The energy, the dancing, the faces in the crowd… we made real memories together. See you in Toronto… let’s party all night long!”
© Getty ImagesBack in 2017, the American Idol judge spoke with Forbes about some of the struggles touring acts often deal with when they’re on the road. “Besides getting great sleep, great food and lots of water, the other thing people on tour will say more times than anything else is, ‘I need a doctor’,” he quipped.
“The reason for that is because there’s always altitude changes, issues like dehydration, or even food poisoning. There’s a number of things that happen on the road that isn’t predictable and the problem [is] you don’t want to risk the idea that there’s no convenient way to see a doctor except maybe through the hotel who’ll send you a doctor.”
© Getty Images“However, there’s certain cases you might be in someone’s home while on the road,” he continued, then speaking of the brand Heal, an on-demand doctor service that he is an investor for. “You’re not at a hotel and Heal provides that coverage.”
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