Lionel Richieis gearing up for the performance of a lifetime.
The singer, 73, is less than two weeks fromperforming at the Coronation Concert of King Charleson May 7.
“I’m walking in history,” Richie toldExtraof the invitation to perform at the event, which will be broadcast live from Windsor Castle the day after King Charles, 74, and Queen Camilla, 75, are crowned at Westminster Abbey.
“I’ve known King Charles for a while,” Richie, who is an ambassador for the King’s charity, said. “You never think [that will] translate into a tight 1,800 that will be present, and he calls and says, ‘I want you there.’ The answer is, ‘I’m there. I’m there.’ I’m walking in history. This is a moment that he gets to shine. I am very happy for him and the Queen.”
The “All Night Long” singer was coy about what his performance will look like.
“I must tell you I can’t say a word — it’s a royal secret,” he shared with the outlet. “They told me, ‘Don’t reveal.’ But I would tell everybody if I could… I am trying my best to contain myself, but it’s going to be one in a million times in history to be part of something like this.”
Lionel Richie.Lester Cohen/Getty
FellowAmerican IdoljudgeKaty Perryis also on the roster for the Coronation Concert as well asAndrea Bocelli. British pop group Take That will also perform — their first live show since 2019 — along with Sir Bryn Terfel, Freya Ridings and Alexis Ffrench.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Richie has knownKing Charlesfor a long time, as he noted in a conversation with PEOPLE earlier this month. “He’s been in that prince role for a long time, but I’m anxious to see what he’s going to now change as far as his reign. And soI know him as a wonderful person.”
In 2019, the singer was appointed the First Global Ambassador and First Chairman of the Global Ambassador Group for The Prince’s Trust, a charity the King established in 1976 to provide disadvantaged youth with the resources they need to reach their full potential.Idris Elbawas one such youth the organization helped.
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Richie teased to PEOPLE that the performance will be “the grandiose of the grandiose,” adding that he’s ready to “see all the lights.”
“I want to see the pomp and circumstance because I don’t care what you thoughtMichael Jacksondid. I don’t care what you thoughtPrincedid. I don’t care what you thoughtMadonnadid,” he said. “Nothing’s going to be like this.”
Alongside his excitement about the upcoming performance, Richie says he could not be more chuffed to have been selected.
“I mean, you don’t get in the business and say, ‘You know what? I’ll be at the King’s coronation.’ You know, that just never comes up,” he said. “[It’s] A, a surprise. B, what an honor. And C, the fact of all the names that are out there that he could have had for this, he called my name.”
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Queen Camilla and King Charles.YUI MOK/POOL/AFP via Getty
Though he’s gearing up for an exciting performance in May, Richie is fresh off another exciting event. His youngest daughter, Sofia Richie,married music executive Elliot Grainge on Saturdayin astar-studded ceremonyin Antibes, France.
Sofia’s sisterNicole Richie, her husbandJoel Madden,Benji Maddenand wifeCameron Diaz, andParis Hiltonand husbandCarter Reumwere among the guests who watched her say “I do” to her fiancé in the seaside ceremony over the weekend.
source: people.com
