(Sept. 20, 2006 – New York , NY ) Lionel Richie, legendary singer, songwriter, producer and five-time Grammy award-winning Island recording artist charts another historic achievement today, as his brand new album COMING HOME sells over 75,000 copies in its first week out, to debut at #6 – the first top 10 album debut of his 24-year solo career. The news comes just three weeks before the opening of his 4-week, 17-city headlining North American tour sponsored by United Way – which kicks off October 27th at the Music Hall in Detroit, and wrap up at the Paramount in Oakland, CA on November 25th.

COMING HOME features the #1 Billboard Adult R&B hit “I Call It Love” (written and produced by Stargate) – his first #1 hit at the Adult R&B format. The song is entering its third month at six different radio formats – Adult R&B, Adult Contemporary, Pop, Rhythmic Top 40, Urban Mainstream, and Smooth Jazz.

The video for “I Call It Love,” shot in Los Angeles by director Jessey Terrero and star­ring Nicole Richie, premiered on aolmusic.com in August, where it was played nearly 100,000 times in 24 hours. The video is playing on VH1 and BET.

“Lionel Richie Gets His Groove Back,” raved the New York Times Arts Section cover story last week, characterizing COMING HOME as “vintage Richie.” The new album, his long-awaited third album on Island Records, featuring nine songs written/co-written by Richie, is an all-star collaboration with today’s most prolific contemporary hitmakers, including Jermaine Dupri, Raphael Saadiq, Dallas Austin, Sean Garrett, Chuckii Booker, and others… read less