Emmy-winning actor Blair Underwood will give voice to music icon Lionel Richie’s life story, as narrator of the “American Idol” judge’s upcoming memoir, People reported on September 2, 2025.
“Truly” will be released by HarperOne on September 30, with Richie’s accounts of his fascinating. Underwood, 61, will voice the audiobook, but Richie, 73, will voice the introduction, per People.
Blair Underwood Calls Lionel Richie’s Story ‘Inspirational & Revelatory’
In a statement to People, Underwood said, “It is an absolute honor to share Lionel Richie’s extraordinary and meteoric rise within the music industry but most importantly to introduce you to the exceptional heart and humanity of the man himself. His story is both inspirational and revelatory for all generations.”
In “Truly,” according to Richie’s website, he “revisits hilarious and harrowing events that seek to inspire all who doubt themselves or feel their dreams don’t matter.”
The description continues, “Lionel chronicles lessons learned in the course of his most unlikely of success stories—from a painfully shy, ‘tragically’ late bloomer to his dramatic transformation into a world-class entertainer and composer of love songs that have played as the soundtrack of our lives.”
According to HarperCollins, Richie covers a rich tapestry of experiences in the book, including “his childhood in Tuskegee, Alabama, where he grew up on its university campus during the heyday of the Civil Rights movement, raucous adventures as a member of The Commodores, coming-of-age in late 1960s Harlem, culture shock playing gigs on the French Riviera, the big break of being signed to Motown, his meteoric solo career that included an Olympics performance witnessed by two billion around the globe, all the way through to writing and recording ‘We Are the World’ and his current multi-generational fame as a judge on ‘American Idol.'”
In February, Richie joked on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” that the comedian was the “inspiration” behind the book, explaining, “Every time I’d come on the show, you say, ‘Tell me one more story and I realize you know more stories than I have in the book so I had to stop telling you stories and write the book!”
Lionel Richie Will Hold 4 Town Halls About His New Book
Richie will hit the road for a star-studded book tour with town hall conversations in four cities. On the eve of his book launch, September 29, he’ll be in New York with “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts. On October 1, he and syndicated radio host (and former “American Idol” advisor) Bobby Bones will be in Austin, Texas. Richie will head to Las Vegas on October 2 for a night with comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, and he’ll be in Los Angeles on October 6 for a town hall hosted by late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.
Richie is also expected to attend auditions this fall for season 24 of “American Idol,” though ABC has not announced where in-person tryouts will be held. The network confirmed in late August that he and Luke Bryan will return for their eighth seasons as judges, while Carrie Underwood will return for her second season with them.
Season 24 will air in the spring of 2026, but early rounds of the competition are taped months ahead.
