Make Page Six a Preferred Source Lionel Richie is “doing just fine” after months of health scares and undergoing a heart procedure.
The musician, 77, broke his silence on his health struggles during his Wednesday residency performance at The Wynn in Las Vegas.
“I’m back,” Richie told the crowd three times during the show, before quipping, “I don’t know where I was, but I’m back.”
View this post on Instagram “I’m doing just fine,” he emphasized, as seen in a fan video on Instagram. “Thank you all so much for caring about me.”
“I want to make it a tribute tonight, to me,” he exclaimed. “I better make a tribute to myself before somebody else has that show down the street, ‘Come see Lionel Richie down the street!’”
The Grammy winner added, “Wait a minute, no, this is gonna be a whole week of celebrating Lionel Richie.”
After performing and dancing on stage, the “All Night Long” crooner did take a moment to refuel, per E! News.
“That was too much, that was beyond my electrolyte capabilities,” he said, after which a crew member brought Richie a glass of red electrolytes.
“Now let me tell y’all something, for years I thought that water was important. And then, one day, I got dizzy and I said bring me some water, and the man said, ‘You don’t need water, you need electrolytes.’”
“All these years, drinking water,” Richie joked.
“So now I drink electrolytes for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then the doctor told me you need to eat some food. And I said, ‘Well, the last food I ate, the chickens, was contaminated, then the lettuce became contaminated, so what the hell are you supposed to eat?’”
“Now that I feel refreshed,” Richie said, appearing reenergized as he walked towards his piano, “I’m gonna play a song.”
Richie’s positive health update comes about two months since he underwent a routine heart procedure to treat atrial fibrillation, commonly known as Afib.
“Lionel underwent a common procedure for atrial fibrillation. The doctor said everything went perfectly,” his rep told Page Six on Sept. 22. “Lionel is doing great but will take some time off and will be back on stage soon.”
Prior to the procedure, Richie had worried fans during a June performance when he was rushed to the hospital after a mid-concert medical issue.
Want more celebrity and pop culture news? Start your day with Page Six Daily.
The following month, he reassured fans that he was “doing well” after the dizzy spell, despite canceling a string of shows.
In August, Richie was rushed to the ICU after struggling to finish his concert in St. Louis, Missouri.
Following his heart procedure in September, Page Six exclusively reported that his kids are “concerned” about their father’s health as he keeps pushing himself to do more performances.
“Lionel’s kids really want him to slow down. They’re concerned about him and worry that he’s pushing himself too hard, especially after everything that’s happened over the past few months,” the insider said.
“Seeing him have these health scares is obviously scary for them,” the source added. “And they wish he would give himself more time to rest and just hit the pause button once in a while.”
Despite his children’s wishes for him to slow down, Richie announced he is returning to “American Idol” as a judge for Season 25.
Your voice matters. Discussions are moderated for civility. Read our guidelines here
Community Guidelines Welcome to the Page Six Community! Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas in a safe space.
In order to do so, we've created a simple set of rules that will improve your experience.
Your post will/might be rejected if it contains:
User accounts will/might be blocked if we notice:
Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Don't forget, freedom of speech is not the freedom of reach!
