Arabs and Lionel Richie
In the early-mid 90’s, I remember a friend of mine who had been stationed in the Persian Gulf telling me, before I knew much about Arabs and their culture, that the Arabs loved Lionel Richie. We thought it was funny because even then, Lionel Richie had gone out of style.
Well, according to this story from Baghdad, that still seems to be very much the case even now. At least amongst Iraqis. Wonder what it is about Lionel (admittedly one of my favorites growing up, but I am an American) that the Arabs seem to love so much?
Grown Iraqi men get misty-eyed by the mere mention of his name. “I love Lionel Richie,” they say. Iraqis who do not understand a word of English can sing an entire Lionel Richie song.
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I asked Richie if he knows just how big he is here. He said, “The answer is, I’m huge, huge in the Arab world. The answer as to why is, I don’t have the slightest idea.”
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He has performed in Morocco, Dubai, Qatar and Libya. There is obviously something up there. The more we talked, the more he theorized as to the reasons his music might be so popular here. He thinks it is because of the simple message in his music: Love.
Love? Personally, I doubt that because firstly, they don’t understand the lyrics, and secondly, culturally many Arabs (and Muslims in general) just don’t marry for love and furthermore some have even come to think of romance as a totally Western concept. (This is one reason I think that when many Western converts try to adopt this practice in their marriages, it is a disaster)
ABC News Online: Baghdad’s Lionel Richie Obsession
Filed under: Posts of no Benefit
Assalaamu ‘Alaykum
Brother Tariq,
Your post brought back some memories! Back in the days my parents loved Lionel Richie too. Remember “Dancing on the Ceiling”. LOL I never really found Lionel to be attractive but his appeal could be his looks or maybe his voice. As you mentioned, most Iraqis don’t understand the lyrics so I really can’t think of anything else. I think I’ll ask my parents why they used to like him so much…
wa alaykum as-salaam
Man, Pakistanis too?! I’m not sure about the women, but I know he was/is popular with the men, so I don’t think it is about looks. Probably something about the sound
man i dont even know how he looks. i am doing a google on him
Brother AbooTalhaa,
If you click on the link that Brother Tariq provided at the bottom of the post, you will see his picture.
This reminds me of a bunch of Arab kids in the middle-east I saw riding around in an SUV trying to act tough and they were balsting music from the car.
Now, were they blasting Tupac, or Biggie, or something of the like? … No, they were blasting the Backstreet Boys! Which made me laugh because no one in America but a teenage girl would do that.
It is kind of like Germans and their insane love of David Hasselhoff(yes of Knight Rider and Bay Watch fame). Didnt know he sang? Lucky you!
Abu Sinan:
Dirk Nowitzki’s (The German NBA Player) favorite song is by David Hasselhoff
Hello…Is it me you’re looking for?
lol! Couldn’t resist.
I’m sure it is all about the music and voice, it has nothing to do with the looks as most of the people of the middle east may not even know how he looks like, don’t forget that Lionel Richie has a lot of great love songs that poeple around the world love and not only the people of the middle east.