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Lionel Richie brought more than music to American Idol’s Songs of Faith — he delivered a raw, heartfelt call to prayer and a candid reflection on faith, culture, and humanity.

This year’s Songs of Faith segment for American Idol produced a unique prompting to pray from veteran muso Lionel Richie.

We are a culture “in need of prayer”, he declared when answering a question about the relevance of his Jesus is Love performance.

“I wrote that song years ago, and the irony of this is that every time I write a song, it seems to be needed more as life goes on.”

Blunt and to the point, Richie added, “We keep repeating the same stupidity. Every generation we do the same thing.”

‘And here we are again in need of that,” he explained.

“Someone said to me the other day, ‘You need to write another We Are the World’ (1985), I said, ‘Just play it again.’”

The same goes for Jesus is Love. In effect, Richie asserted that he didn’t need to write another song. The point remains the same.

“The last time I sang that song,” he said, “was at Michael Jackson’s funeral.”

“Each time it calls for a moment of reflection, to actually go back and think about where we are, and how we got here.”

God Is in Control — And Always Has Been

Richie then stated, “We don’t need to repeat it again. Let’s just be smart this time and try to come together as a world.”

“We’re all God’s children. Let’s treat each other like our family.”

“That’s all we need here, but everything is in a strange place, and it affects me.”

The interview, hosted by The Christian Post entertainment editor Leah Klett, eventually turned to Richie’s walk with God.

Asked how faith has guided him, the former Commodore stated,

“It’s very simple. God is in control. I didn’t do this; it came through me.”

“I received it.”

Richie said he’s been tuned into faith forever, and forever includes the ’70s.

When somebody back then told him he needed to get turned on to God, Richie replied, “I’ve been turned on forever. What are you talking about?”

Anointed, Not Appointed: Richie on Ministry and Faith

The four-time winner and 33-times nominee of the Grammy Awards said his faith “isn’t a fad, it’s a feeling, a presence.”

“Understand that I just stand there to receive. It’s gracious. It’s wonderful. It’s glorious.”

“You just have to understand that, when you’re anointed, you take that step.”

We’re all ministers, he affirmed.

“It’s just that when it comes down to common sense, and you have a moment to be in ministry, turn to the person who isn’t in the right way of thinking, and correct them.”

“This is not the way it is because God has been hijacked so many times.”

Adding to his theme about being anointed, Richie said, “You don’t need all of the congregation.”

You just need to listen and understand when God is speaking to you.

“That’s your ministry.”

From The Commodores to the Altar

Commenting on Richie’s new memoir, Truly, which was released late in 2025, The New York Post said he once considered becoming a priest.

The 77-year-old, who has also won an Oscar in 1986 for White Nights, was quoted by the NYPost as saying,

“I didn’t know I was a writer, didn’t know I was a singer. Thank God for The Commodores because I would have never discovered Lionel Richie.”

The song Jesus Is Love, written during Richie’s days with The Commodores, is a prayer, and one of The Commodores’ only full-on Gospel songs.

Lionel Richie performed the 1980s song from the band’s Heroes album with CMC’s Luke Bryan.

Richie’s performance builds on the big tent revival features of the American Idol series’ massive Gospel-centred Easter special last year.