Lionel Richie has been admitted to a St Louis intensive care unit after his weekend concert, the second health scare on the singer's summer tour in about two months and a fresh worry for fans holding tickets to upcoming shows.
A Cautious Check-in After the Muny Show
Richie, 77, checked himself into a local hospital after Saturday's season-closing show at The Muny in Forest Park, according to TMZ, which first reported the news. Sources familiar with the situation said he wanted tests and was being cautious rather than responding to an emergency.
Doctors were looking at possible mild dehydration, and a person close to the tour told ABC News he went in as a precaution. Richie was hoping to be discharged on Tuesday, and his representatives have not publicly confirmed a diagnosis.
What Richie Told the Crowd
The warning signs were visible during the concert itself. Richie sipped electrolyte drinks between songs and, near the end of the roughly two-hour set, asked his team to bring a chair onstage so he could sit through his 'All Night Long' finale.
He also addressed his health directly. 'Some things have been happening on this tour that kind of shook me up a little bit, because I couldn't figure out what the hell was going on,' he told the audience, according to a St Louis American review of the show. 'I went back to the doctor, and he said, 'You are suffering from dehydration.''
Ever the showman, Richie joked that one elderly fan had recommended castor oil and that his fellow 'American Idol' judge Luke Bryan had suggested alcohol as a cure. 'This stuff is nasty, but it works,' he said of the electrolytes.
The Minnesota Scare That Started It
Saturday's hospital visit was not the first on this run. In June, Richie fell ill on the opening night of his 'Sing A Song All Night Long' tour with Earth, Wind and Fire in St Paul, Minnesota. He told that crowd he felt dizzy and strange, sat down mid-performance, and cut the show short before paramedics met him backstage and took him to hospital by ambulance.
He later confirmed dehydration was to blame. Two follow-up dates in Chicago and Columbus were postponed on doctors' advice before he returned to the stage in Pittsburgh on 30 June.
What It Means for the Next Shows
For now, there is no word that the latest episode will disrupt the rest of the schedule. Richie's website lists his next performance for 26 September in San Francisco, with further dates before a planned Las Vegas residency later in the autumn. The tour had already been reshaped by the earlier scare, with three dates added in September and October to replace shows pushed back over health concerns.
That gap gives him several weeks to recover. It also sharpens a question hanging over much of the touring industry, as headliners in their 70s keep punishing summer schedules that would test performers half their age.
Richie, for his part, has shown little interest in slowing down, closing his St Louis set by telling fans that watching them dance was 'a pleasure beyond compare' even as he sang the last song seated.
