Lionel Richie and … perfume? Singer releases Hello, his own fragrance for men and women
- The latest celebrity to release a fragrance, Lionel Richie says his were inspired by the gardens of his Beverly Hills area home
- The singer, who launched the perfumes at trendy Los Angeles restaurant Ysabel, says the decision to make a perfume was ‘right on point’
Lionel Richie stood half-hidden in the background as a video of his many accomplishments unspooled on a large screen. First, it was Richie the global superstar, entertaining hundreds of thousands of people at vast stadiums. Then, it was Richie the philanthropist, working with Britain’s Prince Charles’ The Prince’s Trust.
And then it was Richie in his latest incarnation – the perfumer, sauntering through his elegant gardens at home, from where much of the inspiration for his new fragrances came.
“It’s like a great song,” Richie says in the voice-over. “It’s a search for the right set of notes. This journey has brought me back home where the notes have been waiting this whole time.”
As the video wound down, Richie appeared from stage left, to rousing applause, his arms outstretched, every inch the showman.
The pre-happy hour shindig, at trendy Los Angeles restaurant Ysabel, was held to celebrate the launch of Richie’s two Hello fragrances, one for women and the other for men. The man himself, impossibly youthful-looking at 70, stood on a terraced seating area on the covered patio and beamed broadly at the gathering
The first question he answered was the one uppermost in everyone’s mind: why?