'Simplicity,' Lionel Richie explains, 'is the key to what I do.' These are surprising, even shocking, words from an artist whose achievements -- creatively and commercially -- have been anything but simple. Richie is, after all, one of the world's most recognized and rewarded performers. He's sold nearly 100 million albums and notched 22 Top 10 hits -- 13 of them during a jaw-dropping swing between1981-87. Five Grammy Awards, an Oscar and a Golden Globe -- not to mention piles of American Music Awards and People's Choice Awards -- grace his shelves. Only Richie and Irving Berlin have scored No. 1 hits in nine consecutive years.

Richie believes that a hit song is one that is rendered with great craft and conveys simple ideas that are heartfelt, and resonate with listeners of any age, race, creed or nationality. That was true in the past of 'All Night Long (All Night),' 'Truly,' 'Hello' and 'Endless Love,' and it's true of the 13 songs on Richie's eighth solo album, Just For You.

'I wanted to find the simplest phrase that everybody says, no matter what language you speak,' he says. 'At one point I was actually going to make the title of this album `Simplicity.' So much of my career has been about saying things the way people say them, using melodies not that I can sing but that the people can sing. `All Night Long' will always be `All Night Long.' `Easy like Sunday morning' will always be `Easy like Sunday morning.' `Stuck on You' is `Stuck on You.' `Truly,' or `Still' or `Endless Love' -- if you look at the titles, they say the entire thought before you even go into the story.' 'And that's why the music has stayed around so long.'

But let's not mistake this simplicity Richie describes for the intricacy of craft. Writing songs that stand the test of time, as he's done since the early days of the Commodores, is no simple task but rather an exercise in taste, experimentation and adventure. It requires an open-mindedness and daring that allows the artist to establish a signature sound and then be willing to take it into different areas-- as Richie does to great effect on Just For You. And 'Just For You,' the grand anthemic title track, is the first single and has already started moving quickly up the European radio charts.

1. Just For You
2. I Still Believe
3. Just To Be With You Again
4. She's Amazing
5. Ball And Chain
6. The World Is A Party
7. Time Of Our Life
8. Outrageous
9. Road To Heaven
10. Do Ya
11. In My Dreams
12. One World