Stevie Wonder, Charlie Puth, and Ari Lennox present Lionel Richie with the Icon Award at the AMAs tribute

• Lionel Richie received the Icon Award at the 2022 American Music Awards.
• Stevie Wonder, Charlie Puth, and Ari Lennox gave a poignant tribute to the 73-year-old.
• Melissa Etheridge, Jimmie Allen, Muni Long, Dustin Lynch, and Yola performed.

During the 2022 American Music Awards, Lionel Richie received this year’s illustrious Icon Award. The legend was honored in a moving tribute by the likes of Stevie Wonder, Charlie Puth and Ari Lennox.

Stevie and Charlie each performed a handful of his classics during their turn on stage, including “Say You, Say Me,” “All Night Long,” and “Easy.” A plethora of other celebrities, including Melissa Etheridge, Jimmie Allen, Smokey Robinson, Muni Long, Dustin Lynch, and Yola, joined Ari on stage to perform “We Are the World.”

Lionel—whose impressive career in the music industry spans over five decades and counting—also reflected on his journey as he took the stage to accept his trophy. “I started out here at the AMAs,” he said. “And my career, to this day 40 years later, I’m back at the AMAs.”

The singer also had a message for those following in his footsteps, adding, “What I want to say and take this time to do is to talk to the young superstars. God has given you a light. That light is special. That light is only given to a few. When you hear the word hip, it means today. When you hear the word inspiring, it means forever.”

The prestigious Icon Award is the 18th prize Lionel has won from the AMAs. The singer, whose albums have sold over 125 million copies worldwide, is also the winner of four Grammy Awards, an Oscar, a Golden Globe Award, and the RIAA Diamond Album Award. She has also won a Golden Globe and a Grammy Award.

The American Idol judge delighted at the full-circle event

“I’m immensely grateful for a career that has taken me to places I never imagined that I’d go, from arenas worldwide to studio sets to the AMA stage,” he shared in a Nov. 7 statement. “I can recall one of the first times I got to perform at the AMAs. It was to sing ‘We Are the World’ among the most iconic musicians of my generation, so it is surreal to be receiving this recognition 36 years later.”

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