Luke Bryan has never been shy about his love for Lionel Richie’s music. He’s performed covers of his songs during his concerts, particularly his number one hit from 1984 titled “Stuck on You.”
When the Grammy Awards hosted an all-star tribute to Richie in 2016, Bryan was one of the artists invited to participate. Standing alongside Demi Lovato, John Legend, and Meghan Trainor, Bryan sang covers of some of Richie’s most iconic tunes.
Covers are a common part of Bryan’s own concerts as well. In a major mashup, he’ll sing everything from pop chart-toppers to country staples. These medley performances are always a fan-favorite part of Bryan’s concerts. But one crowd in Las Vegas was in for a real treat when Bryan broke into his usual round of covers during a concert there on December 30.
Bryan opened up his medley singing hit pop songs such as “Welcome to My House” and “Uptown Funk.” He also added a personal touch to his performance by singing “Sweet Caroline” to his wife, Caroline, whose birthday was in December.
Earlier in the concert, Bryan had promised everyone that he had a special guest waiting for them. Halfway through his medley of covers, he decided it was time to bring that special guest out on stage for everyone to see. He built up the crowd’s anticipation with a short introduction of the guest. “I told y’all we had a special guest come out,” he said. “And this guy coming out is definitely in my top two of my heroes.”
That’s when Bryan announced that his special guest was none other than Richie! The “Hello” singer strolled out on stage to a wave of excited cheers from the crowd. After wishing everyone a happy New Year, Richie added to Bryan’s medley by joining him for a duet on one of his own songs.
Bryan posted a short video of their joint performance on Twitter, thanking Richie for agreeing to come out and sing with him. “Last night was awesome,” he wrote in the video’s caption.
Last night was awesome. Thank you @LionelRichie for joining me in Vegas. pic.twitter.com/4yi1HnkZiP
— Luke Bryan (@lukebryan) December 31, 2016
The duo ended up singing Richie’s smash hit “Oh No,” which he wrote while he was still a member of the funk/soul group Commodores. The song reached the fourth spot on the Billboard Hot 100, and was Richie’s last hit with the group before he went solo.
Bryan and Richie delivered an invigorating duet on “Oh No,” which had the crowd going wild with every note. Bryan proved once again that he’s a natural at singing Richie’s songs. But of course, we didn’t expect anything less.
Tune in below to watch an extended version of Bryan and Richie’s duet in a fan-captured video, along with the remainder of Bryan’s medley. Bryan starts introducing Richie around the 10:45 mark, if you’d like to skip ahead to that point.
We can’t wait for Bryan and Richie’s next collaboration!