Make her laugh, win her heart

Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter Lionel Richie knows a thing or two about wooing women.

After all, he did pen some of the most popular hit love songs of the 1980s, including Endless Love (1981), Hello (1983) and Say You Say Me (1985).

When the 64-year-old dishes out love advice for men hoping to win over that special someone, it is a simple tip: Forget the muscles, it is all about being smart or funny.

Richie tells Life! over the telephone from his hotel room in Melbourne, Australia, where he is touring: "I always look at my mother and father, and I go,

'Mum, what did dad say to get you?', and she said: 'He made me laugh.'

"You can be macho for only so long, but then there's always got to be a sensitive or funny side that makes you endearing forever. If you get the girl to laugh, you're halfway there."

Richie, who is divorced with three children but attached (according to online reports), performs at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on April 14.

A seasoned performer who started his music career in the 1960s as a singer with famed American funk and soul group the Commodores before going solo in 1982, Richie has charmed many women with his sentimental love songs.

But every once in a while, he says "something happens when you go: 'Really? Are you really going to do this?'".

The bubbly singer tells Life! that a female fan in Melbourne had tattooed his face on her arm, and asked him to sign his name beneath it, so she could have the autograph tattooed on as well.

He adds that another fan had his face tattooed "right where the bikini starts".

"I'm secretly underneath the bikini... I won't even go further than that. I don't know if I blushed when I signed my name or not, but fans do the greatest, craziest things you've seen in your life."

The former Commodores frontman made his debut as a solo artist with the album Lionel Richie (1982) and became one of the most successful balladeers in the music business, chalking up a string of No. 1 hits and two Grammys along the way. His hits include Truly, Say You Say Me, Hello, All Night Long and My Love.

Fans will be delighted to know that he will be performing all his big hits when he plays in Singapore. He says he will not even attempt to do any new renditions of old favourites.

Richie says: "The crowd has been singing these songs on the radio, in their houses and at parties their entire lives." He adds: "I can't do anything to vary the songs because they are excited about singing the songs with me... It's almost like a super hyper version of karaoke when you see me."

He says once his world tour wraps up, he will head back to the recording studio to work on his 12th studio album early next year. It will be his first new album since Tuskegee (2012).

"I'm in a creative mode now. I've been away for a while but I'm kind of pumped to get back into the recording studio," he says.

In the meantime, he is hoping to be surprised by fans in Singapore. "I'm looking forward to my fans' performance because when I show up in a city, I have people showing up with Commodore wigs on, I have people showing up with moustaches... There's no telling what they'll do."

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