EGYPT: SINGER LIONEL RITCHIE GIVES CONCERT AT THE GIZA PYRAMIDS

Record ID: 388627

  • Title: EGYPT: SINGER LIONEL RITCHIE GIVES CONCERT AT THE GIZA PYRAMIDS
  • Date: 29th August 1999
  • Summary: (REUTERS -ACCESS ALL) LIONEL RICHIE (English) "Did I say that? Boy I must have been going through a tough period. Well I do believe in love, I mean I think it's the only answer in the world. I think sometimes love can be tough to deal with, I think probably when I said that, I was probably going through a big loss in my life and then love was not as strong as it should ha
  • Embargoed: 13th September 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: GIZA PLATEAU, GIZA, CAIRO, EGYPT
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVABNVTTIORZSOBFOL32LQNVVRD6
  • Story Text: America's Lionel Richie sang under the stars at the Giza Pyramids on Wednesday, fulfilling what the 50-year-old entertainer called a life-time dream.
    Lionel Richie, wearing a glittering red shirt and loose black trousers, opened with a "Hello," that galvanised an audience of around 3,000 people.And the hits, such as "Running With The Night" and "Easy", kept coming.
    "It's pretty cool," said one young Canadian Richie fan.
    "The Pyramids, it's a nice setting, nice backdrop," said another.
    Richie was overwhelmed to be performing in such a stunning and spiritual setting.Richie says: "The spirit that's here, the vibration that's here.I'm a religious man and of course when you come here, you're just overwhelmed with an emotion that's very hard to describe except that if you're not a God fearing man, you will be definately affected when you get here."
    And the American singer felt that the fans couldn't fail to be impressed by their surroundings too.Richie says: "The wonderful part about this is that when I did the songs I had no idea about how my feelings were going to be here.This is just only going to enhance the evening.Of course the people, they're singing along with me and having the opportunity to look over my shoulder.Can you imagine this back drop?"
    The stunning backdrop of floodlit 4,500 year old sphinx also took the star's mind from his personal problems, when asked by a reporter whether he remembered condemning the power of love, the soul singer was agast."Did I say that? Boy I must have been going through a tough period.Well I do believe in love, I mean I think it's the only answer in the world", he said.
    Egypt is planning a series of big-name concerts at the Pyramids to boost its tourism industry.Organisers said this one had cost eight million pounds ($2.35 million) to stage.
    "This is just one of the ways we are pushing to attract tourists to Egypt," said Tourism Minister Mamdouh el-Beltagi in his front-row seat."This is just the beginning.There are going to be many more concerts like this at the Pyramids."
    Among the many Millennium festivities planned at the Pyramids on New Year's Eve is a concert by French musician Jean-Michel Jarre, complete with his stunning light show.
    Richie, once lead singer with the Commodores, went solo in the 1980s and had a string of hits like "Dancing on the Ceiling", "All Night Long" and "Hello".
    In 1985 he co-wrote "We are the World, We are the Children", which was performed at the Live Aid Fund Raising concert in London.
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