Lionel Richie Honored As Musicares Person Of The Year [PHOTOS]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rihanna, Usher, Stevie Wonder and John Legend paid tribute to Lionel Richie in a musical tribute touching on his roots in R&B to his string of romantic, easy-listening ballads that ruled the airwaves in the 1980s.

They joined The Band Perry, Demi Lovato, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton and Ellie Goulding in launching Grammy weekend Saturday night by honoring Richie as the MusiCares Person of the Year.

Richie was toasted for his musical achievements and philanthropic work two days before the Grammy Awards. The 66-year-old singer-songwriter launches a string of South American tour dates later this month.

Rihanna, wearing red sneakers with her red and white floral gown, sang “Say You, Say Me” backed by a string section.

Usher showed off his dance moves on the buoyant “Lady (You Bring Me Up).”

“You really got the white people up and dancing,” cracked host Jimmy Kimmel, who came out sporting a huge Afro and a white jumpsuit. After seeing old clips of Richie in sequined jumpsuits, Kimmel joked, “He has so many terrible outfits.”

Lenny Kravitz, Florence Welch and Dave Grohl provided the most unpredictable versions of Richie hits. Kravitz kicked off the 2 ½-hour show with a rock version of “Running With the Night” that included a guitar solo. Welch’s take on “Dancing On the Ceiling” featured guitar-strumming and rhythmic hand-clapping from the idle string section.

Grohl, lead singer of Foo Fighters, showed off a rare romantic side with a jaunty version of “You Are” that had the crowd on its feet dancing. He explained his connection to Richie came about last year after Grohl broke his leg on tour. Richie sent the rocker a huge basket of muffins as consolation, and Grohl saluted him as the “Muffin Man.”

Legend performed “Easy” on piano, and Wonder touched on Richie’s early days with the Commodores by doing “Three Times a Lady.”