Last weekend, Lionel Richie and Diana Ross co-headlined the Fool in Love Festival, a massive one-day event featuring some of the biggest names in soul and funk from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, from Smokey Robinson to Kool & the Gang to Dionne Warwick to the Pointer Sisters.
Richie and Ross performed in back-to-back time slots on neighboring stages, leading many fans to hope and assume that Diana would join Lionel to sing their timeless duet “Endless Love” together on the festival stage. But it didn’t happen. Richie never mentioned Ross and didn’t sing “Endless Love.”
The two soul crooners have only performed “Endless Love” together one time — at the 1982 Academy Awards, where the track was nominated for Best Original Song.
The Fool in Love festival was likely the last, best chance for the two to perform together. If it didn’t happen here, with the two stars here at the same time, literally just a couple hundred feet apart, it will probably never happen again.
Why do these two refuse to sing the duet together? It turns out that Richie has wanted to sing “Endless Love” with Ross on stage again for years, but Ross is the one who hasn’t agreed. Let’s delve into the possible reasons why.
“Endless Love” History and First Live Performance
With nine weeks at #1, “Endless Love” still ranks as the biggest duet of all-time, according to Billboard. It’s considered one of the finest collabs in history. It’s one of the best Lionel Richie songs, and it should have won the Record of the Year Grammy.
Richie told Andy Cohen that not only was the song not supposed to be a duet, it was actually intended to be an instrumental song. Producers for the Endless Love movie eventually decided they wanted words, and got Ross to sign on, before Richie suggested himself as the duet partner.
He says recording the track was “a nightmare in terms of logistics,” because they only had one night to record, and they had to do it at 3 am after Ross had performed a concert.
That 1982 Oscars performance was excellent, as Richie and Ross re-created the studio track and added a few additional flourishes, such as Ross taking a higher harmony note on the song’s closing line.
But they never took the stage together again. It would be a joy to get to see it just one more time.
Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey notably recorded a cover version in 1994 and took it to #2 on the pop chart, extending the song’s longevity in popular culture.
Why Won’t Diana Ross Sing With Lionel Richie Again?
There could be any number of reasons. Maybe she can’t hit the high notes anymore? That seems unlikely, since she sounded fine at the Fool in Love fest on songs like “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”
Maybe Ross doesn’t like collaborations that might take the spotlight away from her? It’s worth noting that she also didn’t invite Nile Rodgers on stage, even though he created the iconic “I’m Coming Out” guitar riff and he was also on the Fool in Love bill.
Or maybe Ross and Richie don’t really get along. Richie has spoken out on occasion about the fact that Ross won’t sing with him. Maybe she’s irked by this.
It’s been rumored that Ross and Richie didn’t get along in the studio when they recorded the song. But there has never been any substantiation of this claim. Here’s an article suggesting the two butted heads, but it provides no sources.
Ross apparently wrote in her autobiography that she was miffed at Richie’s tardiness when they recorded: “I am a perfectionist. I like to be on time, always. Lionel was not always on time.” Could she possibly still be holding a grudge about tardiness for more than 40 years? That would be petty and silly.
Last year, Richie talked about the situation on stage, telling fans at a show that Ross won’t accept his invitation to perform the duet. “For 37 years, I have tried my best to get Ms. Diana Ross to show up on this stage. For 37 years, Diana has said no. What made you think tonight she was gonna show up? She ain’t coming!”
Sadly, it seems that the 1982 Oscars performance is the only time we’ll ever get to see Richie and Ross sing “Endless Love” on stage together. We’d love to be wrong about this. But if she wouldn’t join him at Fool in Love, it’s probably never going to happen.
Last Updated on December 12, 2024