Lionel Richie believes the US liberation of Iraq went smoothly partially thanks to his music.
The musical icon’s top eighties hit All Night Long was apparently being played by civilians in Baghdad when US troops entered the city.
According to Lionel, American soldiers were also playing his music, signaling friendliness to the Iraqi people.
“They were playing All Night Long as the troops were coming in. That’s from the shop owners’ point of view. You want to hear what the other half was? I met a commander who said they put speakers on top of Humvees. Dancing on the Ceiling was being played by the troops,” he told Entertainment Weekly.
“They wanted to make sure that they knew that they were friendly. So [the soldiers] were playing Dancing on the Ceiling going in and [the civilians] were playing All Night Long when you got there. [Isn’t] that cool?”
Lionel is convinced the upbeat, happy nature of his tunes helped foster a sense of partnership between the people of Baghdad and the Americans.
The musician insists this is as much as he will ever get involved in politics, despite pressure from fans to run for office.
“I’m not running for any public office, by the way. I refuse to run, and no matter whether the world tries to get me involved in public office, I will not be president, thank you very much. I will deal with world peace away from the political scene,” laughed Lionel.
