Play Commodores Radio

Commodores

On Tour

1,307,932 plays (264,642 listeners)

Listening now: nevorne

59 shouts

Add to my Library Share
The Commodores were a highly successful soul/funk band in the 1970s. They met as freshmen at Tuskegee Institute, and signed to Motown having first caught the public eye supporting The Jackson Five on tour.

Original Band Personnel

* Lionel Richie (vocals, saxophone, piano) - born on 20 June 1949, in Tuskegee, Alabama.
* Thomas McClary (lead guitar) - born on 6 October 1950, in Eustis, Florida.
* Milan Williams (keyboards) - born on 28 March 1948, died June 9th, 2006 in Houston.
* William King (trumpet) - born on 30 January 1949, in Florida.

* Ronald La Pread (bass guitar) - born on 4 September 1946, in Alabama.
* Walter Orange (vocals, drums) - born on 10 December 1946, in Florida.

Many of their hit tunes were written or co-written by Walter “Clyde” Orange, the original lead singer before Lionel Richie came on board. Lionel and Clyde alternated as lead singers. Clyde was also the lead singer on “Nightshift” and “Brick House” among others. Clyde now lives with his family in Coral Springs, Florida and has three children named Paula, Colin and Cody.

Band members typically alternated lead vocal duties. After Richie left to pursue a solo career, former Heatwave singer J.D. Nicholas assumed co-lead vocal duties with drummer Walter “Clyde” Orange. However, with the exception of the Grammy-winning “Nightshift” (a tribute to Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson) the band never achieved the same level of success it had enjoyed with Richie. Ironically, “Nightshift” won The Commodores their only Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals.
Read more… Edit

Tagged as:

soul, funk, 70s, motown, rnb
See more…


Top Albums

See more

Top Tracks

1 Play
Easy full track
1,469
2 Play
Brick House full track
1,451
3 Play
Three Times A Lady full track
808
4 Play
Nightshift full track
791
5 Play
Machine Gun full track
576
6 Play
Slippery When Wet full track
327
7 Play
Still full track
280
8 Play
262
9 Play
Sail On full track
253
10 Play
138
11 Play
Zoom full track
120
12 Play
Oh No full track
110
12 Play
110
14 Play
Sweet Love full track
105
15 Play
Keep on Dancing full track
101
See more

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).
See all 59 shouts

Videos

See more

Events

Add event See more

Listeners

See more

Recent Activity

Related Journals

See more

More Information

Links
Band Members
Labels
Other spellings

Email Newsletter

Universal Music Group Get exclusive tour, release & promotion updates on Commodores from Universal Music.