Lionel Richie formed the Commodores as students at Tuskegee University, and the band built its name on dance-floor funk. Growing up in Alabama he also absorbed classical music from his grandmother Adelaide Foster, a piano teacher, and the country music around him. The spark for Three Times a Lady came at his parents’ 37th wedding anniversary party, where his father toasted his mother for the many roles she had filled as partner, parent and companion. Richie realized he had not expressed that kind of gratitude to his own wife, Brenda.
He wrote the song as a waltz in three-four time and, sure it did not fit the Commodores, planned to pitch it to Frank Sinatra. While the band prepared the Natural High album, he played it for producer James Anthony Carmichael with that disclaimer, and Carmichael insisted it go on the Commodores record. Released in 1978, it climbed the Hot 100 over eight weeks to spend two weeks at No. 1 and also topped the R&B and adult contemporary charts, crossing radio formats that were strictly divided at the time.
- It was the only Motown single to reach the US top 10 that year.
- It went to No. 1 in Canada, Australia, Ireland and the UK and earned gold certification in New Zealand.
- Rolling Stone and Cash Box named the Commodores top R&B group of the year, and Billboard ranked them the No. 3 pop group of 1978.
- The song’s success brought demand for Richie’s writing and led to his collaboration with Kenny Rogers.
- Nate Harvell charted a country version in 1978, and Conway Twitty took his 1983 cover from Lost in the Feeling into the country top 10.
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