Singer Lionel Richie has been released from an intensive care unit and returned home to Los Angeles after undergoing hospital tests following an on-stage incident in St Louis.
The 77-year-old R&B legend checked himself into a medical facility on Saturday, a day after appearing to struggle while performing his final song at The Muny in Forest Park, Missouri.
The Daily Mail confirmed that Richie is out of the St. Louis intensive care unit and is doing well back at his home in Los Angeles.
During his stay in hospital, doctors tested Richie for cardiac-related issues after he checked himself in out of an abundance of caution, with sources noting that medical staff were examining whether dehydration was a factor.
On-stage struggle during final song
Video from the final song of his concert at the outdoor venue in Forest Park, obtained by the Daily Mail, showed Richie seemingly out of breath at times as he tried to sing his hit All Night Long.
Richie appeared to have difficulty standing and sat down on a piano bench early in the performance, remaining seated for the rest of the track.
Within 30 seconds of Richie returning to the stage for All Night Long, a stagehand brought out a piano bench unprompted, suggesting the singer may have requested it while backstage.
Richie gestured at the bench to get stagehands to move it closer to the front of the stage before sitting down on the corner.
The former Commodores lead singer performed dressed in all black, apart from a red leather jacket featuring the words All Night Long on the back.
Closeups from the video footage appear to show Richie out of breath when his vocals dropped out beneath thick layers of backing vocals.
While seated, his guitarist and bass player joined him on either side of the bench. Richie awkwardly stretched out the microphone to both of their faces to let them take over vocal duties, but when neither sang, he dropped out himself and shook his head while the audience sang the lyrics.
The guitarist then appeared to sing part of the verse, but Richie had already pulled the microphone away, making the vocals inaudible.
Richie remained alone on the bench once the instrumentalists returned to their positions on stage, though he received another short break during the saxophone solo toward the end of the song.
To conclude All Night Long, Richie pumped his fists in the air repeatedly as the song wrapped up.
He then stood up from the bench, walked away with his back to the audience, turned around to shout goodnight, and spread his arms while archival video clips played on a massive screen behind him.
Hospitalization and previous health scare
Reports emerged on Monday that Richie had been hospitalized in St Louis shortly after the Saturday night performance to undergo tests.
According to TMZ, Richie checked himself into the facility following the concert and received treatment in the intensive care unit.
Concert attendees told TMZ that the singer appeared to be having difficulty near the end of the show when he requested a chair for the final song.
The incident in Missouri comes two months after Richie was forced to cut short a concert at the Grand Casino Arena in St Paul, Minnesota, in June after falling ill on stage.
That performance was the opening night of his joint Sing A Song All Night Long tour with American funk group Earth, Wind & Fire.
During the Minnesota show, Richie announced an unexpected intermission from his piano after singing Three Times A Lady, according to local outlet Bring Me The News.
His band left the stage minutes later, and more than 40 minutes after the show stopped, saxophonist Dino Soldo returned to announce that Richie could not continue.
Soldo told the crowd, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune: "Unfortunately, Lionel is not feeling well. He won't be able to continue. Additional information will be available."
Fans on social media voiced concern, noting that Richie had signaled throughout the concert that he was feeling unwell.
Video shared on X by journalist Patrick Kessler showed Richie looking unsteady while walking across the stage during Dancing On The Ceiling before making an unexpected stop to sit on a stepped platform.
Richie continued singing while seated for less than 10 seconds, then stood up to walk across the stage again, only to sit down 30 seconds later on risers on the opposite side of the stage. Soldo sat beside him on the risers.
Richie told the crowd he was feeling dizzy. A fan told the publication that Richie "said he has been in this business long enough, if you feel dizzy you sit down! And if you don't feel right, you sit down!"
Jon Bream of the Minnesota Star Tribune quoted Richie giving saltier advice to the audience, saying: "When you're feeling dizzy, sit your a** down."
Audience members began leaving the venue roughly 15 minutes after the band exited, with sources close to the artist telling TMZ that paramedics met Richie backstage and transported him to a hospital by ambulance.
One audience member told the Star Tribune that the unexpected cancellation was "horrible", adding: "I'm super bummed. This was my first time [seeing Richie] and I'm old."
Family concerns and upcoming tour dates
Following the St Paul incident, an insider told the Daily Mail that family, friends, and bandmates were concerned about Richie, whose 1983 solo record Can't Slow Down remains his best-selling album.
The source said: "Family, friends, and even his bandmates are definitely concerned about Lionel's health, but nobody is about to tell him to slow down. They all want him better and to do what he loves to do."
Highlighting his long career with the Commodores in the 1970s and 1980s as well as his role on American Idol, the insider added: "The Lionel we see on tour and on American Idol is the same Lionel we have known for decades - he's always moving, always working, and always looking ahead to the next show. And with that, depending on what doctors tell him, his mindset is already focused on getting back out on the road as quickly as possible because that's simply who he is."
The insider noted: "Music isn't just his job; it's what keeps him going. He's not someone who sits still, and retirement has never really been part of the conversation unless his health leaves him with no other choice."
The source said Richie was focused on his fans: "Right now, Lionel is actually more upset that fans didn't get the full show they paid for than he is about himself and his health. That's where his head is. He hates disappointing people and feels terrible that the concert couldn't continue as planned."
Regarding his current status, the source added: "As far as he's concerned, while he awaits results, this is just a temporary setback. He fully expects to be back doing what he loves, and he's already hoping to make it to Chicago this weekend if everything checks out."
The insider concluded: "He's still waiting for a few more answers on what he is dealing with, but he feels that it could be just a bit of an episode over something super serious."
After performing their first-half sets separately through mid-August, Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire are scheduled to reunite for a three-date tour starting on September 26 in San Francisco, California, followed by shows on September 30 in Chicago and October 2 in Columbus, Ohio.
