Richie resumed his tour with Earth, Wind & Fire after he cut the opening night performance short: “Had you worried there for a minute, huh?”

Lionel Richie returns to the stage after hospitalization: ‘You have no idea what I have been through’

Richie resumed his tour with Earth, Wind & Fire after he cut the opening night performance short: "Had you worried there for a minute, huh?"

Joey Nolfi

Joey Nolfi is a senior writer at *. *Since 2016, his work at EW includes RuPaul’s Drag Race video interviews, Oscars predictions, and more.

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July 1, 2026 11:17 a.m. ET

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Lionel Richie performing in 2025. Credit:

Gareth Cattermole/Getty

- Lionel Richie returned to his tour with Earth, Wind & Fire after he was hospitalized on opening night.

- The 77-year-old previously expressed feeling dizzy on stage and cut the opening performance short.

- "You have no idea what I have been through in the last 24 hours, listening to my friends tell me their advice on what I should be doing," he said on stage in Pittsburgh.

Lionel Richie returned to the stage to perform once again, less than a week following his hospitalization after a medical incident on opening night of his tour with Earth, Wind & Fire,

The 77-year-old fronted a Tuesday night concert in Pittsburgh, marking his return to the stage for the first time since June 24, when he expressed feeling dizzy and sat down during his set in Minnesota.

“I had you worried there for a minute, huh?" he joked at the top of his latest concert in Pittsburgh's PPG Paints Arena, per local news.

Lionel Richie in 2025.

Gareth Cattermole/Getty

He continued, "You have no idea what I have been through in the last 24 hours, listening to my friends tell me their advice on what I should be doing."

Last Wednesday, Richie was captured on camera inside St. Paul's Grand Casino Arena, where he was shown sitting down on stage to perform "Dancing on the Ceiling," and told the crowd that he felt dizzy during the performance.

"What I have learned about my years of being in the business. When you are feeling dizzy, sit your ass down. And when you are feeling strange about yourself, sit your ass down!" he told the audience after the song.

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He later joked, "Now, I want you to know, that's the first time in the history of 'Dancing on the Ceiling' I've done it sitting down. That's a bad sign, y'all."

The *American Idol *judge was later taken to the hospital, and concert dates were postponed in the aftermath.

Back on stage in Pittsburgh, Richie told the audience he had "the best seat in the house" as he watched them dance to his songs.

Following a performance of "Brick House" and "Fire," he also told them, "That was absolutely the nastiest dancing I’ve ever seen in my life."

Lionel Richie in 2026.

Taylor Hill/WireImage

Richie additionally addressed divisiveness in the country when he told concertgoers that "I have been taught that if someone says ‘help me,’ to respond. I have not gotten to the point yet where when someone says ‘help me,’ I ask them what political party they are, or what skin color they are, or what country they came from."

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The "All Night Long" performer's return to the stage came after an earlier health update from his ex-wife, Brenda Harvey Richie, who shared on X that "Lionel is OK and will be back on the stage" soon.

Representatives for Richie did not respond to **'s prior requests for comment on the singer's condition.

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