Richie on upcoming tour with date in Houston: 'I’m inviting you to the party'

Two artists who played a huge role in bringing funk and disco music to mainstream audiences in the 1970s will perform in Houston this summer, per reports from Houston-based media outlets. 

Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported that Grammy Award-winning singer Lionel Richie announced the dates and venues on Monday for his Sing A Song All Night Long tour. 

Earth, Wind & Fire will join the 73-year-old Richie on the 20-stop tour, which calls on Toyota Center on Saturday, Sept. 2.

In a video the ex-Commodores frontman uploaded to Twitter, he said the tour was one he’d been trying to do “for years.” 

“I’m inviting you to the party,” Richie, who is best known for the chart-topping 1983 ballad “Hello” and is one of the judges on “American Idol,” said. 

KTRK reported that aside from Houston, Austin and Dallas are the other cities on the itinerary.

Houston NBC affiliate KPRC reported that the Live Nation-backed tour will begin in early August in St. Paul, Minnesota, and will conclude in Los Angeles on Friday, Sept. 15, about two weeks after the show in Bayou City. 

According to the station, the public can purchase tickets on Ticketmaster beginning Monday, March 13 at 10 a.m. 

“Can't wait to see you all!” Richie tweeted.

While it’s confirmed that the singer will share the Bayou City stage with the group behind dance floor staple “September” along for the ride, there’s a scant possibility local idol contestant Trey Louis could appear or even be in the audience. 

Louis, who hails from Santa Fe in nearby Galveston County, impressed Richie and his fellow judges, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan, with his country-tinged vocals, but it was the mattress store employee’s heartbreaking anecdote that really floored the celebrity judges, Houston National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate Houston Public Media (HPM) reported. 

"In May 2018, a gunman walked into my school," he said following his audition that was aired on Feb. 26, which caused Perry to sob. "I was in Art Room 1. He shot up Art Room 2 before he made his way to Art Room 1. Lost a lot of friends."