Sofia Richie glowed as she took her children to the beach in Saint-Tropez on Wednesday – the day her father Lionel Richie was discharged from the hospital in the wake of a frightening onstage health scare.
The 77-year-old R&B legend checked himself in to a medical facility Sunday, a day after he appeared to be struggling to perform the final song of his concert in St Louis.
However by the middle of this week, the Daily Mail confirmed Lionel was out of the St. Louis intensive care unit and was ‘doing well’ back home in Los Angeles.
As the news spread, Sofia surfaced beaming in the South of France with her husband Elliot Grainge and their little ones Eloise, two, and Henry, five months.
The 28-year-old sister of Nicole Richie showed off her impressively honed post-baby figure in a sleek scarlet swimsuit as she carried her son into the ocean for a swim.
Meanwhile Elliot, a top record executive whose father is the music tycoon Sir Lucian Grainge, glided shirtless among the waves with his daughter cradled in his arms.
The Daily Mail has contacted Sofia and Elliot’s representatives for comment.
Sofia Richie glowed as she and her husband Elliot Grainge took their children Eloise, two, and Henry, five months, to the beach in Saint-Tropez on Wednesday
Their outing took place on the day her father Lionel Richie was discharged from the hospital in the wake of a frightening onstage health scare
The 28-year-old sister of Nicole Richie showed off her impressively honed post-baby figure in a sleek scarlet swimsuit as she carried her son into the ocean for a swim
The couple were the image of blissful relief as they soaked up the sun and surf together, both of them having slicked back their drenched hair.
They both accessorized their swimsuits with sunglasses, and Sofia added the further touch of a jeweled pendant in the shape of her children’s first initials.
Sofia and Elliot enjoy a personal connection to the South of France, in that they held their 2023 wedding at the sumptuous Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes.
The Hotel du Cap, as its admirers colloquially refer to it, has emerged as an annual nexus of A-list celebrities during the Cannes Film Festival.
During his hospital stay, Lionel tested for ‘cardiac-related issues’ after checking himself in on Saturday, shortly after appearing to struggle during a concert.
Video from the final song of his concert at The Muny in Forest Park that was obtained by the Daily Mail shows Lionel seemingly out of breath at times as he tries to sing one of his biggest hits, All Night Long.
He also seemed to have difficulty standing, and he had to take a seat on a piano bench early on, where he remained for the rest of the song.
The video shows the singer returning to the stage for All Night Long, but within 30 seconds a stagehand can be seen bringing out a piano bench unprompted, suggesting that Lionel may have requested it while backstage.
The couple were the image of blissful relief as they soaked up the sun and surf together, both of them having slicked back their drenched hair
As the news spread of Lionel’s return home, Sofia surfaced beaming in the South of France with her husband Elliot Grainge and their little ones
Elliot, a top record executive whose father is the music tycoon Sir Lucian Grainge, glided shirtless among the waves with his daughter cradled in his arms
They both accessorized their swimsuits with sunglasses, and Sofia added the further touch of a jeweled pendant in the shape of her children’s first initials
Sofia and Elliot enjoy a personal connection to the South of France, in that they held their 2023 wedding at the sumptuous Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes
Lionel continued singing, but then gestured at the bench to get the stagehands to move it closer to the front of the stage.
The former Commodores singer, who performed in all black aside from a red leather jacket that read ‘All Night Long’ on the back, then took a seat on the corner of the bench and continued singing to the audience.
Closeups from the video appear to show Lionel out of breath at times when his vocals dropped out amid thick layers of backing vocals.
While seated, his guitarist and bass player joined him on either side of the bench.
Lionel awkwardly stretched out the microphone to both of their faces to let them take the spotlight on the vocals, but when neither attempted to sing, he didn’t attempt to jump back in and shook his head while the audience could be heard filling in the lyrics.
His guitarist then appeared to be singing part of the verse, but Lionel had already pulled the microphone away, rendering him inaudible.
Lionel was alone on his bench once the instrumentalists went back to their parts of the stage, though he got another short break for the saxophone solo toward the end of the tune.
To end All Night Long, Lionel pumped his fists in the air repeatedly as the song was wrapping up.
The 77-year-old checked himself in to a medical facility Sunday, a day after he appeared to be struggling to perform the final song of his concert in St Louis; pictured in Belfast last year
After it had ended, he got up from the bench and walked away with his back to the audience, before turning around to shout goodnight and spreading his arms as clips of him from years earlier played on the massive video screen behind him.
On Monday, it was reported that Lionel had been hospitalized in St Louis shortly after that performance.
The singer checked himself into the facility following his performance at The Muny in Forest Park to have some tests run, per TMZ, and he was treated in the intensive care unit.
Sources said that the singer went to the hospital out of an abundance of caution, and doctors were reportedly examining the possibility that Lionel might be suffering from dehydration.
The singer’s latest health scare comes just two months after he stoked concerns among fans when he was forced to cut short a concert in St Paul, Minnesota, after falling ill on stage.
Concert attendees told TMZ that Lionel appeared to be having difficulty at the end of his concert in St Louis.
On Monday, it was reported that Lionel had been hospitalized in St Louis shortly after that performance; Above July 1 in Detroit, Michigan
The singer checked himself into the facility following his performance to have some tests run, per TMZ, and he was treated in the ICU; Above before falling it at his show in St Louis on Saturday
Lionel is reportedly expected to be released on Wednesday; Above in St Louis on Saturday
During his show-closing performance of his iconic hit All Night Long, Lionel had to ask for a chair to be brought out so that he could sit down while singing.
The incident was reminiscent of the health scare Lionel suffered at his St Paul concert in June, when he had to sit down on stage multiple times while performing.
The septuagenarian hitmaker was performing at the Grand Casino Arena as the start of his joint Sing A Song All Night Long tour with Earth, Wind & Fire when he announced an unusual intermission after a performance of Three Times A Lady from his piano, according to Minnesota’s Bring Me The News.
Lionel’s band reportedly also left the stage minutes later, but more than 40 minutes after he cut off the show, a band member returned to announce he wouldn’t be able to return because he was feeling ill.
‘Unfortunately, Lionel is not feeling well,’ said saxophonist Dino Soldo, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. ‘He won’t be able to continue. Additional information will be available.’
On social media, fans who attended the show shared their concerns and revealed that the singer had signaled throughout the performance that he wasn’t feeling well.
Videos of him performing showed the singer stopping to sit down multiple times during his second-to-last song, Dancing On The Ceiling, and he reportedly told the crowd he was feeling ‘dizzy’ while performing.
Lionel was able to sit at the piano bench for what turned out to be his last song of the evening.
A fan who attended the June concert told the publication Lionel ‘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!’
According to the Minnesota Star Tribune’s Jon Bream, Lionel was even saltier with his advice, quoting the singer as saying, ‘When you’re feeling dizzy, sit your a** down.’
Sources said Lionel took himself to the hospital out of an abundance of caution, and doctors were reportedly considering the possibility that he might be suffering from dehydration; Above in May on American Idol
Concert attendees told TMZ that Lionel appeared to be having difficulty at the end of his concert in St Louis, and he asked for a chair to be brought out so that he could sit while singing his show-closing hit All Night Long; Above on Saturday in St Louis
The incident was reminiscent of the health scare Lionel suffered at his St Paul concert in June (pictured), when he had to sit down on stage multiple times while performing
One video posted by journalist Patrick Kessler on X from the St Paul show in June showed a portion of his Dancing On The Ceiling performance in which he appeared unsteady as he walked across the stage, before he made an unexpected stop and sat down on the edge of a large stepped platform.
Despite apparently feeling unwell, Lionel appeared to be singing throughout his seated portion of the song, rather than relying on a guide vocal.
Lionel was seated for less than ten seconds before he stood up and started making his way across the stage again.
However, less than 30 seconds later, he stopped to sit down again on the risers on the opposite side of the stage, even as he continued singing.
According to the Star Tribune, Lionel’s saxophonist Dino Soldo, who later confirmed that the rest of the show was canceled, took a seat with the singer during Dancing On The Ceiling.
The publication reported audience members began to file out of the venue as soon as Lionel’s band left the stage, about 15 minutes after he announced the surprise intermission.
Sources close to the star later told TMZ that paramedics met Lionel backstage, and he was taken by ambulance to a hospital.
One disappointed audience member called the surprise end to the show ‘horrible’ while speaking to the Star Tribune.
Lionel reportedly told the crowd that he was feeling ‘dizzy’ while performing. A band member reportedly told the audience that Lionel had to cancel the rest of the show because he was ‘not feeling well’; Above April 29 in NYC
He and the funk icons are next scheduled to perform a three-date mini tour beginning on September 26 in San Francisco, Calif.; Above Earth, Wind & Fire on June 13 in Honolulu, Hawaii
‘I’m super bummed. This was my first time [seeing Lionel ] and I’m old,’ they vented.
The first half of the concert featured a performance from Earth, Wind & Fire, while Lionel took the stage for what would have been the second half of the evening.
The two acts are now touring separately after wrapping up their performances in mid-August, but they’ll reunite for another mini tour with three shows on September 26 in San Francisco, California, September 30 in Chicago and October 2 in Columbus, Ohio.
Following the disastrous St Paul performance, a source told the Daily Mail that the singer’s loved ones fear that Lionel – whose best-selling album is 1983’s Can’t Slow Down – may be more focused on entertaining audiences than focusing on his own health.
‘Family, friends, and even his bandmates are definitely concerned about Lionel’s health, but nobody is about to tell him to slow down,’ the insider said. ‘They all want him better and to do what he loves to do.’
They emphasized his incredible work ethic, which has made him a reliably popular entertainer for decades, going back to his time in the 1970s and ’80s in The Commodores.
‘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,’ the source continued. ‘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.’
‘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,’ they added.
After his disastrous St Paul performance in June, a source told the Daily Mail that family, friends and bandmates were worried about Lionel’s health but feared that he wouldn’t slow down; Above July 1 in Detroit, Michigan
‘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,’ the insider said. ‘He hates disappointing people and feels terrible that the concert couldn’t continue as planned.’
The source close to Lionel suggested he wasn’t going to worry for the time being.
‘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,’ they shared.
‘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.’
