Lionel Richie falls ill mid-show, cuts St. Paul concert short on tour's opening night

Lionel Richie cuts MN concert short after falling ill

Lionel Richie became ill during the opening night of his co-headlining tour with Earth, Wind & Fire at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. About an hour into his performance, the legendary singer said he was feeling dizzy, sat down onstage, and later exited the stage.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Lionel Richie cut his performance short Thursday night after falling ill on stage during the opening stop of his latest tour with Earth, Wind and Fire at the Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Lionel Richie falls ill on St. Paul stage

What we know:

About an hour into the set, the 77-year-old singer said he felt dizzy and sat down while performing "Dancing on the Ceiling" telling the audience, "That's the first time in my career I've sat during 'Dancing on the Ceiling'...not good, not good."

Richie performed one more song at the piano, "Three Times a Lady," before announcing an unplanned intermission, saying ""intermission, intermission, so I don't fall over," and walked off the back of the stage.

After some time, one of the band members returned to the stage to announce, "Lionel isn’t feeling well" and won’t be returning to the stage. Concertgoers described the band member as emotional while delivering the news.

The concert was the opening night of Richie's 26-city tour with Earth, Wind & Fire. The tour is scheduled to run through August.

Lionel Richie 'feeling dizzy' at St. Paul concert, leaves stage early

A concertgoer describes the experience at a Lionel Richie concert in St. Paul, Minnesota Wednesday night when the singer abruptly left the stage after feeling dizzy and ended the show early.