Lionel Richie Says He’d Seek Out Fans to Eat Meals with Him Early in His Career

Have you ever shared a meal with Lionel Richie?

In the early years of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member’s career, he topped the charts with classic hits from “Endless Love” to “All Night Long (All Night).” He also struggled with spending time alone and would often find a fan to accompany him to meals.

Richie, 76, opened up about the memory in an interview on Today with Jenna & Friends to promote his new memoir, Truly.

“For the first five years, if we had breakfast, lunch or dinner, I would go downstairs in the restaurant of whatever location and find a fan and go, ‘Let’s have lunch,'” he said. “I just couldn’t figure that out.”

“And so as time went on, I kind of developed this thing where, ‘Okay, how do I just relax?’ The relaxing part was on stage,” detailed Richie. “The next thing I didn’t understand was that I chose, of all businesses — I can write in the studio. Who’s in the studio? I don’t have to have anybody.”

“But what happened was, after you get the hit record, guess what you have to do? Show up somewhere. The worst part was showing up somewhere,” continued the superstar.

Richie recalled feeling quite nervous to step out in public. “Scared to death,” he said. “Can you imagine having panic attacks on stage?”

“But I wanted to be in this band so badly, and I wanted to be in this business,” added the Commodores musician. “My dad used to always have this chant, over and over again — ‘What is the similarity between a hero and a coward? Answer, they were both scared to death.'”

Richie shared how he persisted. “It’s just one step forward and one step back, and I kept saying, ‘Step forward,'” he said. “I don’t care how scared you are, step forward.”

Truly explores Richie’s life and career from his greatest hits to his personal moments, including including his experiences with ADHD, his father’s death, two divorces and a vocal cord injury that almost cost him his voice.

Despite the obstacles, Richie “lived to tell his story,” he told PEOPLE in a statement about the book earlier this year.

“I travel the world, and all people really want to hear is, ‘I love you,'” he said at the time. “‘I love you’ is forever. And the day we realize we come as different tribes, but we all represent the global family of mankind… the day that happens, we will clearly be united, together, as one.”

Richie’s memoir is out now.