Lionel Richie’s ‘Tuskegee’ Release Date Revealed

Lionel Richie's star-studded album, 'Tuskegee,' will hit stores March 27. The record includes 13 of the iconic singer's hits, each with a different collaborator. Blake Shelton, Shania Twain, Darius Rucker, Rascal Flatts and Willie Nelson are among a who's-who list of country stars who teamed up with the Alabama native for the project. (See a full track list below.)

This unique and personal album takes its name from Lionel's hometown. "It just came as a no-brainer," he tells The Boot. "When we were thinking about titles: 'Lionel Richie: the South,' 'Lionel Richie: Nashville,' 'Lionel Richie: Country' ... 'Lionel Richie: Tuskegee'! I want to let everybody know that I'm from there, and country is Tuskegee. Or should I say rather, my country is Tuskegee. I was born and raised there, it's not just someplace I passed through one day. It seemed fitting -- a celebration of life."

For some of the artists who lent their talents to this album, it was dream come true. "Every Lionel Richie song that I can think of I had a personal experience with – high school homecomings, proms, you name it," says Rascal Flatts' Gary LeVox, who duets on 'Dancin' On the Ceiling.' "Lionel was always playing in my house. His music always said what we felt and couldn't express."

It's very likely that 'Dancin' On the Ceiling' is one that Gary holds dear, seeing as Lionel let each guest singer choose their own tune. "I said to Darius Rucker, 'Would you like to do a Lionel Richie song?' and he just said, [mimics Darius singing], 'Stuck On you!'" Lionel explains. "The beautiful part about this album is I wanted [my duet partners] to own it; I wanted to make it a part of who they are.

"A lot of times when you do duet albums, they try to copy the artist they're paying tribute to," he adds. "What I wanted to do was bring in everybody and their arrangement so that it would sound like something they would do on their own. So, we custom-made ['Deep River Woman'] to sound just like Little Big Town. It was just Little Big Town with Lionel Richie visiting ... Darius Rucker with Lionel Richie visiting ... With Rascal Flatts, they played the track. It wasn't like, 'Come on in and we'll get some musicians to back you.' No, they played the song."

Rascal Flatts are also one of the bands who are staying an extra night in Las Vegas after the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music awards to perform as part of the 'Lionel Richie and Friends' TV special. Jason Aldean, the Band Perry, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride, Kenny Rogers and more will tape the performance on April 2 at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena. It will air on CBS at a later date.

Lionel Richie, 'Tuskegee' Track List:

1. 'You Are' (With Blake Shelton)

2. 'Say You, Say Me' (With Jason Aldean)

3. 'Stuck On You' (With Darius Rucker)

4. 'Deep River Woman' (With Little Big Town)

5. 'My Love' (With Kenny Chesney)

6. 'Dancin' on the Ceiling' (With Rascal Flatts)

7. 'Hello' (With Jennifer Nettles)

8. 'Sail On' (With Tim McGraw)

9. 'Endless Love' (With Shania Twain)

10. 'Just for You' (With Billy Currington)

11. 'Lady' (With Kenny Rogers)

12. 'Easy' (With Willie Nelson)

13. 'All Night Long' (With Jimmy Buffett)