This week, after a brief respite of one (or, 1) week, Monday By the Numbers is back and focusing on this obvious pairing:
Lionel Richie and Pitbull.
It’s not such an ill-fitting duo given the crossover qualities of both artists (and we’re awaiting that Pitbull/Kenny Rogers collab any day now) and the fact that both are booked to headline the Planet Hollywood party enclave Axis Theater.
Pitbull is set to open his mini-residency Wednesday night. Announced last week, Richie is scheduled to perform two 10-show runs next year beginning in April and returning in September.
Janet Jackson, Britney Spears and J.Lo also are filling dates at Axis at Planet Hollywood, obviously, but for this stat spree, we’ll center on the fellas.
Fire it up:
100 million: Records sold worldwide by Richie in his years with The Commodores and solo career.
4 million: Sales of Richie’s self-titled solo album.
20 million: Sales of Richie’s second album, “Can’t Slow Down.”
2: Singles from “Can’t Slow Down” that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (“All Night Long,” “Hello”).
5: Singles from “Can’t Slow Down” that reached the Billboard Hot 100 (the two No. 1s, “Stuck on You” at No. 3, “Running With the Night” at No. 7 and “Penny Lover” at No. 8).
47: Years since Richie joined The Commodores.
14: Years Richie spent as a Commodore.
4: Charts that the single “Lady,” written by Richie and performed by Kenny Rogers, appeared at No. 1 (Hot 100, Country, Adult Contemporary and Top Black Singles).
1: Song performed by The Commodores in the 1978 disco movie “Thank God It’s Friday.” (“Too Hot to Trot” was the number.)
9: Minutes Richie performed an extended version of “All Night Long” at the closing ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
100,000: Attendance at the ’84 closing ceremonies.
100,00-120,000: Attendance of the crowd Richie performed for at the Glastonbury Festival in England on June 28.
7: Nights booked for Pitbull’s run at Axis.
11: Years since Pitbull’s debut album, “M.I.A.M.I.” (Money Is A Major Issue), was released.
305: The area code for Miami, Pitbull’s hometown, used in the name of his Mr. 305 record label and the album “Welcome to the 305.”
90: Percent of the music industry that is business, according to Pitbull.
10: Percent of the music industry that is talent, according to Pitbull.
3: Pitbull’s age when he began to recite the poems of Cuban poet Jose Marti as rap songs.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.
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