"Three Times a Lady" is a 1978 song by American

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

group

Commodores Commodores, often billed as The Commodores, are an American funk and Soul music, soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer. The members of the group met as m ...

for their album '' Natural High'', written by lead singer

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...

. It was produced by James Anthony Carmichael and Commodores. It was Commodores' first number-one hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, topping the chart for two weeks on August 12, 1978, and also reached number one on the soul chart for two weeks. It was the only

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

song to reach the top 10 on the US ''Billboard ''Hot 100 that year. The song also spent three weeks at number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The song also reached number one on the Canadian ''RPM'' Singles Chart for four weeks, and was one of only a few Motown singles to reach the top spot on the UK Singles Chart, staying there for five weeks. It was also successful in Ireland, staying at number one for three consecutive weeks. It was number one in Australia for five weeks, and reached number 2 in New Zealand.

Background

As a student at

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was founded as a normal school for teachers on July 4, 1881, by the ...

, Lionel Richie joined friends to form the band Commodores. The group primarily performed

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and party songs written by band members. Richie had grown up in a household full of varying kinds of music. His grandmother, Adelaide Foster, taught classical piano, and he was also inspired by the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

that was ubiquitous in Alabama. At a party to celebrate his parents' 37th wedding anniversary, Richie's father toasted his mother, Alberta, saying "She's a great lady, she's a great mother, and she's a great friend." The toast inspired Richie to write a

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

, "Three Times a Lady", which he dedicated to his wife, Brenda. As Richie later told

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American television and radio personality and television producer who hosted ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 1989. He also hosted five incarnations of the Pyramid (game show), ...

, the toast caused him to realize, "I haven't taken the time to tell my wife thank you. How many guys are in the same position?" Richie did not believe that a waltz would fit The Commodores' musical style, so he wrote it imagining that it would be sung by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

. As the band prepared to record the album ''Natural High'', group members presented various songs that they had written. Richie played "Three Times a Lady" for producer James Carmichael, with the warning that he intended to pitch the song to Sinatra. Carmichael insisted that the song be added to The Commodores' album.

Release

In the United States, "Three Times a Lady" was the first of two singles off of ''Natural High''. It entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on June 18, 1978, at number 73. Eight weeks later, it reached number 1, where it remained for two weeks. It also reached the top of the R&B, soul and country charts. The song was the first number 1 single for the Commodores, and the first of their songs to be a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom. The song eventually reached the top of charts in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Canada, and was in the top 5 on charts in 25 other countries. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' called it a "

sentimental ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Balla ...

" that should make the pop adult charts as well as the R&B charts. The original Commodores' version of the song was included as the final track on Lionel Richie's greatest hits

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

'' Back to Front'', released in 1992.

Impact

The song was a "smash hit" which launched the Commodores into a higher level of fame and notice. In large part due to the popularity of this song, the band was named the top R&B group of the year by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', ''Billboard'', and '' Cashbox''. ''Billboard'' also named them the number 3 pop group of 1978, making them one of the historically few non-white performers listed. "Three Times a Lady" was nominated for two

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

awards, for Song of the Year and for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group, or Chorus. The song won a 1979

American Music Award The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...

and a

People's Choice Award The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the Fan (person), fans and Public, general public. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined us ...

. Many other artists reached out to Richie, asking him to write songs with them. Richie at first turned them all down, but eventually agreed to work with country singer

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

. The collaboration resulted in Rogers' hit song "

Lady ''Lady'' is a term for a woman who behaves in a polite way. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the female counterpart of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. "Lady" is al ...

Chart performance

Year-end charts

Conway Twitty version

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

's version appears on his 1983 album '' Lost in the Feeling''. Twitty's version reached number 7 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart in the late winter of 1984 and number 4 in the Canadian charts. (#81 Year End)

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

reviewer Tom Jurek wrote that "Three Times a Lady" and the previous single, " Heartache Tonight" "offer(ed) a solid view of Twitty's amazing crossover potential, and his ability to take well-known pop tracks and turn them into solid country smashes long after the countrypolitan days of

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), also known as "Mister Guitar" and "the Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson (musician), Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nash ...

and RCA."

Other versions

Nate Harvell recorded a country version in 1978, reaching number 23 on the ''Billboard'' country chart and number 24 in Canada.

References

External links

List of cover versions of "Three Times a Lady"
at SecondHandSongs.com {{Authority control 1978 songs 1978 singles 1983 singles Commodores songs Conway Twitty songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles UK singles chart number-one singles Songs written by Lionel Richie Song recordings produced by Jimmy Bowen Warner Records singles Motown singles Number-one singles in Australia Song recordings produced by James Anthony Carmichael 1970s ballads Pop ballads Soul ballads