The Commodores

Commodores, often billed as the Commodores, are an American funk and 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 mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1968, and signed with Motown in November 1972, having first caught the public eye opening for the Jackson 5 while on tour.The band's biggest hit singles are ballads such as "Easy", "Three Times a Lady", and "Nightshift"; and funk-influenced dance songs, including "Brick House", "Fancy Dancer", "Lady (You Bring Me Up)", and "Too Hot ta Trot".Commodores were inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and Vocal Group Hall of Fame. The band has also won one Grammy Award out of nine nominations. The Commodores have sold over 70 million albums worldwide.Commodores were formed from two former student groups: the Mystics and the Jays. Richie described some members of the Mystics as "jazz buffs". The new six-man band featured Lionel Richie, Thomas McClary, and William King from the Mystics, and Andre Callahan, Michael Gilbert, and Milan Williams from the Jays. They chose their present name when King flipped open a dictionary and ran his finger down the page. "We lucked out," he remarked with a laugh when telling this story to People magazine. "We almost became 'The Commodes.'"

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.