Lionel Richie responds to criticism over ‘awful’ performance at King Charles’ Coronation concert

Lionel Richie performs during the Coronation Concert. Photo / Getty Images

Lionel Richie has brushed off criticism of his coronation concert show.

The Hello singer, 73, has been slammed for the quality of his voice by music fans after appearing at the event in Windsor Castle on May 7 a day after King Charles was crowned, but has now posted about his pride in his performance on his Instagram.

He shared a nine-minute clip of his gig on his Instagram story and, in reference to one of his biggest hits, captioned the video: “All night long at Windsor Castle England.”

His show reel showed him in a black and white outfit as he sat at a piano and kicked things off with a performance of his classic Easy, while Charles, 74, and his 75-year-old wife Queen Camilla were seen watching while other audience members danced along.

The American Idol judge’s post came after he was heavily criticised for the quality of his live show, with many viewers of the performance taking to social media to savage him over everything from the quality of his voice to the acoustics.

Concert watchers slammed Richie’s “awful” performance and compared it to “karaoke in the pub”.

He was joined at the coronation concert by his fellow American Idol judge Katy Perry, 38, with the pair temporarily replaced on the US show by Ed Sheeran, 32, and Alanis Morrisette, 48, during their time away.

Charles was seen dancing alongside Camilla at the show, which also included a performance by Take That in front of a crowd of 20,000 fans at Windsor Castle, and with millions of viewers in 100 countries worldwide watching the two-hour musical spectacular.

It also featured performances from Paloma Faith, 41, and appearances from famous faces such as Pierce Brosnan, 69, and Stella McCartney, 51, whose dad Sir Paul McCartney, 80, performed at the late Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee concert in 2012.

McCartney said the king has spent the last half a century “shining a spotlight on conservation and protecting our planet”.

She added: “His Majesty has been shining a spotlight on conservation and protecting our planet for 50 years now.

“He champions hope and action and in that hopeful spirit on this happy day the work of healing our planet should be and must be the cause that unites us, never the cause that divides us.”

Additional reporting by New Zealand Herald