AMERICAN soul and funk superstar Lionel Richie will play the Scarborough Open Air Theatre on June 19, with tickets going on sale on Friday at 10am.

He becomes the second big American name to sign up for Europe's biggest open-air theatre after Britney Spears was confirmed for August 17.

Richie will perform his Commodores and solo hits, such as Three Times A Lady, Easy, Truly, Dancing On The Ceiling, Say You Say Me, All Night Long (All Night) and the chart-topping Hello in a series of open-air concerts this summer: his first British shows since his All The Hits tour in 2016.

Richie said of his imminent dates: "I’ve been missing the UK and can’t wait to make my long-awaited return and to see parts of the country I’ve never made it out to before. The fans are always incredible and they make the atmosphere at every show electric, so I look forward to singing along with them soon."

Richie, who will turn 69 the day after his Scarborough show, has sold 100 million albums worldwide and is a four-time Grammy Award winner for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for Truly in 1982; Album of the Year for Can't Slow Down and Producer of the Year (Non-Classical), both in 1984, and Song of the Year for We Are the World, co-written with Michael Jackson, in 1985. He also has the British GQ’s Icon Award, Nordoff Robbin O2 Silver Clef Award, a Golden Globe and an Oscar to his name.

York Press:

Hello Scarborough. "I can’t wait to see parts of the country I’ve never made it out to before," says Lionel Richie

His 2016 Glastonbury appearance drew the biggest crowd of the festival weekend as more than 200,000 people flocked to the Pyramid Stage, whereupon his album The Definitive Collection topped the charts, giving Richie his first British number one in 23 years.

That year too, he launched his on-going Las Vegas residency show, Lionel Richie – All The Hits, at The AXIS at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino and latterly he has joined the judging panel on ABC’s American Idol.

Promoters Cuffe and Taylor's summer season at the Scarborough Open Air Theatre also will feature The Script on June 21; Gary Barlow, June 22; Steps, June 29; Alfie Boe, June 30 and Il Divo, July 21. More names will be added.

Tickets can be booked at ticketmaster.co.uk and scarboroughopenairtheatre.com; in person at Scarborough Open Air Theatre box office, in Burniston Road, and the Discover Yorkshire Coast Tourism Bureau, in Scarborough Town Hall, or on 01723 818111 and 01723 383636.