Lionel Richie

Even with complimentary dessert and champagne, even if they agreed to play “All Night Long (All Night),” few artists could sell tickets for a grand apiece. But Lionel Richie – whose string of $100 million-plus-selling hits began in the late ‘70s (with ballads he composed to perform with Motown’s the Commodores such as “Easy” and “Three Times a Lady”), continued into the ‘80s (with the likes of the Diana Ross duet “Endless Love” and “Say You, Say Me”) and even include a couple of country-music-chart-toppers (“Deep River Woman” performed with Alabama and “Lady,” which Richie penned and produced for Kenny Rogers) — seems not to be governed by the same rules as mere mortal musicians. In the new millennium, for example, as the UK’s Independent pointed out in 2013, Richie (who appropriately enough co-wrote 1985’s “We Are the World” with Michael Jackson) is one of the very few topics on which Iranians and Iraqis seem to agree. Plus, the venue’s website doesn’t say as much, but we assume the $1,000 ticket comes with a complimentary personalized bust sculpting courtesy of the lady in the “Hello” video.