Lionel Richie’s return to the stage after an earlier health scare has taken another unexpected turn.

The legendary singer was admitted to a hospital in St. Louis after performing Saturday at the Muny in Forest Park, where concertgoers noticed a concerning moment near the end of his set. Richie, 77, is now receiving care in the intensive care unit as doctors evaluate him for possible dehydration.

According to sources close to the singer, Richie checked himself into a local hospital after the performance. He is hoping to be discharged Tuesday.

The hospitalization comes only months after another troubling episode interrupted his 2026 touring schedule — and once again, the first visible sign that something might be wrong happened while Richie was performing for an audience.

During Saturday night’s closing number, his 1983 hit “All Night Long,” Richie asked for a chair. Video from the concert showed the singer performing while seated.

For a performer whose concerts have long been built around movement, enthusiasm and an easy connection with the crowd, the image immediately stood out.

It also recalled what happened earlier this summer.

In June, Richie was performing the opening date of his tour in St. Paul, Minnesota, when he told the audience that he was feeling dizzy and needed to sit down.

Rather than immediately turning the moment into something frightening, Richie relied on the humor that has often been part of his stage personality.

He joked that it was the first time in the history of “Dancing on the Ceiling” that he had performed the song while sitting.

“That’s a bad sign, y’all,” he told the crowd.

The situation ultimately resulted in Richie being hospitalized and forced changes to his schedule. Several tour dates were postponed while he recovered.

More than a week later, however, Richie was back in front of an audience.

When he returned for a performance in Pittsburgh, he addressed the concern surrounding his absence almost immediately.

“I had you worried there for a minute,” Richie teased the audience at PPG Paints Arena.

He also acknowledged that people close to him had plenty to say about what had happened.

Richie told the crowd that they had no idea what he had been through during the previous 24 hours, particularly as friends offered their own advice about what he should be doing.

The lighthearted comments suggested Richie was eager to move forward rather than allow the earlier hospitalization to dominate the tour.

Now, Saturday’s events in St. Louis have brought renewed attention to his condition.

The performance at the Muny was another stop in Richie’s ongoing concert schedule, and nothing about the evening initially suggested it would end with the singer checking himself into a hospital.

But by the final song, Richie needed to perform from a chair.

After leaving the venue, he sought medical attention.

He is currently being checked for possible dehydration while remaining in intensive care.

Richie’s touring schedule has been a major part of his recent years. He first announced the Sing a Song All Night Long tour with Earth, Wind & Fire in 2023.

The collaboration paired two enormously recognizable acts for an arena tour filled with songs that have remained popular across generations.

The original 20-city run continued into 2024. Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire then revived the tour in 2026, bringing the show back for another round of performances.

That latest stretch, however, has already required adjustments because of Richie’s June hospitalization.

Following that episode, several scheduled dates had to be postponed.

The current calendar gives Richie some breathing room after the St. Louis performance. He is not scheduled to return to the stage until Sept. 26, when he is set to perform at Chase Center in San Francisco.

His touring plans then continue well beyond the fall.

Richie’s final scheduled tour date is currently Jan. 30 at Lucas Oil Live in Thackerville, Oklahoma. Before that appearance, he is also expected to complete a six-date Las Vegas residency.

What happens next will depend first on his recovery from the latest hospitalization.

For fans, the St. Louis episode may feel especially unsettling because it follows such a similar scene only a few months earlier: Richie performing, beginning to feel unwell, needing to sit down and later requiring hospital care.

The difference this time is that the singer was able to complete Saturday’s concert before checking himself into the hospital.

And despite the seriousness associated with intensive care, those close to Richie have indicated that doctors are investigating dehydration and that he hopes his hospital stay will be brief.

The coming weeks also offer more recovery time than he had immediately following the June incident.

After that first hospitalization, Richie returned to touring within a relatively short period and greeted worried fans with jokes.

Whether he will be ready to do the same when his next scheduled concert arrives remains to be seen.

For now, the singer who has spent decades encouraging audiences to dance through songs such as “All Night Long” is once again being forced to slow down.

Saturday’s audience saw that shift happen in real time when Richie asked for a chair during the final song.

Hours later, the performance had become something more serious than an unusual concert moment.

Richie was in the hospital, undergoing evaluation in intensive care and hoping to be released Tuesday.

His next stage appearance is still weeks away. Before the tour continues, the immediate focus is on his recovery — and on whether one of music’s most enduring performers will soon be able to turn another frightening interruption into another comeback.