When Richie left the Commodores in 1982 for a solo career, Carmichael went with him. The pair co-produced all Richie's albums and singles over the next few years, including the albums "Lionel Richie" (1982), "Can't Slow Down" (1983), and "Dancing on the Ceiling" (1986). The albums featured another string of hits co-produced by Carmichael, including four US number one records on the pop charts - "Truly", "All Night Long (All Night)", "Hello", and "Say You, Say Me". When Richie won his first American Music Award in 1984, he made a point of thanking Carmichael for his involvement. The song "All Night Long" was nominated for several Grammy awards, and Carmichael and Richie jointly won Grammies in 1984 for the album "Can't Slow Down" and as producers (non-classical) of the year. Richie credited Carmichael with giving him the inspiration to write the song "Hello", saying that Carmichael had come to his house:As he turned the corner to come into the room, I turned to him and said: 'Hello, is it me you're looking for?' He said: 'Finish that song.'... I kept saying to him, 'You gotta be kidding me, right? I was just joking.' He said, 'No no, that's incredible. Give me a verse to that.' So I actually went in writing this song not liking the song, thinking that it was corny. I mean, this is REALLY corny. This is not going to do well. Then by the time I finished the verse, I fell in love with the song again.