“Lionel Richie” helicopter brings supplies and smiles at Helene victims: report

It’s an uplifting tune.

“Lionel Richie” brings more than just a smile to flood victims in western North Carolina.

According to a report in the Charlotte Observer, a sketch of the legendary “Stuck on You” singer adorns the tail of a National Guard helicopter tasked with delivering aid to those devastated by Hurricane Helene.

“Every time we got out and were able to talk to people … they laugh and everyone says something,” said Bradley Johnson, a member of Bravo Company 1-171, a National Guard aircrew from Iowa who flew on a CH-47 Chinook U.S. Army told the outlet Thursday. “Especially when they’re older.”

This military team has a soft spot for the four-time Grammy winner and former Commodores singer, who launched a solo career in 1982, selling millions of albums while writing and recording hit singles.

Richie’s remarkable face was originally drawn in 2011 on the tail of the helicopter with “Hello” underneath, Johnson said.

The plane’s call sign – “Night Long” – is an homage to “All Night Long,” Johnson told the outlet.

Back in 2011, former members of the unit flew night missions in Iraq, using goggles to see.

They “never really experienced the day,” Johnson said. “Then it was a simple transition from ‘Hello’ to ‘Night Long,’ and then it became a rallying cry and a matter of morale,” according to the Charlotte Observer.

Since the Chinook was made famous by the singer’s image, it was only a matter of time before the “Ameican Idol” host caught wind of it.

“This is unbelievable,” Richies said in a 2012 CBS story after seeing the plane in person. “I’m always waiting to get punked.”

Johnson said that when the crew met Richie, the artist said he was proud to be a symbol for them because his father was in the army.

The crew also has t-shirts with Richie’s face and call sign, as well as patches and stickers with his image.

The guard company requires an average of about 14,000 pounds of food and water each mission, said Capt. Karson Smith, a pilot. They have so far evacuated 34 people from a nursing home in Burnsville, North Carolina, the Charlotte Observer reported.