But a quick call to say "Hello" to a city music firm saved the day and allowed the Grammy award-winning singer to belt out his hits "All Night Long".

Frantic production crews were "Running With The Night", scouring the region looking for a music technician when Lionel's £10,000 piano went kaput before last week's show at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle.

Luckily for the superstar, fixing the instrument was an "Easy" job for Deptford-based music company New York Productions, so solo singer Ritchie was able to "Say You, Say Me" to his fans.

It was a case of "Don't Stop The Music" for company boss Dave Arkley, who worked against the clock to fix the piano by taking it apart and putting another one inside it – giving the allusion that it was still Richie's original Yamaha.

He delivered it to the Arena in the nick of time, to make sure "Tonight, Will Be Alright" much to the appreciation of Lionel's entourage.

And Richie expressed his "Endless Love" by giving Mr Arkley and his wife Mary complimentary tickets to the concert.

Mr Arkley, who has been running the company for five years, said: "His entourage was panicking because there was nobody else in the North East who could do it.

"The piano is a major part of Lionel's performance. God knows what he would have done if we had not sorted it out, it would have been very awkward."

The company has received similar frantic calls before from manic musicians, but never from a star as big as Lionel Richie, who has sold more than 100million albums worldwide.

Mr Arkley said: "We had a fantastic time – the show was brilliant. Unfortunately, we didn't get to meet Lionel himself, but we met the production crew, who were really nice people."

A spokesman for the superstar confirmed his keyboard malfunctioned and a new piece of kit was hired for the show.