Soul legend Lionel Richie recently commented that music from the likes of pop stars such as Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber is "forgettable."

In an interview with the London Evening Standard, the 65-year-old singer said nobody would remember songs by Cyrus and Bieber in 20 years' time because of its poor body of work.

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Richie said he believed that today's music is suffering as many of the young stars favor popularity and notoriety over quality of music.

He added that unlike music icons Michael Jackson and Madonna, these young artists fail to have a musical catalogue that can back their theatrics.

"The beautiful part of where we were - we had shock value. But what came with shock value was hit after hit after hit. Madonna was outrageous - but she had a catalogue of music that was unbelievable," Richie said.

The singer continued: "At the end of all the theatrics with Michael (Jackson), he had nothing but the most fabulous catalogue. Now, we've got a lot of theatrics - but where's the song that is going to stick around forever?"

"Twenty years from now, let's take anybody - where's the body of work? I'm going to judge you not by your popularity but by your longevity, your staying records. I'm thinking about Miley, Justin Bieber," he added.

The singer further noted that many of today's singers "made amateur music mainstream."

"Everybody can sing! But there's a difference between a stylist and a singer," Richie said.

"Go to karaoke, there are some guys seriously singing their a**es off! But do they have a unique voice or distinct voice?" he added.

In the past 30 years, the Grammy award-winning artist has released nine solo studio albums and sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

Richie is the man and voice behind some of music's greatest hits like "Hello," "Easy," "Say You, Say Me," "Three Times A Lady," and "All Night Long."

He is set to embark on a four-week tour in the United Kingdom beginning February next year.

TagsLionel Richie, pop icons, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Music