LIONEL RICHIE TO KICK OFF THE NEW YEAR FROM LAS VEGAS WITH THE FIRST PERFORMANCE OF 2017 MOMENTS AFTER MIDNIGHT, ON 'DICK CLARK'S NEW YEAR'S ROCKIN' EVE WITH RYAN SEACREST 2017'

The New Year's Celebration Begins Live at 8 p.m. EST on ABC from New York's Times Square

Music legend Lionel Richie will make a special appearance from his concert in Las Vegas on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2017." Richie will be the first performance of 2017, performing his song "All Night Long" immediately following the midnight countdown and Times Square celebration. America's biggest celebration of the year will take place SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, beginning at 8 p.m. EST, on the ABC Television Network.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of America's biggest celebration of the year and will include 5 � hours of special performances and reports on New Year's celebrations from around the country. Ryan Seacrest will host and lead the traditional countdown to midnight from Times Square in New York City as he has for the last 11 years with live reporting from actress and comedian Jenny McCarthy. Mariah Carey, DNCE, Thomas Rhett and Gloria Estefan with the cast of her Broadway musical ON YOUR FEET! will perform for over one million fans live in Times Square and millions more on TV. Fergie will host and perform at The Billboard Hollywood Party, with additional performances by Alessia Cara, Fifth Harmony featuring Kid Ink and Ty Dolla $ign, Flo Rida featuring Macy Kate, G-Eazy featuring Bebe Rexha, Martin Garrix also with Bebe Rexha, Niall Horan, John Legend, Lukas Graham, Shawn Mendes, Mike Posner, Emeli Sande and Hailee Steinfeld.

International superstar, Lionel Richie, has a discography of albums and singles that are second to none. His music is part of the fabric of pop music; in fact, Lionel Richie is one of only two songwriters in history to achieve the honor of having #1 records for nine consecutive years. With over 100 million albums sold worldwide, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, four Grammy awards and the distinction of MusiCares person of the year in 2016, the Tuskegee, Alabama, native is a true music icon. Lionel Richie is known for his mega-hits such as "Endless Love," "Lady," "Truly," "All Night Long (All Night)," "Penny Lover," "Stuck On You," "Hello," "Say You, Say Me," "Dancing on the Ceiling," and one of most important pop songs in history, "We Are The World," written with Michael Jackson for USA for Africa. His song catalog also includes his early work with The Commodores, where he developed a groundbreaking style that defied genre categories, penning smashes such as "Three Times a Lady," "Still," and "Easy." Lionel launched his Las Vegas headlining residency show, "Lionel Richie - All the Hits," at The AXIS at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in April 2016. In an unforgettable evening featuring his brightest and best anthems which have defined the music icon's unparalleled career, Lionel takes fans on a spectacular musical journey, performing a variety of his seminal hits. With his most recent All the Hits, All Night Long Tour, Lionel sold out arenas worldwide with a set-list of his brightest and best anthems. In recent years Lionel also headlined "Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, and Glastonbury, drawing the festival's biggest crowd ever with over 200,000 attendees. Always giving back, his charity work extends from Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center to UNICEF and The Art of Elysium.

"Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin'?Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2017" is produced by dick clark productions with Ryan Seacrest, Allen Shapiro and Mike Mahan serving as executive producers and Barry Adelman and Mark Bracco are co-executive producers. Larry Klein is producer.?

The complete lineup?Saturday?night, December 31 on ABC is:

8:00-10:00 p.m. EST - "DICK CLARK'S PRIMETIME NEW YEAR'S ROCKIN' EVE WITH RYAN SEACREST 2017 - Part 1"

10:00-11:00 p.m. EST - "DICK CLARK'S PRIMETIME NEW YEAR'S ROCKIN' EVE WITH RYAN SEACREST 2017- Part 2"

11:30 p.m.-1:09 a.m. EST- "DICK CLARK'S NEW YEAR'S ROCKIN' EVE WITH RYAN SEACREST 2017- Part 1"

1:09-2:13 a.m. EST - "DICK CLARK'S NEW YEAR'S ROCKIN' EVE WITH RYAN SEACREST 2017- Part 2"

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ABOUT DICK CLARK PRODUCTIONS

dick clark productions (dcp) is the world's largest producer and proprietor of televised live event entertainment programming with the "Academy of Country Music Awards," "American Music Awards," "Billboard Music Awards," "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest," "Golden Globe Awards," "Hollywood Film Awards," "Miss America" and the "Streamy Awards." Weekly television programming includes "So You Think You Can Dance" from 19 Entertainment, a division of CORE Media Group and dcp. dcp also owns one of the world's most unique and extensive entertainment archive libraries with more than 55 years of award-winning shows, historic programs, specials, performances and legendary programming. For additional information, visit www.dickclark.com.