“Three Times a Lady” is a 1978 single from the funk/soul band the Commodores, from their 1978 album Natural High. It was produced by James Anthony Carmichael and the Commodores and it was the most popular track of the album.
In an appearance on The Early Show on June 12, 2009, Richie said he was inspired to write it by a comment his father made about his mother. Reportedly his father said to his mother “I love you. I want you. I need you. Forever” hence the three times. It became the Commodores’s first Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit, topping the chart for two weeks on August 12, 1978. [2]. It was also the only Motown song to reach the Top 10 that year. The song also spent three weeks at #1 on the adult contemporary chart. It was one of only a few Motown singles to reach the top spot in the UK. In the years since the Commodores had started in 1974 it has been one of their most emotional songs since “You Don’t Know That I Know” from the album Caught in the Act in 1975.
The original Commodores’ version of the song was included as the final track on Lionel Richie’s greatest hits compilation album Back To Front, released in 1992.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Times_a_Lady