David Aldo has known Lionel Richie for about five years. And yet the South African still can't quite believe he's sharing a stage with the man who wrote 'Hello', 'Dancing On The Ceiling' and 'We Are The World'.

"It's kind of surreal in a way. He's a legend and I grew up with his songs," says Aldo on the line from Los Angeles where he's lived for the past eight years.

"But it's a total honour, it really is, to share the stage. I obviously feel blessed just to be associated with him in some way," explains the singer in an accent seemingly unaffected by his time in California.

"Lionel is very friendly, very open," he continues.

"He called me one day and we had a nice little chat. He told me that he knows how important this tour is for me and how he remembers the time he opened up for the Rolling Stones. So although he's a megastar and has been for such a long time, he's really in touch with reality and how much something like this means to me," smiles Aldo.

"He's a great guy."

Aldo doesn't sound star struck, though. Why should he be? As a hardworking musician in LA he plays corporate events and celebrity functions up to five times a week and his CV includes performing at Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher's wedding.

But the public performances are just one part of his job.

"There's really not enough hours in the day," chuckles the man who also writes music for commercials, TV series, films and 'Oprah' ("I know what she likes and I know what she wants.") And then there are his solo albums — his most recent is 'The Times'.

"So it's a little overwhelming but I wouldn't have it any other way."

It's the life he was looking for when he left South Africa.

"I really felt I couldn't get any further at home at that point and I knew I needed to try America, I needed to try somewhere else — but with the exchange rate and just moving to another continent, it seemed impossible to do."

Crime provided the push he needed — as he recounts in songs on 'The Times', Aldo was a victim of holdups, hijackings and burglaries — but the quiet spoken musician doesn't sound bitter.

"The unfortunate incidents that happened to me made me think: 'Maybe this is a sign'. I think maybe it was a blessing in disguise because my career has taken off much more than it ever would have in South Africa. And I'm able to continue what I was doing in South Africa anyway," he reasons.

"But life does go on. It's not like I've turned my back, I just need to get to the next level in my career."

Now that career has brought him back to South Africa, albeit briefly, more successful than he might have imagined.