Lionel Richie thinks Michael Jackson was the "silliest guy" he's ever met.

The 62-year-old singer will always remember the late singer as someone who was "funny and silly" because he often used to make the "Dancing on the Ceiling" hitmaker laugh at "inappropriate times."

"Michael Jackson was the silliest guy I ever met. He liked to trigger attacks of laughter at inappropriate times. I remember watching a dignitary giving a speech, and he looked over and started giggling ... that just set me off. That to me was who he really was. What we say later was a product of failure of the rest of his life. The guy was just funny and silly."