American singer Lionel Richie took to the stage tonight as just one of the many star-studded acts performing at the coronation concert, taking place on the grounds of Windsor Castle.

It’s the first time a coronation concert has ever taken place, with 20,000 people joining the crowd in the castle grounds and millions watching around the world, to celebrate the crowning of King Charles III and the Queen Consort Camilla.

The ‘All Night Long’ star was dressed in a dazzling white suit jacket, embellished with twinkling jewels.

Richie began his performance playing the piano before grooving around the stage with dancers and trumpet players.

However, viewers watching the coronation concert on BBC One were confused about certain cat-like sounds that seemed to be heard throughout Richie’s first song.

Social media users react to Lionel Richie’s ‘cat noises’ in coronation concert performance

On Twitter, one person posted: “Why has Lionel Richie brought his cat on stage? #CoronationConcert”

Another wrote: “#CoronationConcert Is Lionel just making weird noises”

Someone was concerned for Richie, asking: “Is lionel ok?  #CoronationConcert”

This account was convinced the singer was impersonating a cat, saying: “Why does Lionel keep miaowing ?#CoronationConcert”

This user also agreed: “Why is Lionel Richie making cat noises?!?  #CoronationConcert”

Ahead of his performance, Richie told the PA news agency: “I think he’s [the King] going to bring a new flavour.

"I’m going say this to you honestly, a lot of people don’t know this about him, but he has an amazing sense of humour that we haven’t seen yet, so I think we may in the future see a little bit of a glimpse of that – and of course, inclusiveness.”

Richie revealed that he immediately jumped at the chance to perform at the celebratory concert, saying: “It’s an honour because it’s every 80 years, except for the Queen who just took it all the way to the end. But I mean, this is amazing.”

The singer added that he had a chance to speak to Charles ahead of the event and revealed he was “so happy” and “really looking forward” to the concert.

“He’s throwing a party, think about that. This is unusual. I understand this has not happened this often where you have this kind of thing after the big one. So I’m very happy about this. He’s very loose,” he added.