KRAGEN AND RICHIE PART COMPANY

Rock supermanager Ken Kragen and Grammy-winning singer Lionel Richie, whose teamwork helped make last year’s “We Are the World” charity project an international success, have parted ways.

In a prepared statement Wednesday, USA for Africa President Kragen said he no longer will serve as Richie’s personal manager: “I have one of the most demanding projects I’ve ever undertaken, ‘Hands Across America,’ coming to fruition, May 25. The event literally takes as much time as a dozen management clients. And frankly, it entails an awesome responsibility to the American public.

“Lionel has a new album and the planning of a world tour coming in the same time frame. The load is more than I, and my firm, can handle in a manner that’s fair to Lionel.”

Despite the amicable tone of the statement, there was immediate speculation that the breakup may have been long in developing and was possibly triggered by a reported dispute during a Jan. 21 USA for Africa board meeting.

Last fall, Richie made one break from Kragen and Co. by hiring an outside publicity firm, the Howard Bloom Organization. He had previously been represented by an in-house Kragen publicity executive.

During the board meeting, Richie sided with “We Are the World” co-author Michael Jackson in a dispute over whether to air a new Kragen-commissioned theme song during a “Hands Across America” telecast during the half-time celebration at last month’s Super Bowl.

Jackson, Richie and the rest of the USA for Africa board vetoed use of the new song and video at the last minute and ordered “We Are the World” to be aired instead.

The composition, titled “Hands Across America,” was to be the musical symbol of the Memorial Day weekend coast-to-coast hand-holding event.

Kragen later acknowledged that his enthusiasm for the proposed new “Hands Across America” theme prompted a “little bit of a flurry . . . I got a little bit ahead of myself.”

Richie refused to comment on his split with Kragen, but a source close to the singer acknowledged that Richie supported Jackson’s move to squelch the airing of a new “Hands Across America” theme. But the source insisted that the dispute was not a major issue in Richie’s management split with Kragen: “Lionel didn’t really care one way or the other. It was Michael (Jackson) who created the big stir over the song, and Lionel felt he had to side with Michael because of their close friendship.”