Lionel Richie, who just recently came out with the worldwide top-selling album Tuskegee, spoke candidly to HollywoodLife.com about talented up- and-coming singers competing on shows like American Idol, X Factor and The Voice. As a hugely successful and talented star in the music industry since the 60s, Lionel says you can’t really find iconic superstars through these types of shows.

“It’s not about how loud you can sing,” Lionel tells us. “Also, the shows tend to find stylists, not real singers.”

Lionel says one reason why it’s so difficult to discover talent through these shows is because the performers aren’t singing their own material.

“Can you imagine Mick Jagger or James Brown singing anyone’s material that’s not their own?” Lionel, 62,  says. ” They’re not going to sing- you light up my life!” .You don’t find superstars that way. You can’t find real artists that way.”

Lionel worries that you can “break talent that are trying to get a break”, on talent discovery shows. ” If you ever told one of  the greats , that they sucked, they couldn’t sing for a year!”

It’s incredible that despite how many years Lionel has been around, he’s still been able to reinvent himself like he just did with his new country album Tuskegee. The album took second place on the Billboard charts, according to Nielsen SoundScan, making it his most popular album since “Dancing on the Ceiling” in 1986.

Tuskegee can be purchased through HSN here and includes duets with country stars Shania Twain, Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney and more.

What do you think HollywoodLifers? Do you agree with Lionel that’s it’s impossible to find a superstar through talent-discovery shows? Vote and weigh in below.

– Bonnie Fuller

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Lionel Richie‘s new album isn’t just going to be a hit for him – it’s also giving Shania Twain her comeback!

Shania is back in the spotlight for the first time in five years since she battled with the awful vocal disease dysophonia.

She and Lionel re-recorded his famous 1981 hit “Endless Love,” which he originally sang with Diana Ross, but this version has more of a country twang with Twain in the mix — not to mention she looks and sounds amazing!

Lionel’s new album, Tuskegee — which also features duets with Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney — can be purchased on HSN here.

Watch Shania & Lionel’s video below:

With her rumored wedding to Joel Madden just days away, HollywoodLife.com knows what is going to make Nicole break down in tears on the happiest day of her life!

Since giving birth to daughter Harlow in 2008, everyone in Hollywood has been asking Nicole Richie, 29, when she will be walking down the aisle with longtime partner and baby daddy, Joel Madden, 31. The wait is finally over for the two who are rumored to be saying “I do” this weekend at the home of famed singer and father to Nicole, 61-year-old Lionel Richie.

Although many details of the nuptials are being kept under wraps, HollywoodLife.com has learned that Lionel will be singing “Ballerina Girl,” a song he wrote about Nicole when she was just 4 years old! Lionel’s “Ballerina Girl” is sure to make Nicole break down in tears as it will be reminder of everything she has overcome and her journey to become the poised young woman and mother from the little girl Lionel was so proud of back in 1985.

Nicole, who was raised by Lionel from age two and legally adopted at age nine, hasn’t had such a “simple life.” Her misbehaving and run-ins with the law in her teens and early twenties led many to believe she was a helpless train wreck headed down a road of self-destruction.

She proved everyone wrong by committing to rehabilitating herself and her image. After becoming romantically linked with Joel Madden and bearing two children, Harlow, 2 and Sparrow, 15 months, the fashion designer and socialite has risen above her troubled past with a bright future ahead of her.

— Aimee Curran, reporting by Russ Weakland

We’re so excited to hear Nicole & Joel are finally saying, ‘I do!’

What exciting news! Nicole Richie, 29, and Joel Madden, 31, are reportedly tying the knot Dec. 11 at Nicole‘s father Lionel Richie‘s house in a small “winter-themed” ceremony. “Nicole is obsessed with the season,” a source tells Us Weekly.

Preparations are already underway. On Dec. 3, the tables and chairs were delivered and more moving trucks were spotted at Lionel’s house Dec. 7.

“A stage is being built over the pool in the backyard so the guests will have more space to dance,” another source tells RadarOnline.com. “It’s kind of cool because people will be dancing on top of the water.”

Nicole even made a trip to NYC on Dec. 3 to be fitted for her Marchesa wedding gown.

“Nicole brought her stylist Simone Harouche with her,” an insider tells Us. “A lot of thought went into her dress — it was a priority for her.” “She’s deciding between two dresses: Marchesa and vintage Chanel,” adds another source.

Joel and Nicole have decided to keep the guest list tight. “Mindy [Weiss, the wedding planner] called all of the guests personally,” a friend of the couple tells Us.

“She didn’t invite a bunch of her celeb friends,” an insider explains to RadarOnline.com. “This has apparently upset a bunch of people.”

But certain stars like Christina Aguilera and Lindsay Lohan’s ex-girlfriend Samantha Ronson will most likely be in attendance.

Nicole’s 2-year-old daughter Harlow will be the flower girl, and Lionel will escort Nicole down the aisle. Nicole’s best friend, Masha Gordon, will be her maid of honor and Joel’s twin brother, Benji Madden, will serve as best man.

We hope this big weekend goes perfectly for the bride and her groom. Congrats to Nicole and Joel on their big day!

— Lindsey DiMattina

We’re so excited to hear that Nicole & Joel are finally ready to say, ‘I do!’ It’s about time!

Nicole Richie, 29, and Joel Madden, 31, finally set a date for their wedding! After confirming their engagement in February, the couple plans to tie the knot this December in a garden wedding at Nicole’s dad Lionel Richie‘s house! Nicole and Joel have been together since 2006 and have two children, 2-year-old daughter Harlow Madden and 1-year-old son Sparrow.

“Christmas has always been about family and faith for Nicole and Joel, so there is no better time of the year for them to wed,” a source tells RadarOnline.com. “Nicole and Joel will spend Christmas with their family after the wedding, before heading off on honeymoon.”

The sources reveals that Harlow will be the flower girl, and Lionel will escort Nicole down the aisle. Nicole’s best friend, Masha Gordon, will be her maid of honor and Joel’s twin brother, Benji Madden, will serve as best man.

The couple reportedly plans to invite 75 family members and close friends, including Christina Aguilera and Lindsay Lohan‘s ex-girlfriend Samantha Ronson.

Nicole also reportedly hired the same wedding planner that worked on Khloé Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and Christina’s weddings.

Congrats to Nicole and Joel on this exciting news!

— Lindsey DiMattina

Nicole Richie’s fashionable mini-me Harlow is only 2½ but she spends 20 minutes shuffling through her wardrobe in the morning!

Nicole Richie, the mom of Harlow, and Sparrow, 1, dishes in the new issue of InStyle UK about her little girl’s devotion to fashion, her regret over her tattoos and the less attractive aspects of pregnancy. “Being pregnant with Harlow was easy. I was wearing heels for eight months,” says Nicole, “I never got sick and I was like, ‘Oh, what are people talking about?’ But with Sparrow, I was so sick. And my feet were swelling. They were polar opposite pregnancies.”

Maybe it was all that time that Mommy spent prancing around in high heels while pregnant that gave Harlow her love of fashion! The 28-year-old says, “She picks her own clothes. It’s a 20-minute thing – it begins at 7.30 each morning – but it is what it is and it’s fine.” Sounds like Harlow is a budding fashionista, but let’s hope she doesn’t follow in her mom’s footsteps when it comes to body art!

Nicole says she regrets a few of her nine tattoos. “I’m a Virgo and the sign is a virgin. So when I was 16, I got the word virgin tattooed on my wrist, thinking I was sooo deep and cool. And now I just look really weird having virgin written across my wrist and I have to explain it,” reveals Nicole.

But the daughter of singer Lionel Richie takes full responsibility for her bad decisions, whether it’s unwanted ink or drug problems and rehab. She says, “People ask me, do I blame Hollywood or my parents? No, I don’t blame my parents. It had nothing to do with them. I created it and manifested it and I got myself through it with the help of a lot of great people.”

We’re happy to see that Nicole has turned her life around — maybe she could give her former The Simple Life BFF Paris Hilton some tips! Check out the behind-the-scenes video from Nicole’s InStyle photo shoot below!

–Leigh Blickley

Joel Madden — who fiancee Nicole Richie calls “superdad” — cradles 2-year-old Harlow in a sweet father-daughter moment.

Looks like Harlow Madden is totally daddy’s little girl! The 2-year-old daughter of Nicole Richie and Joel Madden hung out with Dad at the mall while he shopped at the Apple store yesterday. The Good Charlotte rocker will take any opportunity he can to spend time with Harlow and her little brother Sparrow, 11 months.

“There’s never enough time for me to spend with my kids,” Joel told Babble.com. “If I could, I’d spend every second with them.” Joel seems to be squeezing in every moment he can before Good Charlotte releases their fifth album, Cardiology, in October and he has to go back on tour next year.

Nicole says Joel is the perfect father. “When you’re parents you have to make every decision together, so you become a team,” she said last year. “I can wholeheartedly say that he’s the best dad I’ve ever seen. He’s as good as my dad, Lionel. Joel and my dad are really close. Joel is superdad.”

Getty Images

The former basketball champ and close friend of Tiger Woods opens up on his friend’s divorce and alleged affairs at the opening of the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia!

Tiger Woods may be doing everything he can to remain silent and under the radar since news of his multiple affairs came to light, but his good friend Charles Barkley is certainly not holding his tongue! The basketball great told HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY at the opening of the Casino Club at Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, “Tiger has got to stand up to these people and quit apologizing. He made mistakes, he owed his wife an apology, and he should tell the rest of these people to kiss his ass. He is a great friend of mine, he is my friend no matter what. I don’t judge my friends, only God can judge other people.”

Charles statement comes just as news of Tiger’s divorce to Elin Nordegren has been finalized, with his former wife walking away with a reported $100 million. As a stipulation of her payout however, the Swedish model has agreed to sign a confidentiality clause that assures she will not speak of her and Tiger’s relationship publicly.

Charles himself seems to be making an attempt to lay low as well, telling us he has become more of a homebody these days. “I like staying home … if I go to the gas station people are bugging me, dry cleaners, supermarket people are bugging me.”

Charles was on hand to celebrate the opening of the new resort and casino with guests including Jennifer Garner, Jessica Simpson, Ben Affleck, and Lionel Richie.

A final interesting tidbit, the NBA legend says one of his new favorite singers is Drake!

-Chris Spargo, with reporting by Chloe Melas

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