Lionel Richie Teases ‘American Idol’ Reboot Premiere; Sofia Richie Congratulates Dad

Lionel Richie has just been tapped as judge of “American Idol” reboot and already he has starred in a teaser for the upcoming reality TV competition.

On his Instagram account, the award-winning singer and music producer expressed his excitement over working with Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Ryan Seacrest. He also teased the premiere of the ABC show in 2018.

A day earlier, Richie’s daughter, Sofia, couldn’t help but express how proud she is of her dad for being chosen to judge in “American Idol” reboot. On her Instagram account, Sofia posted a black and white photo of her dad wearing a leather jacket, black shirt and dark sunglasses. In her caption, Sofia called her dad a “true American idol.”

Richie’s involvement in “American Idol” reboot was announced just a week after reports swirled that country singer Luke Bryan has been tapped to join the judges’ panel. A couple of months ago, Katy Perry signed on as the first judge of the reboot.

At that time, Variety reported that “American Idol” and ABC will be paying the “Dark Horse” singer a huge sum of money just so she will accept the gig. The publication noted that Perry is being offered $25 million, but it’s possible that she will be receiving more.

Ryan Seacrest, who was also asked to return as host, was offered only $10 million. But he decided to accept the hosting job because he has been with “American Idol” since its inception when it was still on Fox.

Meanwhile, before the judges’ panel for the upcoming reboot was finalized, there were rumors that Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson could all return either as judges or as mentors. Abdul expressed her desire to return, but the same cannot be said about Cowell.

While speaking with Extra, he said, “You can’t go back! We had the best times when we did it. You can’t recreate what we had before, you know, it was me and it was Paula and Randy and Ryan and it was an amazing chemistry there. When I hear all this talk about casting judges, I have to be honest with you, I think this is where they have it wrong. It doesn’t matter about the judges, it is about the contestants…” he said.