Lionel Richie’s Girlfriend Lisa Parigi And His Children Celebrate His 72nd Birthday With Cake In His Image

Jun 23, 2021 by apost team

Father's Day was on June 20, 2021, and this gave people across the world the opportunity to share meaningful photos of their fathers. From the royal family to Hollywood, Father's Day came with a barrage of rare, throwback pictures that have delighted fans. However, it is truly a special day when a father's birthday collides on the same day as Father's Day, and this is exactly what happened to famous musician Lionel Richie!

Lionel's children Sofia, Nicole and Miles joined him in celebrating his day, and both Sofia and Nicole honored their dad on social media in a sweet post. 2021 marked the year that Lionel turned 72 years old, but he certainly does not look 72 in his photos! The ever-youthful Lionel was also joined by his girlfriend Lisa Parigi.

The photos of the celebration show that the birthday cake was created in Lionel's likeness, and it must have been a great celebration to have the whole family together. The world-famous singer certainly deserves to be celebrated for his life, which has been filled with many ups and downs. 

Born in 1949, the singer-songwriter grew up in Tuskegee, Alabama. He found success both as part of the iconic group the Commodores, and later as a solo artist. His work has made it to the top of the billboard multiple times, and he has won several Grammys. Lionel was even a judge on "American Idol" during season 16 in 2018, and continued with this role until 2020. With such a spectacular array of achievements, it is no wonder that Lionel remains a household name even today. 

In the Instagram post for her father, Sofia Richie wrote, "Happy birthday and Happy Father’s Day to my best friend. Proud to call you my dad 🌻"  She tagged Lionel in her post, and uploaded a series of photos and a video for the occasion. The first photo showed Lionel's birthday cake, which looks quite amazing. It is exactly Lionel's likeness and is quite a large confection. The cake has "Happy Birthday Lionel" written on the bottom, and contains only one candle, which is put next to the word "Hello," which is a nod to his iconic song. 

Other photos also consisted of the Richie family taking a selfie in the golden sunlight with a table behind them decorated with festivities, a video of gorgeous fireworks going off in the night sky, and a photo of Lionel dressed in crisp white clothes as he walks across a swimming pool while he holds a drink. Sofia also included some lovely photos on the occasion of her father's birthday to her Instagram stories, in which she included some throwback shots from when she was just a small child. 

Nicole also posted a tribute to her father on Instagram, and captioned it by writing, "We finally found a way for you to take the photo but also be included. Happy Fathers Day & Happy Birthday L-Train!" Many people may not know that Nicole is actually the adopted daughter of Lionel and not his biological child. Daily Mail reported that Lionel legally adopted Nicole, the daughter of one of his bandmates when she was only nine years old after raising her since taking her into his home in 1983.

apost.com

Biography.com reported that Lionel first saw Nicole at a Prince concert in 1983 when she was playing the tambourine alongside the music legend. He attempted to find out more about her and came to know that she was related to singer Sheila Escovedo, better known as Sheila E.

"The beautiful part about it is I realized, 'Oh my god, what a cute little button,'" Lionel told Huffington Post of his first meeting with Nicole. "We played around. Never thought about it again." He did not yet know that he would one day adopt young Nicole. 

When he met Nicole and her family once more in a few weeks, he came to realize that her biological parents were having difficulties in their relationship, and Nicole did not have a stable life due to the constant traveling. "We [were] a little worried that the little kid can’t go on tour because a 2-year-old needs to be stationary — they can’t keep going on the road," Lionel said. 

 Lionel continued, "I don't know how we got into the conversation, 'Well, why don't you just kind of keep the kid here?'" Before the family knew it, two years had passed and Lionel had begun to embrace his role as a father. Though it took a long time for Nicole to trust that Lionel would not abandon her. Lionel said when he was speaking to Nicole, "And as soon as you realized — I think over time — ‘Okay, he's not leaving me. He's just going away to work,’ I think you felt safer." 

Lionel continues to be a celebrated and loved father, and the posts for his birthday show that his family adores him. 

What do you think of the sweet posts that Lionel Richie's daughters uploaded for him? Tell us your thoughts, and be sure to pass this onto others as well.