\n<\/p>\n
Nicole Richie<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0rocketed to fame in the early aughts as a Hollywood party girl then a reality star on\u00a0The Simple Life<\/em>. Years later, fans became familiar with her younger sister, model\u00a0Sofia Richie<\/b><\/a>.\u00a0Keep reading to find out how the pair are related<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Sofia is music superstar\u00a0Lionel Richi<\/strong>e<\/b><\/a>\u2018s daughter with second wife\u00a0Diane Alexander<\/strong>. The pair married in 1995 and divorced in 2004, while welcoming Sofia on August 24, 1998. Lionel and Diane share another child, Sofia\u2019s older brother, Miles, who was born in 1994.<\/p>\n Nicole was officially adopted by Lionel<\/a> and his first wife,\u00a0Brenda Harvey<\/strong>, when she was 9 years old, although the \u201cAll Night Long\u201d hitmaker had known her since she was a small child. Her biological father is musician\u00a0Peter Escovedo<\/strong> and her mother is\u00a0Karen Moss<\/strong>, who worked as an assistant for Peter\u2019s sister, singer\/drummer\u00a0Sheila E<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Lionel first saw Nicole when she was a 2-year-old playing the tambourine at a 1983 Prince concert. \u201cThe beautiful part about it is I realized, \u2018Oh my god, what a cute little button,\u2019\u201d Lionel told Huffington Post<\/a><\/em>. \u201cWe played around. Never thought about it again.\u201d A few weeks later he saw Nicole again, then known as Nicole Camille Escovedo, and thought,\u00a0 \u201cWe [were] a little worried that the little kid can\u2019t go on tour because a 2-year-old needs to be stationary \u2014 they can\u2019t keep going on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n Nicole\u2019s parents began having problems that only got worse, and Lionel and Brenda thought it was time to step in and help with the little girl they\u2019d grown to love. They became her legal guardians and Lionel wrote his 1986 song \u201cBallerina Girl\u201d about Nicole.<\/p>\n \u201cNicole was actually a godsend. She was a little girl who needed a shot,\u201d Lionel told\u00a0People<\/i><\/a>\u00a0in February 2022. \u201cShe was used to people coming and going. She looked at me and I\u2019d say, \u2018I\u2019m not going anywhere.’\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo it took about maybe a year for me to just fall in love and she was a little button, and of course by that time I was Dad,\u201d he told\u00a0Piers Morgan<\/strong>\u00a02015 interview. \u201cSo I said, \u2018Okay, here is what we are going to do: You\u2019re going to make everyone wish that they had adopted you. You are going to make everyone in your family wish they actually had a chance to get you back,\u2019 and that\u2019s when I said, \u2018Let\u2019s adopt her.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Lionel and Brenda formally adopted Nicole, who took on the surname \u201cRichie,\u201d before they divorced in 1993. She would become Lionel\u2019s first child before he later welcomed Miles and Sofia.<\/p>\n Despite a 17-year age gap, the sisters are close but they do lead somewhat separate lives as Nicole was nearly an adult when her little sister was born.\u00a0Nicole\u00a0was on hand<\/a>\u00a0for Sofia\u2019s engagement to\u00a0Elliot Grainge<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in April 2022 when the music executive proposed in Hawaii<\/a>\u00a0and was one of the select guests at the Frankies Bikinis model\u2019s lavish bachelorette party in Paris in October 2022, where they wore some NSFW headbands in a selfie together. Nicole will also be there when Sofia weds Elliot<\/a> in the South of France in April 2023.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nHow Are Sofia Richie and Nicole Richie Related?<\/h2>\n
How Did Nicole Get Adopted by Lionel Richie?<\/h2>\n
How Close Are Sofia and Nicole Richie?<\/h2>\n