Nicole Ritchie was born in Berkeley, California on the September 21, 1981.  Nicole Ritchie is the adopted daughter of world-famous former Commodore’s front man, Lionel Richie and his wife, Brenda Harvey.  Nicole is listed commonly as an actress, author, socialite and singer.  She is best known for her role in the hit reality show The Simple Life, in which she and fellow ‘it’ girl Paris Hilton pit their wits against tasks endured by more everyday American citizens.  The show, which is made by Fox, brought Nicole Ritchie to a level of stardom which she had never experienced.

Being adopted, Nicole Ritchie once stated that she will never reveal the identity of her biological parents "for confidentiality reasons," but she has openly admitted that they were friends of Lionel Richie.  Though she was not formally adopted until she was nine, she was raised as Lionel’s daughter since she was two.  When she was three years old, Nicole began the therapy which she continued throughout her childhood.

Nicole Ritchie has said that when Lionel's affair with another woman became public knowledge and he and Brenda divorced, “Their way of making me happy was to say yes to everything I wanted”.  This attitude has left Nicole labeled as a spoilt princess by her critics and a product of a broken childhood by sympathizers and fans.  Nicole Ritchie has one godmother, Nancy Davis, and her godfathers are the now-deceased superstar, Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones.

Nicole Ritchie is an accomplished figure skater and she studied several instruments including the guitar, violin, cello, and classical piano.  She has been friends with Paris Hilton, heriess to the Hilton Hotel empire since meeting her at kindergarten in 1986.  But it was not until 2003, that Nicole Ritchie and Paris Hilton skyrocketed to global fame in The Simple Life.  By that point, Nicole had studied at the University of Arizona.

Between Season 2 and 3 of the show, Nicole Ritchie and Paris Hilton would have to travel throughout the Southern States in a pink pickup and perform a series of menial and manual tasks in exchange for money for accommodation, food and gas to get back to their beloved Hollywood.  Before Season 4, the show would be dropped by Fox and picked up by E! network and it continued to flourish though the friendship was wearing thin. 

Aside from this, Nicole Ritchie has written a bestseller; a semi-autobiographical novel called The Truth About Diamonds.  The novel is based on Nicol’s life as an adopted daughter of a famous pop-star.  In January 2006, The Truth About Diamonds reached number #32 in prestigious New York Times Bestseller List.

Having battled with an eating disorder, drugs charges and the breakup of her friendship with Paris, Nicole Ritchie should consider herself lucky to be a successful mother of two children, Harlow Winter Kate Madden and Sparrow James Midnight Madden.  Their father, Joel Madden, is the lead singer of the popular pop punk band Good Charlotte.  She’s surely Dancing on the Ceiling of her father’s career though and we’ll just have to watch this space for future books, shows and clothing lines!