Lionel Richie Maps His 3 Children: Nicole, Miles and Sofia
lionel richie has three children: Nicole Richie, Miles Brockman Richie, and Sofia Richie Grainge. The family map runs through two marriages, one adoption, and a public life that made Nicole the best-known of the three.
Nicole was born on Sept. 21, 1981, to Karen Moss and Peter Michael Escovedo, the brother of Sheila E. Richie and Brenda Harvey-Richie began caring for her when she was 3 years old and officially adopted her when she was 9.
Brenda Harvey-Richie and Nicole
Richie and Brenda Harvey-Richie married on Oct. 18, 1975, after meeting as college sweethearts. He filed for divorce in 1988, and their split was finalized in 1993, long after they had already taken Nicole into their home and made her part of the family.
Richie later said, “Nicole was actually a godsend. She was a little girl who needed a shot.” He also recalled, “Nicole came to me one day and she said, 'Dad, why do you think I'm lying?' I said, 'Nicole, it's the same lie I told my mom and dad.'”
Diane Alexander and two younger kids
Richie married Diane Alexander on Dec. 21, 1995, after they began secretly dating in 1986. Alexander appeared as a dancer in his “Dancing on the Ceiling” music video, and the pair later welcomed Miles in 1994 and Sofia in 1998.
Miles and Sofia make the family structure unusually clear: one adopted daughter who became a public figure on her own, and two younger children from Richie’s second marriage. Nicole later moved from reality TV on The Simple Life to roles on Chuck, Great News and Grace and Frankie, and she founded House of Harlow 1960 in 2008. For readers tracing the family tree, that is the practical answer: three children, two marriages, and one adoption at the center of Lionel Richie’s home life.
