After nearly seven seasons at the judge’s panel alongside Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, Katy Perry announced she’s likely leaving American Idol at the conclusion of season 22.
With a few days to process the pop star’s decision, Richie is now weighing in on what he thinks about her departure after working side-by-side since the reality competition show rebooted on ABC for season 16 in 2018.
‘I’m not mad,’ the Stuck On You crooner said during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday, before joking, ‘It just made me run off the road when I first heard about it.’
He would go on to add, ‘My phone blew up,’ when Perry’s announcement was made public, before revealing he was not told the news ahead of time.
Riche, 74, went on to share how he completely understands why she would want to leave, considering she’s only 39 and still has a lot more story to tell from within the songwriting and performing lexicon.
Lionel Richie, 74, says he’s ‘not mad’ that Katy Perry is leaving American Idol following the ongoing season 22 because she’s only 39 and has a lot more ‘story to tell’ as a pop star
‘I’m not mad,’ the Stuck On You crooner said during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday, before joking, ‘It just made me run off the road when I first heard about it’
‘No, we didn’t know about it, but it makes sense,’ the All Night Long star said of Perry’s announcement on Kimmel’s talk show on Monday.
He continued. ‘In other words: the reason I love coming on the show with you and the reason I’m doing American Idol is because I have 400 years of stories and a life in the music business. I have things that I’ve done.’
After referencing the experience needed to be able to be a believable and knowledgable judge, Richie reiterated that gets why it’s time for her to leave and be a pop star once again.
‘And so when Katy says, “I want to go and create some stories,” remember, she’s young. But the point is that you have to take some time and actually be an artist.’
Perry is walking away from a huge salary that pays her a whopping $25 million a season, according to a number of publication, including Taste Of Country.
That makes her the second-highest paid judge in the history of the franchise, second only to Simon Cowell, whose deal has paid him $36 million.
Her current colleagues earn a nice payday but it’s significantly less, with Richie reportedly making $10 million a season and Bryan $12 million
In fact, Perry’s $25 million, which is due to her huge popularity with fans, is more than such other big stars who have graced the judge’s panel such as Jennifer Lopez ($17.5 million) and Marian Carey ($18 million).
Riche says he completely understands why Perry would want to leave, considering she’s only 39 and still has a lot more story to tell from within the songwriting and performing lexicon
The Firework star is leaving behind a $25 million a season payday for American Idol
Richie maintains he has no idea who will be replacement for the Firework star, although there’s has already been talk of Miley Cyrus being the choice of some bosses.
No matter who gets the job, the Hello singer-songwriter thinks that person will need to come in with plenty of there own stories to tell.
‘I’m telling you something, this is a great show,’ the Tuskegee, Alabama native. ‘And what I love most of all is that we’re artists, so we know what we’re talking about, and these kids are scared to death, so I love sitting there as the wise poo-bahs, the three of us, and we’re sitting there and we’re all kind of giving information that we know is real.”
He followed up, ‘So whoever’s coming on the show has got to be, well, to come past Katy, you’ve gotta be humorous forever, and, on top of that, knowledgeable,’ the Tuskegee, Alabama native said.
As for Perry herself, the songstress says she plans ‘to go and see the world and maybe bring new music’ along the way, but she left the door open for potential return to American Idol in the future.