{"id":4011,"date":"2026-09-26T13:43:04","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T13:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=4011"},"modified":"2026-09-26T13:43:04","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T13:43:04","slug":"lionel-richie-returns-to-american-idol-judging-panel-after-heart-procedure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/26\/lionel-richie-returns-to-american-idol-judging-panel-after-heart-procedure\/entertainment\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Richie returns to American Idol judging panel after heart procedure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"678\" height=\"452\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/images-2-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4012\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/images-2-7.jpg 678w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/images-2-7-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lionel Richie will return as a judge on <em>American Idol<\/em> for its 25th season after recently undergoing a heart procedure, ending uncertainty over his future on the popular singing competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 77-year-old singer confirmed his return during a virtual appearance at Luke Bryan\u2019s concert in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Richie joined Bryan and Carrie Underwood, who were appearing together on stage, and asked whether they were ready to reveal their \u201csecret.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bryan then announced to the crowd that the three judges would return for the show\u2019s 25th season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The announcement was later confirmed by ABC on Instagram, with the network saying Richie, Bryan, Underwood and host Ryan Seacrest would all return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"452\" height=\"678\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/images-3-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/images-3-6.jpg 452w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/images-3-6-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 452px) 100vw, 452px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Richie\u2019s participation had been uncertain after his representative confirmed that the singer had recently undergone a heart procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The veteran musician and Bryan have served as judges since 2018. Underwood joined the panel in 2025, taking over from Katy Perry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Richie has been a prominent figure on the show for much of its recent run and is known for bringing decades of experience in music to the judging panel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new season is scheduled to air in 2027, with Seacrest continuing as host.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Richie\u2019s return means the current judging lineup will remain intact as the program enters its milestone 25th season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lionel Richie will return as a judge on American Idol for its 25th season after recently undergoing a heart procedure, ending uncertainty over his future [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,28,36,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current_affairs","category-entertainment","category-international","category-top_stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4011"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4014,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4011\/revisions\/4014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}