Lionel Richie and his girlfriend of a decade are still going strong.
The “All Night Long” singer and 34-year-old Lisa Parigi were photographed by paparazzi back in May after stepping out in Los Angeles for a bite to eat.
It was a casual night for the couple as Richie, 74, was spotted wearing a black shirt and jacket and jeans while his lady sported a white crop top, a denim jacket and black pants. Both individuals wore sneakers – Richie in a yellow pair and Parigi wearing white.
Fans expressed their disdain for the “American Idol” judge and Parigi’s drastic age difference in the Daily Mail’s comment section.
One person wrote, “I love Lionel, but the Age gap here is gr0tesque.”
Someone else said, “40 years age difference, you’ve got to be joking. I don’t care who the man is, that’s just repulsive. Wasting her youth in hopes for some dollar bills. Disgusting.”
“He was 40 years old when she was born. Amazing,” revealed another.
Lionel Richie, 74, and girlfriend Lisa Parigi, 34, enjoy dinner date in Los Angeles https://t.co/pi3WTmGldn pic.twitter.com/CSYz9oInBf
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) May 1, 2024
A fourth person said, “This young girl doesn’t care that he is old enough to be her grandpa. She wouldn’t look twice at him if he was jo shmo from next door.”
Despite fans’ clear disapproval of Richie and Parigi’s romance, that isn’t stopping their relationship from thriving.
Parigi is originally from Switzerland and, right before meeting Richie, she decided to take time off from working for a tech company to travel. She went to Los Angeles to get away from the “depressing” weather in Switzerland and while there she met Richie.
A mutual friend invited her to dinner one night and the “Easy Like Sunday Morning” singer happened to be at that same dinner.
“So here I am at this dinner, he was at the same dinner, we get introduced to each other, and it was, what can I tell you, it was very organic and very random,” she stated in a 2022 Harper’s Bazaar interview, “but we had great conversations, we spoke all night long about everything, and yet it was, you know, the universe, I don’t know, here we are. And it’s been beautiful so far, and what can I say.”
Richie, who has a net worth of $200 million, has previously been married two times and had three children from those relationships. But the feelings are mutual as he gushed about his relationship with Parigi in a separate interview.
“I’m a hopeless romantic,” he told People magazine in 2019. “She’s extremely beautiful, but most importantly she’s smart and helps me deal with my crazy world.”
And one way that Parigi shows up for Richie in his “crazy world” is by giving him a sense of security. Her hobbies include accompanying her longtime boyfriend on his worldwide tours around the world watching him perform her favorite songs such as “Endless Love” and “Stuck On You.”
“At this time in my life when you can be so jaded about things, [my girlfriend] Lisa kind of makes everything feel a bit safe,” said Richie.
Parigi is currently the CEO and founder of a lifestyle brand called The Estate Collection and her skincare company, Glow Up Beauty. Richie will resume tour dates after Christmas.
