Nicole Richie Biography:

Nicole Camille Escovedo was born in Berkeley, California, on September 21, 1981. Her natural parents were Peter Michael Escovedo, a component of Lionel Richie's band and brother to 190's music drummer Sheila E., and an unidentified backstage work hand.

At the age of three, for economic reasons, Nicole moved in with her father's band mate and friend Lionel and his wife Brenda Harvey-Richie. Six years later, Richie publicly adopted Nicole and she became Nicole Richie.

There are loads of perks to being brought up in the rich Hollywood culture and industry circles. Nicole's early youth was spent at Los Angeles' prominent Buckley School, where she met and became best friends with Paris Hilton, one of the heirs to the Hilton Hotel family empire.

But wealth often drives one into the fast lane and the over zealous Hollywood temptations and excessive hard living that accompany it, and as a sexy young teen Nicole began partying hard and using drugs and alcohol. After her high school graduation in 2000, she decided to try and put the drugs, sex and alcohol behind her and attend college.

She enlisted in the University of Arizona, the same University as professional basketball player Luke Walton and actress Heather Blair. Nicole decided after only two years that college was not for her and dropped out and returned home.

At this time, with the experiences of her younger days still clear in her mind, Nicole decided to try her hand at becoming a musician and rock star. She started the rock-pop band "Darling" with prominent super model Josie Maran and socialite siblings Soleil and Sofia Alberti.

On her own and off the leash, Nicole was never able to break out of the pattern of her teenage years of drug and alcohol abuse. In February 2003, the police stopped her in Malibu where she was interrogated and later determined she was operating a motor vehicle with a suspended drivers license. After searching her Mercedes-Benz, police found heroin in the vehicle and Nicole Richie was instantly arrested for possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia. She later pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to probation and ordered into a drug rehab program.

Nicole Richie Lives The Simple Life

Nicole was first hired for the television series "The Simple Life" as a substitution for Paris Hilton's' sister Nicky, who was negotiating by FOX executives, but was not interested in working on the project. The television series was first broadcast in December of 2003 and was a smash hit with the young teenage crowd, and was sufficient to give the green light to two sequels: "The Simple Life 2: Road Trip" and "The Simple Life 3: Interns".

The recognition that "The Simple Life" gained her permitted Nicole to try her talent at other television projects. She made guest appearances on such shows as "Eve" (starring rapper Eve), Ashton Kutcher's "Punk'd", "Rock Me Baby", and "MAD TV". She was cast next to Julie Bowen in "Kids In America", and is still working on her music and attempting another break into the music industry.

Living drug free in Los Angeles, Nicole has been romantically connected to Elijah Blue Allman and in February 2005, it was reported that she was engaged to disc jockey Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein. In 2007 Nichole announced she was pregnant. Her baby is expected during early 2008.

News Update:

Harlow Winter Kate Madden was born Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, weighing in at 6 pounds, 7 ounces. It is the first child for Richie, 26, and Joel Madden, 28, the lead singer of pop-punk band Good Charlotte.

"The beautiful healthy baby girl left the hospital with her ecstatic parents," the couple's rep at Handprint Entertainment told People magazine.

Richie and Madden have been dating for a little over a year. After widespread speculation about the Simple Life star's swelling figure last summer, they confirmed they were expecting a new baby during an August interview with Diane Sawyer.