Although season 23 of American Idol doesn’t kick off until early 2025, the show made headlines when Carrie Underwood was announced as the newest judge. While Katy Perry spent years with the show, she decided to leave to explore her own career in music. And with Underwood a former winner of American Idol, the singer is sure to feel right at home. Joining Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, the Motown singer recently shared his thoughts on Underwood taking a seat at the table.
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While attending a showing of The Greatest Night in Pop at the Grammy Museum, Richie stopped to talk to E! News about the upcoming season of American Idol. With Underwood a main topic of discussion, Richie said, “It makes a lot of sense. It’s not someone we have to get used to. And the fact that she has a great story, she came from American Idol.”
As for his own thoughts surrounding Underwood, Richie continued, “What a great judge. Now we don’t have to explain anymore, ‘We know how you feel.’ As artists, we know how you feel, but we’ve never been in that oval that says, ‘American Idol.’ She’s been there, done that.”
Lionel Richie Welcomes Carrie Underwood To The “Ham Sandwich Squad”
With Richie wanting Underwood to feel right at home alongside him and Bryan, the hitmaker decided to offer the country singer some advice. “Just be a ham sandwich like the two of us.” While finding humor in the name, he added, “Welcome to the ham sandwich squad.” Now, if only Underwood would bring ham sandwiches on her first day on American Idol.
Besides looking forward to getting back to American Idol and helping aspiring artists achieve their dreams, Richie promised fans an amazing season. “It’s gonna be an amazing show. Probably for the first five or six shows, to see her face and see how she deals with Uncle Luke sitting next to her, saying anything on his mind. I’m gonna love it, I’m loving it.”
While sharing her own thoughts about being a part of American Idol again, Underwood said, “There’s so many people that still work on the show that were there when I was a contestant. And I feel like being on both sides of the coin I’ll be hopefully able to offer some insight.”
As for words of wisdom for Underwood, Richie kept it simple during a recent conversation with Fox News Digital—be herself.
“There’s only one Katy… let me just make that statement clear,” Richie said. “I want Carrie to come in and find her person out there, her person. I’m very happy they got Carrie, because… we want someone who is going to bring their light to the table.”
(Photo by Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
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