Lionel Richie to Be 'American Idol' Judge With Luke Bryan, Katy Perry

ABC has confirmed that Lionel Richie will be a judge on the "American Idol" reboot. The network also made it official that country singer Luke Bryan will be on the judges' panel after the news leaked last week. The third judge will be Katy Perry, as previously announced as far back as May.

Insiders have been reporting for months that Richie would be a judge on the new "American Idol." But Variety only confirmed the reports on Friday. Richie has officially come onboard just a few days before "American Idol" is scheduled to begin its live auditions on October 3.

Ryan Seacrest is set to reprise his role of "American Idol" host on the revamped reality competition. The show will be airing on ABC in spring after spending 15 seasons on Fox. "ABC is the right home to reignite the fan base," said Channing Dungey, president of ABC Entertainment, according to Billboard.

For years, ABC tried to develop its own successful talent competition show to compete with the Fox rating juggernaut. But its efforts "Rising Stars" and "Duets" failed to attract a sizable audience. "American Idol" on Fox did tumble in the ratings in its later seasons, but still averaged a 3.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic on its fifteenth outing.

Richie is a five-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter with many hits to his name, such as "All Night Long" and "Hello." He expressed his enthusiasm about lending his extensive experience to the show in a press statement, reports Rolling Stone. "I am very excited to be joining Katy, Luke, and Ryan on American Idol," said Richie. "It's going to be so much fun!"

Bryan is an award-winning country singer whose last album "Kill the Lights" came out in 2015. It produced two hit songs, "Kick the Dust Up" and "Strip It Down."