Friday, 15 December 2006

Quincy Jones: Nicole is 'caught up in hoopla'

The family friend says he blames Richie's problems on the pressures of success

Music giant Quincy Jones hasn't spoken to his friend Lionel Richie's daughter Nicole since her arrest Monday morning, but he blames her troubles on the pressures of being in the public eye.

"You get caught up in the peer pressure and the hoopla – it's a media frenzy. It's insane. Success doesn't help," Jones, 73, told PEOPLE Thursday at a benefit performance of the Debbie Allen Dance Academy's new musical, The Bayou Legend, in Los Angeles. "Processing success is a major, major, major process."

Jones, who has seven kids – six of them daughters – added, "I try to tell the young kids there are two cardinal rules: You should approach creativity with humility and have your success with grace. It's a gift from God. You don't deserve it. You are a vehicle of a higher power. Don't abuse it."

Richie, 25, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and told officers she had smoked marijuana and taken Vicodin, police said.

But Jones remembers a time when life really was simpler for the Simple Life star. "I adore Nicole," he said. "I've known her since she was a baby. She's a very smart girl. When she was younger she worked eight hours a day for eight years to become an Olympic figure skater. She's a very talented girl."