Good Charlotte Joe Madden, Nicole Richie Have 'Lots of Therapy' To Make Marriage Work

Joel Madden was up about how his 17-year romance with Nicole Richie has allowed him and her to overcome the hurdles in Hollywood.

The 44-year-old singer of Good Charlotte raved about his partner, the actress, during a guest appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show on Wednesday.

He attributed part of their long-lasting relationship to couples therapy -- lots of it.

"We attend therapy," he grinned, after host Drew Barrymore's praise for Joel and Nicole for 'working on themselves.'

"I know each one of you together and individually," Drew added. "And you do the work."

Joel then butted in with a laugh, "Lots of therapy."

Joel spoke about his "wonderful" wife at other points in the interview, praising her well-known father Lionel Richie and Lionel's ex-wife Brenda Harvey-Richie for "raising [Nicole] with a lot of integrity and a lot of class."

The musician then complimented Nicole on being a fantastic mother to their two kids, 14-year-old Sparrow and 15-year-old daughter Harlow.

"We got lucky with our kids. They're easy,'" he began.

"I always tell my kids, you make it so easy to be a dad. They're just good kids. They really are. They're great. And I think they're like their mom."

"The more you know her, the more you love her," he continued to show off his admiration for the former Simple Life star. Getting to know her takes time. She's just elegant, though.

He also focused on Cameron Diaz, the wife of his twin brother Benji. Regarding Cameron, Drew, and Nicole, he remarked, "I have a lot of respect for women who have had to work in a really tough industry,' he said speaking of Cameron, Drew and Nicole. 'All of you just are are really strong, amazing, powerful women. And I think we're better men because we're around all of you."

In a previous "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" broadcast from 2014, Nicole said that she and Joel "were partners from day one."

"And from the second we found out we were going to be parents together, we looked at each other and we said, 'Okay, both of our parents are divorced. We both have had ups and downs with our parents and we don't really have a strong example of what a healthy family life is,'' she said. 'But, we're recognizing that now, so let's work at it and let's go through this together as a team."