Good news for Good Charlotte frontman Joel Madden and his girlfriend, Nicole Richie -- the couple welcomed their first child, a baby girl, on Friday (January 11). Harlow Winter Kate Madden was born at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, weighing 6 pounds and 7 ounces.

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

Richie, 26, and Madden, 28, started dating in December 2006, shortly after the rocker's relationship with Hilary Duff ended. The adopted daughter of singer Lionel Richie, Nicole had been romantically linked to entrepreneur Brad Salyn and DJ AM prior to dating Madden.

They confirmed in an interview with "Good Morning America" host Diane Sawyer in late July after [article id="1564016"]multiple reports[/article] surfaced earlier that month that the socialite was expecting. "I would really want to be someone my child would look up to," she told Sawyer.

Shortly thereafter, she appeared on "20/20" and, when asked if she was expecting, said, "Yes, I am. We are. I'm almost four months."

The couple are not married, although Madden told Ryan Seacrest on his radio show in mid-September that he had plans to marry Richie. Madden -- who saw his marriage-proposal secret slip after Regis Philbin spilled the beans on his own show -- told Seacrest, "Obviously, marriage is in our future. I don't know when or where or how, but right now our priority is our family and is the baby. That's all we've been thinking about. We are in love and are really happy." He added, "I already went to Target and got a stroller and a playpen."

The good news comes after a rather rough couple of years for Richie, who was arrested for DUI in December 2006 after driving the wrong way on a freeway in Los Angeles. Police say she failed a sobriety test and admitted to having smoked marijuana and taken Vicodin.