Personal Life
In 2001, Usher began dating former TLC member Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, who had a child with producer Dallas Austin. Their relationship lasted for two years: they broke up in December 2003, followed by a media frenzy surrounding the personal nature of Usher's fourth album, Confessions. His fans inferred the reason he and Thomas split is due to infidelity on his part, giving allusions to the lyrics of the songs. In an interview on The Bert Show on the Atlanta radio channel Q100 in February 2004, Thomas claimed that Usher cheated on her: "Usher did the ultimate no-no to me....I will never be with him again, and that is that". Usher defended: "...it just didn't work out. But cheating is not what caused the relationship to collide and crash. That ain't what broke it up".
In January 2007, he proposed to his girlfriend Tameka Foster, a stylist. She has a son from when she was a teenager, as well as two sons with Atlanta clothier Ryan Glover. In February 2007, Usher announced their engagement. After the sudden cancellation of a planned July wedding due to medical concerns, the two were wed on August 3, 2007 in a private ceremony. Their son Usher Raymond V was born on November 26 of the same year. On December 10, 2008, Tameka gave birth to their second child, Naviyd Ely Raymond.
In February 2009, in São Paulo, Brazil, Tameka Raymond suffered a cardiac arrest prior to having cosmetic surgery (reportedly liposuction) which was not performed. She was induced into a coma to aid her recovery and was transferred to a larger hospital. Usher cancelled his performance at the Recording Academy and Clive Davis's pre-Grammy Gala. Davis told party-goers the singer had to bow out due to a "serious injury in the family". After a week of recovery, Tameka Raymond's surgeon issued a statement saying that she "is doing very well". In June 2009, Usher filed for divorce from Foster after claiming they lived separately for nearly a year. The couple's divorce was finalized in Fulton County Court November 4, 2009.
The couple went through a very public child custody dispute. Usher is seeking full custody of his two sons from Foster, accusing her of being unstable, inattentive, and irresponsible, while Foster's attorneys have attempted to reveal Usher's philandering ways as the cause of her depression. Foster also accused Usher of being an absentee father who is too busy with his career, she also accused him of using drugs in front of the kids. It was also revealed in open court that Usher had bedded one of the bridesmaids from the couple's 2007 wedding. On August 24, 2012; it was announced that Foster lost the custody battle and that a judge has awarded Usher primary custody of their two sons. The children will be spending the majority of the time with their father, however, Foster still retains some custodial rights—but the extent to which Foster will be able to see her kids is unclear.
On July 8, 2012, Usher's 11-year-old former stepson, Kile Glover, was declared brain dead after being struck by a personal water craft on Lake Lanier the previous day. On July 21, 2012, Glover died of heart failure while on life support.
Read more about this topic: Usher (entertainer)
Famous quotes containing the words personal life, personal and/or life:
“He hadn’t known me fifteen minutes, and yet he was ... ready to talk ... I was still to learn that Munshin, like many people from the capital, could talk openly about his personal life while remaining a dream of espionage in his business operations.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)
“Denouement to denouement, he took a personal pride in the
certain, certain way he lived his own, private life,
but nevertheless, they shut off his gas; nevertheless,
the bank foreclosed; nevertheless, the landlord called;
nevertheless, the radio broke,
And twelve o’clock arrived just once too often,”
—Kenneth Fearing (1902–1961)
“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)