Recent off a Las Vegas wedding ceremony to his longtime girlfriend, Jenn Goicoechea, over Tremendous Bowl Weekend, Usher is opening up about one in every of his first true loves in a brand new Individuals journal cowl story. The singer, 45, spoke to the journal about his intense romance with TLC’s Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, whom the “Yeah!” singer met when he moved to Atlanta from his house in Chattanooga, TN as a teen.
Describing himself as somebody who “was all the time charming the older girls,” Usher mentioned he was smitten when he met Chilli, now 53, who was seven years older than him after they started courting in 2001. “If I’m to be trustworthy, I used to be her No. 1 fan, and he or she was my celebrity,” he mentioned, including that he had Chilli’s poster on the wall of his childhood bed room when he was eight-years-old.
“[I] mentioned, ‘Man that woman is so lovely. In the future I’m going to satisfy her,’” he recalled saying on the time. And although assembly the lady of his goals and starting a relationship together with her was magical, Usher mentioned the affair in the end fizzled due to differing priorities. “I used to be a younger man, and he or she had very particular guidelines that didn’t work for me,” he instructed Individuals of the singer who starred within the movies for Usher’s hits “U Remind Me,” “U Bought it Unhealthy” and “U Don’t Need to Name.”
“We had been lacking one another. I actually did wish to have a unique kind of relationship the place she was there with me, and he or she couldn’t be,” mentioned Usher, who wowed the gang at Allegiant Stadium in Vegas throughout Sunday’s Tremendous Bowl LVIII halftime present. “She didn’t consider that I used to be truly in love together with her as a lot as I used to be.”
Regardless of the difficulties, Usher mentioned his plan to marry Chilli went sideways. “I proposed and he or she instructed me no. I went by way of a substantial amount of ache after that, not trusting girls or desirous to open up,” Usher mentioned. “I harm her too,” he added, noting that the cut up additionally “broke my coronary heart.”
Usher, now married for a 3rd time, and Chilli — who started courting actor Matthew Lawrence in 2022 — reportedly remained pleasant after their cut up; Chilli beforehand instructed Individuals that they had been on-and-off for years after the break-up, reconnecting after they weren’t courting different individuals. However Usher instructed the magazine that when it ended, he was achieved for good.
“We had been cool with one another, however I used to be very cautious with that,” he mentioned. “I actually did love that woman, and I used to be like, I don’t wish to play with you. Like, ‘I can’t offer you what I gave you. I did every little thing that I believed you’d’ve wished me to do, however I assume my good wasn’t nice sufficient.’” However, he famous, nowadays the 2 are “cool with one another” and it’s “all the time gentle” after they see one another.
Usher dropped his new album, Coming Residence, final week. The 20-track assortment boasts visitor spots from BTS’ Jung Kook, Burna Boy, H.E.R. and extra, and is predicted to compete with Kanye West’s Vultures for the highest spot on the Billboard 200 subsequent week.
