Fresh off a Las Vegas wedding to longtime girlfriend Jenn Goicoechea over Super Bowl Weekend this year, Usher opens up about one of his first true loves in a new People magazine cover. The singer, 45, opened up to the magazine about his torrid romance with TLC's Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, whose “Yeah!” The singer met when he moved to Atlanta from his home in Chattanooga, TN as a teenager.
Describing himself as someone who had 'always been attracted to older ladies', Usher said he was shocked when he met Chilli, now 53, who was seven years his senior when they started dating in 2001. 'If I'm honest, it was her No. 1 fan and he was my superstar,” he said, adding that he had Chili's poster on his childhood bedroom wall when he was eight.
“[I] he said, “Man this girl is so pretty. One day I will go to meet her,” he remembers saying at the time. And although meeting the woman of his dreams and starting a relationship with her was magical, Usher said that the relationship eventually ended due to different priorities. “I was a young man and he had very specific rules that didn't work for me,” he said People of the singer who starred in the videos for Usher's hits “U Remind Me,” “U Got it Bad” and “U Don't Have to Call.”
“We missed each other. I really wanted to have a different type of relationship where he was there with me, and it couldn't be,” said Usher, who wowed the crowd at Allegiant Stadium in Vegas during Sunday's halftime performance at Super Bowl LVIII. “She didn't think I was really in love with her as much as I was.”
Despite the difficulties, Usher said his plan to marry Chilli went awry. “I proposed and she said no. I went through a lot of pain after that, not trusting women or wanting to open up,” Usher said. “I hurt her too,” he added, noting that the breakup “broke my heart.”
Usher, now married for the third time, and Chilli – who started dating actor Matthew Lawrence in 2022 – have reportedly remained friendly since their split. Chili said before People that they were on and off for years after the breakup, reconnecting when they weren't dating other people. But Usher told the magician that when it was over, it was over for good.
“We were cool with each other, but I was very careful about it,” he said. “I really loved that girl and I didn't want to play with you. Like, “I can't give you what I gave you. I did what I thought you'd want me to do, but I guess my good wasn't good enough.” But, she noted, these days the two are “cool with each other” and it's “always light” when they see each other.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/usher-talks-pain-tlc-chilli-reject-marriage-proposal-1235608423/