Usher has fans around the world seeking tickets to his concerts, but that doesn’t mean he has an easy time getting a front-row seat at one of his kids’ events.
During an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of the “Club Shay Shay” podcast, the singer told host Shannon Sharpe that his teenage sons aren’t always happy about him attending their games or shows. He said they sometimes would rather be “low-key.”
“My kids, sometimes, they don’t want me to come. They don’t want me to be at that basketball game or their recital,” he said. “They want to be very, very low-key because they don’t want that energy.”
The “U Don’t Have to Call” singer said that he empathizes with his kids wanting him to keep a low profile but that it’s difficult for him since he wants to be at their events.
He said there were “countless” times where he sat in the back of a room at their functions, and that he’d make himself “as small as possible.”
Usher shares sons Usher “Cinco” V, 16, and Naviyd Ely, 15, with his ex-wife, Tameka Foster. He is also dad to daughter Sovereign Bo, 3, and son Sire Castrello, 2, whom he shares with his current girlfriend, Jennifer Goicoechea.
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Elsewhere on “Club Shay Shay,” the singer discussed the importance of talking to his kids, loving on them and keeping them grounded: “I walked so that we could ride, and now that you’re riding, I want you to understand the importance of walking.”
In November, the “Nice & Slow” singer wrote a sweet tribute to Cinco in an Instagram post celebrating of the teen’s 16th birthday.
He shared a video that showed him shouting out his son while onstage during one of his Las Vegas concerts, and another video that captured clips from Cinco’s lavish 16th birthday party, which looked anything but low-key.
Usher is set to perform the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 11. He discussed his journey to the performance on HuffPost’s podcast “I Know That’s Right” in November, saying that his show will celebrate his 30-year music career.
“I’ll be celebrating because music has been this connective tissue between me and people, because for every experience that I’ve had, I put it into music and maybe that gave us something to cry to, that gave us something to be vulnerable and transparent to,” he said.