Usher has been doing everything he can to give the best Super Bowl halftime performance that he can, including taking feedback from his children.
On Thursday 8 February’s episode of The Talk, the “My Boo” singer was asked if his four children – 16-year-old Usher “Cinco” V, 15-year-old Naviyd Ely, three-year-old Sovereign Bo, and two-year-old Sire Castrello – would be singing with him on the stage in Las Vegas.
“They will be around,” Usher said. “Maybe for tour, but no,” he added. “I’ve been receiving tons of notes from Naviyd. Usher, he gave me a couple of notes. He gave me a few songs he felt like I should definitely cut, songs I should keep.”
“Sovereign? She actually was too busy shooting videos, you know what I mean?” the musician laughs, referencing his most recent music video, which features his daughter. “She’s a superstar now.”
Although Usher may be famous enough to earn the headline spot at the Super Bowl halftime show, he might be too famous for his kids.
The singer recently spoke with Shannon Sharpe on a podcast episode of Club Shay Shay, where he opened up about some new parenting challenges he has faced after some of them became teenagers.
“My kids – sometimes, they don’t want me to come. They don’t want me to be at their basketball game or their recital, or they wanna be very, very low-key, ‘cause they don’t want that energy,” he told the talk-show host.
“They don’t want: ‘Oh Dad walked into the room and took…’ ” he said as Sharpe added: “All their focus off me.”
Usher continued: “And it’s hard, because I try my hardest to have that empathy, but I wanna be there.”
The “My Boo” singer revealed that there were “countless times” where he’s sat “at the back of the room, quiet” trying to “keep myself as small as possible and be as quiet as I possibly can” to avoid giving himself any attention that should be going to his children.
Usher also discussed the differences between how he was raised compared to his own children.
“That access and that reality that they’re looking at – it gives them some expectation and unfortunately I can’t take it back,” he said. “I walked so that we could ride. And now that you’re riding, I want you to understand the importance of walking.”
The host questioned whether or not his kids could ever be “normal” when they have a “six-car garage” in addition to a “nanny, maid, and chef”.
“That is a harsh reality, which is more the reason why you gotta be harder on them,” the singer replied. “But mindful that their normal is different than our normal … the expectation is actually higher. That’s the one thing that I have empathy for my children.”
He added that he feels particularly bad for his oldest son, who is named after him. “You know, I named my son Usher so every time he’s out, obviously, there’s that pressure,” he said.
Of his overall approach to parenting, Usher shared: “It’s equally important to talk to your kids. If you gonna push ‘em that way, you gotta love on ‘em just as much.”
