Usher tore down the TV ratings this past weekend when he headlined the Super Bowl with a show-stopping performance, and secretly married his long time girlfriend Jennifer Goicoechea in Las Vegas.
However, the R&B superstar decided to dive into his past and touched on his previous relationship with the ‘C’ of TLC, Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, whom he dated from 2001 to 2004.
In a cover story he did with PEOPLE magazine, Usher said, “If I am to be honest, I was her No. 1 fan, and she was my superstar. At the age of 8, I put her poster on my wall and said, ‘Man that girl is so beautiful. One day I’m going to meet her.’”
Explaining why the relationship with Chilli didn’t work out, he admits, “I was a young man, and she had very specific rules that didn’t work for me,” he says. “We were missing each other. I really did want to have a different type of relationship where she was there with me, and she couldn’t be. She didn’t believe that I was actually in love with her as much as I was.”
Usher then stuns readers with his admission, saying, “I wanted to marry her. I proposed, and she told me no. I went through a great deal of pain after that, not trusting women or wanting to open up.” He admits, “I hurt her too,” but the situation “broke my heart.”
Chilli and Usher (2003)
Of course, the media would expect a response from Chilli after Usher’s recent revelations. However, a spokesperson for Chilli has informed TMZ that Chilli is far too occupied with her current beau of 2 years, Matthew Lawrence, to be focused on anything that is going on in the press.
Chilli was in fact spending some quality time at the Sandals resort in Jamaica with Matthew, celebrating his 44th birthday.
“More importantly,” TMZ states, “[Chilli’s] mind is a world away from all this Usher stuff. Speaking of which, our sources tell us that Chilli, generally, takes marriage very seriously … and she’s not just going to hop into a commitment like that until she’s totally convinced she and her partner are both ready for marriage.”
Chilli with boyfriend Matthew Lawrence (2023)Usher with wife Jennifer Goicoechea (2024)
Time is a healer, after all. And Usher seems to have finally moved on. These days, “I’m not hurt over that at all,” Usher says of him and Chilli not working out. “We’ve since become cool with each other, celebrate each other and it’s always light when we see each other.”
After the success of their first 90s Con appearance in 2022, TLC are making an exclusive return to this years event in Tampa, FL!
T-Boz and Chilli will be showing up to celebrate their legacy with fans at the Tampa Convention Center on the weekend of September 16 & 17, 2023.
TLC had the opportunity to reunite with members of super boy groups *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys at last years event. The ladies later took part in a panel with the guys where they gifted fans with an acapella of the TLC classic, “Waterfalls“!
TLC with BSB’s Nick & AJ (2022) Nick Cinea Photography TLC at 90s Con 2022
90s Con will hold a very special place in Chilli’s heart, as it was there that she initially met her soul mate, Matthew Lawrence, in passing as they both were in attendance at the event!
Tickets are still available for the 90s Con 2023 event this weekend, but photo ops are very limited!
A group photo combo opportunity with TLC, Joey Fatone of *NSYNC and Nick Carter, AJ McLean and Howie Dorough of Backstreet Boys will cost you $355 on both days.
Photo ops solely with TLC will cost you $150 on both days. However, only a handful of these tickets are left for Saturday. More tickets are available for the Sunday session. TLC’s session begins at 3:15PM on both days.
Photo Op tickets can be purchased here. Please remember you will also need entrance tickets to the event, which can be purchased here. (Saturday pass tickets are sold out).
Have a great time if you are able to attend the event! Check out last year’s awesome “Waterfalls” acapella performance!
Update: Check out some highlights from the 2O23 90s Con event below:
Carl with TLCLuigi with ChilliCarrie Tenney with TLC & Left Eye tribute photoTLC on the 90s Con music panel TLC with Nick Carter and AJ McLean (Backstreet Boys) & Joey Fatone (*Nsync)TLC pose in the KITT car used in ‘Knight Rider‘Luigi with TLC Carl with T-BozJimmy with TLC
TLC were special guests at the iHeartRadio Music Awards 2023 last night at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, where they were there to introduce Latto to the stage to put on a phenomenal performance.
During the red carpet press before the awards ceremony, T-Boz and Chilli spoke to numerous media outlets about their excitement being at the ceremony as well as touching on details of what they are doing in their careers this year. “It’s always exciting to see your peers and the new one’s coming up”, Chilli told Billboard.
T-Boz still keeps her ears locked to the music scene for the latest talent, and she approves of the upcoming girl group FLO from the UK. “I like them, I just didn’t know that was their name”, T-Boz admits after hearing that the group recently dropped a new single, “Fly Girl” featuring Missy Elliott.
TLC with Lenny Kravitz at the iHeartRadio Music Awards 2023
When Extra asked Chilli about how her relationship is going with her boyfriend Matthew Lawrence, she gushed with a big smile, so T-Boz stepped in to answer on her behalf. “It’s been great!”, T-Boz exclaims. Chilli adds, “Amazing!” before letting T-Boz continue explaining.
“I’m living vicariously through her. It’s been great, and I’ve never seen her like this, and I’ve been there for 31 years!”, T-Boz states. “I’ve seen it all, honey. We’ve been through life together”. Chilli co-signs with her TLC sister and says, “Yes! She’s seen it all, and we’re still going through it. But I am so happy, I don’t even know what to do with myself. But he is the best — for me, anyway!”
Earlier this month, Chilli clarified her thoughts about the headlines when Matthew stated that he wanted to start a family with her one day. Speaking about the topic on the Ryan Cameron Uncensored radio show, Chilli said, “You never know. I would never say that [I’m done] — I gotta be married for sure … and I’m not married, yet”.
Matthew Lawrence and Chilli Thomas attend a dinner party to celebrate Lifetime Black Excellence March 09, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Randy Shropshire/Getty Images)
Matthew later cleared up the miscommunication with E! News. “Joe [Matthew’s brother] and I were commiserating about this plan that we had to have children together … when we were growing up. And I missed the first go around and now he’s starting a new family and I was thinking, ‘Man, it’d be great if we could do it again when I didn’t have the chance to raise a family together. So that’s what I meant by that,” he continued. “I didn’t mean to put any pressure on somebody I was dating or anything.”
Chilli set the record straight with E! News this week, saying, “First of all, we’re not currently trying to have a child,” she exclusively told E! News at the Dolby Theatre in an interview. “We’re not married yet so we’re just very happy and growing in our relationship.”
But for the record, Chilli says this relationship is not your average romance.
“I’ve dated, but this cancelled out everything,” she shared before looking at her longtime friend Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins. “She knows.”
T-Boz went on to deliver her seal of approval of Chilli’s main man and even expressed hope that her close friend and “sister” will get married one day in the future.
“Matthew’s a special one,” she explained. “I know my sister so he’s special. Trust! Matthew, you better know.”
T-Boz and Chilli explain why their upcoming Lifetime/A&E documentary, ‘TLC Forever‘, was so important to them. “It means a lot [to us], we put a lot of work in to this group for almost 31 years, so it’s about time people hear a real story — coming from us”, T-Boz says. “And we are here to tell it ourselves”, Chilli adds. “And we’re not gone, so no one can take it and ruin it”, T-Boz concludes.
“A lot of people have tried to tell our story — the wrong story. All these opinions and everybody’s five seconds of fame did not mean a thing, just a whole bunch of lies”, T-Boz says. “It’s time that people hear it from us. Honestly, it’s a story of trials, tribulations, and triumph. Because that’s what we’ve done.”
On the topic of new music, TLC reminds us that they are still working on their Broadway musical, which may include some new music. “We are working on our musical, and we know that may need some new music from us, and we’re working on some television shows that may also require us to get back in the studio”, Chilli explains. “It’s a big deal, it really is”, T-Boz adds. “It’s a blessing, and once again we’re here to tell it, they way that we want to do it”.
TLC are heading back on tour this summer on the ‘Hot Summer Nights‘ tour with Shaggy, En Vogue and Sean Kingston, which kicks off in June. “That’s the time we get to showcase everything that the fans love about us, and we go far beyond the call of duty in rehearsals,” Chilli told PEOPLE. “We don’t play when it comes to that, getting routines together, everything. We love it.”
Tickets for the TLC ‘Hot Summer Nights’ tour are on sale now. Head to officialtlc.com for more info.
Chilli made her first official public appearance with her boyfriend Matthew Lawrence last week at the Lifetime Movie Club event celebrating Female Black Excellence shortly after the announcement of the upcoming ‘TLC Forever’ documentary premiering on Lifetime and A&E simultaneously.
Back on March 3, Matthew revealed to ET that his ultimate ‘game plan’ was to start a family with Chilli, which set the headlines alight with rumors that the couple were trying to have a baby. When asked if children are in the cards in the near future, Matthew said, “That’s the game plan. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Matthew Lawrence and Chilli with Jackée Harry
“My life is in complete bloom right now. I get to spend time with an amazing woman like Chilli,” he added. “I’ve never gotten to be able to experience that kind of relationship before. She’s really, really special.”
However, this week Matthew cleared up some misconceptions about his previous comments on the subject. In an interview with E! News on March 15, Matthew clarifies that he “didn’t mean to put any pressure” on his TLC queen.
“It’s such an interesting story. Joe and I were commiserating about this plan that we had to have children together … when we were growing up,” he said of older brother Joey Lawrence. “And I missed the first go around and now he’s starting a new family and I was thinking, ‘Man, it’d be great if we could do it again, when I didn’t have the chance to raise a family together.’ “
“So that’s what I meant by that. I didn’t mean to put any pressure on somebody I was dating or anything,” he explained.
Matthew also reiterates that “[Chilli is] already a mother, she has an incredible son. I respect so much as to how she’s raised him,” he said of Chilli’s son Tron, 25, whom she shares with ex Dallas Austin. “She’d be an incredible mother again and I’d be incredibly lucky but that’s way in the future.”
PHOTO CREDITS: CHRISTAL JORDAN FOR ENCHANTED PR / BACKGRID / RANDY SHROPSHIRE FOR LIFETIME
Leon@TLCArmy
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