Jonnetta Patton Is Usher’s Mother

R&B superstar Usher has rehired his mother, Jonnetta Patton, as his manager. Back in May of 2007, the two parted ways professionally, in what Usher described as a retirement and an “ultimate compliment.”Jonnetta Patton was rehired by her son Usher today after he ended his management arrangement with Benny Medina. Usher’s last album sales did not do as well as projected, which is said to be one of the reasons for asking his mother to come back as his manager.

In a statement, Medina told People,“With an artist like Usher, the bar is set really high. Whether it was management, marketing or the music, we achieved a number one single and a number one album. It is a completely new day and time in music now. In four years, his audience, demographic, and musical direction has changed. Records like Lil Wayne’s ‘Lollipop’ are the type of phenomena that ‘Yeah’ was in 2004. I had a great time and we parted ways amicably.”

Jonnetta Patton grew up in Chattanooga, TN. She has two children who are both musically gifted, Usher and J Lack. She is a church going woman, and it was in the church choir that she recognized her son’s gift. She left her secure job at Blue Cross/Blue Shield to move her son to Atlanta to pursue a career in the music industry.A few years down the road and Jonnetta Patton had guided her son to great success. Usher has now won five Grammy’s and sold over 30 million records. Her other son J Lack is doing quite well too. He is a Grammy-nominated, ASCAP Award-winner producer.Jonnetta Patton also started her own record label, JPat Records and has fresh talent signed already.

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Usher Does Essence

Usher graces the cover of Essence magazine, in which he debuts photos of his 9-month-old son, Usher V, for the first time. In the interview Usher really opens up about his personal life, in regards to his marriage, his son and the impact that not having his father around left on him. Here is a snippet from the interview so you can see the kinds of straightforward answers Usher gave. You can read the rest of the interview here.What would you say to young men and women about what they should expect from a man who’s a father? What is living right as a father? How do you define that? How would that man look?

“That man would accept his responsibilities as a father, regardless of whether he was with the mother of the child. Men will leave a situation for several reasons. One, it’s not comfortable. It may be violent. The two of you may grow apart. But you should never abandon that responsibility, which is to be there, reading with your child, being supportive of your child’s growth. That is communicating. That is making the choice to put your child before your own vanity.”Usher goes on to say that he wants to make music with substance and be the father he never had for his son, Usher V. I think he is well on his way to doing a great job.

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Usher & Tameka Have Split

Usher and his wife Tameka Foster have reportedly separated. People within Usher’s circle confirm that he filed for separation three weeks ago. It is not at all shocking to me, due to all the controversy within in their marriage to begin with. However the timing is a bit convenient. Usher’s album drops in six days, and a spilt from his wife may boost album sales.

If you remember when he released his last album Confessions, he had just split with Chili from TLC. The split helped boost record sales and set records. Confessions sold 1.1 million units in its first week of sales and had highest first week numbers ever scanned by a male R&B artist.

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Usher's Singing In the Rain Like Gene Kelly

Music is really the sound of life," says new dad Usher, 29, one of the performers in the "Movies Rock" special, Friday on CBS.
So the lives shown in movies often ripple with music. Friday's performers will include a few old-timers (Elton John, Tony Bennett, John Williams) and a lot of young singers.

The line-up has Carrie Underwood, Beyonce, Fergie, Chris Brown, John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, Marc Anthony, Queen Latifah and more. Many will do rock or pop tunes, but Usher wanted to do the classic, "Singin' in the Rain."

Yes, it's imposing to do a number that Gene Kelly mastered 55 years ago. "All of the greats get copied," Usher says.Such films have been part of his life. "I've always loved movies," he says.

He grew up (as Usher Raymond IV) in Chattanooga, Tenn., started singing in public at 6 and moved to Atlanta at 12. Two years later, he was spotted in a talent show and signed by the record company of Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.

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