By Sean Yoes
AFRO Staff Writer
Usher and wife Tameka Foster have filed for divorce. (Courtesy Photo)
|
(June 13, 2009) - The R&B superstar known as Usher on Friday filed for divorce from his wife Tameka Foster Raymond after less than two years of marriage.
The Grammy-winning singer and actor, whose full name is Usher Raymond IV, filed the petition in Superior Court in Atlanta, according to the Associated Press. Documents posted to the court’s Web site didn’t offer a reason for the couple’s estrangement.
Their flashy wedding outside of Atlanta in August 2007 at a sprawling resort built in the style of a 16th century French chateau captured national headlines. But, the couple’s romance prior to their marriage was the talk of the Internet for months.
Tongues wagged when Usher, 30, announced plans to marry Foster who is eight years older and worked as his stylist. The couple has two young sons together and she has three children from a previous marriage.
“They think that it was forced. I’ve heard a lot of comments like, ‘Oh, she trapped him,’” Usher told Essence Magazine in August 2008. “’He’s got a baby by her, and then she’s married and she’s set for life.’ No. She wasn’t pregnant when I asked her to marry me. There’s some sort of huge conspiracy over this, the fact that I made these choices in my life…As a man, I have to take responsibility and take a hold of my life.”
Usher told the Associated Press in May 2008, “People are so attracted to drama. That’s easier to take than a story of righteousness.”
Prior to his marriage, Usher had a string of high profile romances, most notably his three-year relationship with Rozanda “Chilli” Thomas of the singing group TLC.