By Ruth Styles In Las Vegas, Nevada, For Dailymail.com and Alan Butterfield In Las Vegas, Nevada For Dailymail.com
23:31 11 Feb 2024, updated 00:23 12 Feb 2024
- Records show the couple obtained a marriage license in Clark County February 8
- A source said he made the decision after taking advice from a spiritual advisor
- The wedding will be an intimate affair attended only by close friends and family
It’s the city of wedding chapels staffed by Elvis impersonators – and today, Usher will celebrate his Super Bowl halftime show by becoming the latest big name to tie the knot in Sin City, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Records show the R&B crooner, 45, and long-term girlfriend Jennifer Goicoechea obtained a marriage license in Clark County on February 8 – five days ago.
A source told DailyMail.com that the OMG singer made the decision to wed after taking advice from his spiritual advisor Amba Kahly Su.
The wedding, which will follow what is sure to be a smashing performance, will be an intimate affair attended only by close friends and family.
The marriage will be the star’s second: his previous wife is fashion designer Tameka Foster, 53, with whom he shares teenage sons Usher ‘Cinco’ Raymond V, 16, and Navid Ely, 15.
Usher also has two children with Goicoechea, 39 – daughter Sovereign Bo, three, and son Sire Castrello, two.
The soon-to-be married couple have been together since October 2018 when she was photographed attending his birthday party.
A year later, Usher was photographed kissing the Miami-born music executive backstage at the October 2019 Hollywood Bowl.
The couple have also made repeated red carpet appearances together – including Vanity Fair’s 2023 Oscar party – and regularly appear on each other’s Instagram pages.
In a gushing post to mark Goicoechea’s 39th birthday in October last year, the singer paid tribute to the mom-of-two, writing: ‘I couldn’t ask for a better partna. Happy birthday, my love.’
Last week – on the same day the marriage license was filed – Usher appeared on the Talk and confirmed his family would be at the Super Bowl to see him perform.
He said: ‘They will be around. 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.’
The dad-of-four also told of his battle to balance family life with R&B superstardom, adding: ‘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 because they don’t want that energy.
‘And it’s hard, because I try my hardest to have that empathy, but I wanna be there.’
All four children are likely to attend Usher’s second wedding which will take place in one of Las Vegas’ famous chapels.
The rapper is one of a slew of celebrities who have said their vows in Sin City in recent years, among them Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck and Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker.
J-Lo, 54, said I do with Affleck, 51, at The Little White Wedding Chapel in July 2022 – a month before she repeated her vows at an extravaganza ceremony at the actor’s Savannah, Georgia, estate.
Earlier the same year, Kardashian, 44, and Barker, 48, said yes at an impromptu midnight wedding at the city’s One Love Chapel.
Unlike Usher and J-Lo, the lovebirds failed to get a license which meant they had to repeat their vows at Santa Barbara Courthouse in May 2022 before saying I do for the third time in a lavish wedding a week later in Portofino, Italy.
Other celebrities to tie the knot in Sin City include Britney Spears whose January 2004 marriage to childhood friend Jason Alexander lasted just 55 hours before being annulled.
Nicholas Cage, 60, married wife Riko Shibata, 29, at the Wynn Hotel in February 2021 while singer Lily Allen, 38, and Stranger Things actor David Harbour, 48, were married by an Elvis impersonator in the city in September 2020.
Usher, meanwhile, will be the big star of the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show at Allegiant Stadium Sunday night when the San Francisco 49ers take on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Reba McEntire will sing the national anthem while Post Malone will perform America The Beautiful and Andra Day will sing Lift Every Voice And Sing as part of the pregame performances.
Along with performing parts of his hits, Usher is expected to also show off his acclaimed dancing skills, as well as bring on a surprise guest whom he hinted at during Thursday’s press conference.
Fans should also be prepared for at least two costumes and some roller-skating, which also played a role in his recent Las Vegas residency.
Also on Thursday a promo aired for Usher’s show. It was a nod to the film The Hangover, with Ludacris, Lil Jon and Taraji P. Henson joining the popular 2000s rapper to re-create a scene from the classic film in a seven-minute clip.
That said, it’s been a busy week for the megastar, who is releasing his latest album and has also announced a new, upcoming North American tour.
It’s not Usher’s first time on what has become entertainment’s biggest musical stage.
He joined the Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am for his 2011 set and has said he’d use that performance as a ‘cheat sheet’ for Sunday’s show.
The Super Bowl will be held Sunday at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, with the San Francisco 49ers facing off against the Kansas City Chiefs.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
