Usher honors his mother while accepting President’s Award at NAACP Image Awards
Entertainer praises mother's “tenacity” and dedicated his award to family.
Usher has had quite the year so far and he had another big tent at the 55th NAACP Image Awards where he was honored as entertainer of the year and received the coveted President’s Award.
When he took the stage to accept the award, it was clear the women in his life were top of mind. He took time to share the spotlight with his mother and former manager, Jonetta Patton, whom he credited for his success.
“I’m very honored to receive this amazing award, from the depths of my soul, my passion … work is what has mattered to me since my mother has made me understand what the opportunity to be able to speak to the entire world is,” he said.
“I wanted to make it known that far too often, women in our industry [don’t] get the recognition that they truly deserve. When we first started, it was even harder for a mother to believe in the dreams that I had because I was unwavering, being raised without a father. In our home being raised [by] a single parent … it was a lot. But if anybody deserves it more than anybody, it’s [my mom].”
The superstar, who recently married Jennifer Goicoechea, continued to honor the women he loves during his moving acceptance speech.
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“The tenacity that it took to look within a male-dominated industry and believe in your son unwaveringly, no matter how hard those board rooms may have been, she didn’t have the experience … but because of that, I have this moment,” he said.
“I want you to know how much I really love, honor, recognize, and appreciate you. It’s an incredible honor to be recognized by the NAACP in and this beautiful community. We all take our crafts very serious … I am thankful for the support that my mother gave me. I’m overwhelmed by the appreciation from my entire family. I thank my beautiful mother and my beautiful wife, Jennifer, for holding me down. I dedicate this award to family.”
Aside from receiving the President’s Award, usher also nabbed the Entertainer of the Year Award during Saturday’s live show hosted by Queen Latifah.
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