Usher: Grammy-winning R&B singer, world-class dancer, long-standing Las Vegas residency holder, and… Beyoncé's nanny?
As it turns out, yes, sort of. The "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" singer revealed that he was once responsible for looking after Queen Bey when they were kids.
"Fun fact: I knew Beyoncé when she was 12 years old, 11 years old," Usher said in an interview with the U.K. radio show Capital Breakfast With Roman Kemp on Friday. "She used to be in a group by the name of the Dolls. I don't know if I could consider myself their babysitter, but I actually had a time where I had to watch the Dolls."
Usher explained that he ended up watching them one day while he was at record producer and songwriter Daryl Simmons' house. "[Simmons] was working with [the Dolls] at the time, and I just happened to be over there and they were working on a session," he said. "I kind of found my way into being their, like, I don't know, chaperone, nanny, or something like that, because I was kinda the oldest person in the room."
In the years since then, Usher and Beyoncé have blazed trails in their highly successful careers, with both stars earning multiple Grammy, Billboard, and MTV Video Music awards. In 2008, Beyoncé, alongside rapper Lil Wayne, was featured on Usher's single "Love in This Club, Part II."
They are also business partners. Usher and Beyoncé are both stakeholders in the music streaming service Tidal, which Beyoncé's husband, Jay-Z, purchased in 2015.