August 07, 2008

Usher Rehires Mom As His Manager

By Shawn Adler (MTV.com)

Usher is once again a mama's boy - professionally, at least.

The R&B star has rehired his mother, Jonnetta Patton, as his manager, the pair said in a statement released to People.com. After parting ways in May 2007, Patton has reclaimed her position from interim manager Benny Medina.

"He wanted her to come back onboard, and she decided to," an unnamed source told the site. "He had really poor management and wanted her back."

Usher's biggest success this year came with the single "Love in This Club," which hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Subsequent singles from the album Here I Stand have failed to crack the top 10.

For his part, Medina defended the sales drop in his own statement to People.

"With an artist like Usher, the bar is set really high. Whether it was management, marketing or the music, we achieved a #1 single and a #1 album," he said. "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."

At the time of her earlier dismissal, it was speculated that Patton was let go in connection with Usher's announced engagement to stylist Tameka Foster, who were married last August after initially canceling their wedding.

In an interview on TRL last month, Usher vehemently denied such speculation, breaking into an angry tirade.

"My wife had nothing to do with me firing my mother - nothing like that, that's trash," he said. "I hear y'all talking crazy out there. She's a beautiful black woman. Stop. Stop talking. And I love her. Stop it."