August 7, 2001 was Usher Day. To celebrate, there was a party, and lots of fan appearances.
On Tuesday, Usher began what his label dubbed "Usher Day" with a morning performance of his hit single "U Remind Me" on "Live With Regis & Kelly." He popped up on "TRL" that afternoon while girls dressed in red Usher T-shirts flooded the sidewalks below the show's Times Square studio. He subjected himself to a two-hour autograph session at a Virgin Megastore before slipping across the street to Planet Hollywood for an album listening session with fans.
At the party, Usher arrived with Chili from TLC.
At 12:30 a.m., while stars such as Jay-Z, retired NBA hooper Dominique Wilkins, All-Star forward Kevin Garnett, 3LW and Carl Thomas mingled inside, the line to get into Tuscan remained long. Usher, though, was nowhere to be found. Could "Usher Day" have been too hectic for its namesake?"
A refreshed Usher made it in a hair shy of 1:00 a.m. accompanied by TLC member Chilli, who he grinds on in the "U Remind Me" video and to whom he sang with a glimmer in his eye during the song's performance on June's BET Awards.
Are they an item? "Nah, we're just really good friends," Usher explained. He said their friendship took off following the video.
Ah, but friendships lead to many interesting things.
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