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Usher was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards 2024 ceremony.
The R&B superstar received the accolade from Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, L.A. Reid, Jimmy Jam, and Terry Lewis on Sunday, June 30, at Cultures’ Biggest Night, as his wife Jenn Goicoechea Raymond cheered him on from the front row.
During his acceptance speech, he reflected on his life growing up without his father. Following this, his speech was cut out, apparently for language that then devolved into audio issues.
“I don’t want to take up too much time, but I want to say something, it’s important to understand that fatherhood is so important,” the Grammy-winning performer continued after 10 minutes.
He concluded his speech by saying everything revolved around parenting his children and the importance of present fathers, declaring 2024 “the year of the father.”
“For all of the fathers tonight at home or in this audience, I would like for y’all to stand up just for two seconds for me” and for themselves, emphasising the significance of acknowledging fathers as we often do mothers.
“We don’t get a chance to say enough, Dad. I did it, so this one is for all of the men out there being generals to their sons and motivation for our future black leaders,” Usher added. “Young men, um, thank you guys so much for this honour.”
Additionally, at the onset of his acceptance speech, the 45-year-old singer-songwriter and dancer quipped if it was “too early” to receive the prestigious award, joining the likes of Prince, Whitney Houston, Queen Latifah, and Lionel Richie.