Usher, Foster finally tie knot, reveal reasons for earlier refusal

Nearly a week after canceling a lavish, star-studded wedding, R&B singer Usher Raymond and his pregnant fiancée Tameka Foster have finally tied knot in a simple, private ceremony held in the office of Usher’s lawyer.

Foster, 37, and Usher, 28, were due to wed at music mogul Antonio “LA” Reid’s Hamptons estate in New York on Saturday (July 28). But the wedding was abruptly cancelled. In a last-minute statement, Usher’s publicist confirmed that wedding bells would not be ringing.

The couple, who is expecting their first child together, finally got married in a small, private ceremony held Friday in the office of his lawyer's office in Georgia in the presence of his mother and former manager, Jonetta Patton.

"I exchanged vows with Tameka Foster in Atlanta on Friday and we are happily married," many media reports quoted the singer as saying.

On the heels of "Yeah!" singer’s refusal to marry Foster, some media reports emerged saying that the nuptials canceled mainly due to the disapproval of Groom’s mother over their marriage. An unnamed source was cited by the People magazine, saying the disagreement of Usher's mother over pair’s marriage was one of the main “obstacles” in the ceremony.

Some media reports said Foster and Usher changed their minds to tie the knot just because of major differences in opinion between them, while others reported Patton was not in favor of her son’s marriage with the much older and pregnant Foster, who was reportedly responsible for her dismissal as Usher’s manager last May.

But, fending off all the speculation, Foster last week said, "No one knows why we canceled the wedding. But, I can tell you that all of the reasons that everyone is speculating and writing about are completely untrue."

Foster, a divorced mother of three confirmed she has had a "pregnancy scare" for which she had to be hospitalized briefly. "We had a scare, but I am fine and the baby is fine," Foster said.

In May, the multiplatinum singer announced that he and his longtime girlfriend are expecting a baby in the fall of 2007.

Born Usher Raymond IV in Dallas, Texas, on October 14, 1978, Usher rose from genuine teen idol to mature pop star. He came into limelight in the mid-late 1990s. He received his first Grammy Award nomination as “Best Male R&B Vocal Performance” for "You Make Me Wanna" in late 1997.

In February 2002, he bagged a Grammy for ‘Best Male R&B Vocal Performance’ for “U Remind Me.” The next year, he won the same award for “U Don't Have to Call,” making him the only artist aside from Luther Vandross, more than a decade before, and Stevie Wonder (in the 1970s) to win this award consecutively.

Wardrobe stylist Tameka Foster has three other children from a previous marriage. She recently has divorced Noontime Music co-founder Ryan Glover to marry Usher.

The couple has been hiding their relationship for the last one and half years. The news of their engagement came into light in February when Usher was at the NAACP Theater Image Awards in Beverly Hills. At the time, on-stage to accept his Spirit Award, he thanked Foster, referring to her as his "fiancée."