Usher recalls chaperoning a young Beyoncé

Usher is only three years older than Beyoncé, just old enough to briefly act as her chaperone back in the day. In an interview with Capital Breakfast With Roman Kemp in the U.K., he recalled the time he was tasked with looking after her and her former girl group.

“Fun fact, I knew Beyoncé when she was 12 years old, 11 years old,” Usher said. “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 had a time where I had to watch The Dolls.”

“I was at Daryl Simmons’ house. He was working with them at the time, and I just happened to be over there and they were working on a session,” he continued. “I kind of found my way into being their, like, I don’t know, chaperone, nanny or something like that — the oldest person in the room.”

Years later, Usher and Bey would team up for his song “Love In This Club II,” a collaboration that made his April Fools’ Day joke this year sound plausible. While performing at Dreamville Festival, he introduced Queen Bey to the stage, before returning to the mic and saying, “April Fools.”