By Europe Correspondent Melissa Davies
R & B superstar Usher says he'd love to bring his young sons to New Zealand for a relaxing holiday away from the bitter custody dispute he's embroiled in.
The singer says his emotions during this period have been the inspiration for his new album Looking for Myself which has just been released this week.
“It really kind of depicts a lot of the things that have happened in the past, finding inspiration from feelings, emotions that I think I felt before now, having now lived through some of those things having reality to talk about it and space to talk about it,” says Usher.
But there's one thing he won't talk about publicly - the messy dispute with his ex-wife over the custody of their two young sons.
He says they're a big influence in his work.
“I would sometimes dance around with the music before I would write the song and you would see [the children] bop to it and I thought 'okay, so they like this one’ and then when the song was finished they'll say ‘I like this one, I like this song, play this one’,” he says.
Usher ranks as one of the most successful artists of this century having sold more than 43 million albums, but after 20 years in the industry he admits it can sometimes come at a cost.
“For me there's nothing I enjoy more than the time I spend with my boys so when I’m not able to it's like’ ahhh’, you know, I kind of have this priority that's been here and I've got to continue to do it and keep it alive but managing the whole process and figuring out how to do it is pretty hard.”
But he has a solution, with a trip to New Zealand on the cards.
“Every time I'm there I'm always greeted with warm courtesy and hospitality and I look forward to going back and spending some time with my fans because it's not often that I am over there so I try to spend a great deal of time. I may even get a house and relax and have fun there with my boys - they'd really enjoy the beauty of the country. “
Usher says he's still looking for himself musically and emotionally. Perhaps New Zealand is just the place to do that.
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