Usher credits roller skating with ‘keeping him young’

Usher has credited roller skating with “keeping him young”.

The 46-year-old R&B star has revealed that he regularly roller skates to maintain his physique and keep his energy levels high.

In a recent interview with People, Usher said that “skating has always kept me young”, before adding, “And it’s something that I feel is a necessity for youth nowadays. Everybody spends so much time scrolling.”

Earlier this month, the DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love hitmaker and model Liberty Ross opened Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace, a full-service roller skating venue at The Venetian hotel in Las Vegas.

As well as being a form of exercise, Usher told the outlet that roller skating can also be a form of self-expression.

“It’s a form of self care,” the Grammy-winning artist shared. “The freedom and expression, I really feel like it’s a language when you get deeper into the cultures of skating for rhythm, period. And people need to understand how fun this really is.”

Usher went on to say that he hopes to see his fellow musicians at the rink soon.

“(Dr.) Dre, Snoop (Dogg) and Pharrell (Williams) getting out here would be crazy,” he said. “(Hip Hop group) NWA came up through skaters, a lot of those early hip-hop bands could only get space to perform in the roller rinks. I can still remember as a kid performing in rinks. It’s always been the grounds for culture.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the Yeah! hitmaker joked that he would be spending more time at the rink than in the kitchen this festive season.

“I wouldn’t bank on me for your Thanksgiving dinner,” he quipped. “No, no. I might be able to do some mac and cheese and a little banana pudding but that’s about it.”