Usher Raymond IV (born October 14, 1978), known simply as
Usher, is an American
R&B-
pop singer-songwriter and actor. He rose to fame in the 1990s, releasing the multi-platinum album
My Way and
8701. His success continued with the release of his breakthrough album,
Confessions, which sold over a million copies in the United States in its debut. To date, he has sold approximately 35 million albums worldwide and has won five
Grammy Awards.
In 2008, Usher has been ranked into the All time Hot 100 Artist by
Billboard magazine.
He is one of the few artists of his generation to be mentioned. According to the
Recording Industry Association of America, Usher has sold over 20.5 million copies of album in the United States.
Aside from recording, Usher ventured in to other business. He had established his own record label, US Records, and is a part owner of the
Cleveland Cavaliers franchise. He has also been appearing in films, debuting in the 1998
The Faculty. Usher is married to Tameka Foster and has two sons.
Biography
Early life
Usher was born on October 14, 1978 in
Dallas, Texas,
the son of Jonetta Patton (
née O'Neal) and Usher Terry Raymond III;
both of
African American heritage. Usher spent the majority of his young life in
Chattanooga: Jonetta Patton left her husband when Usher was one year old, and they relocated to Chattanooga, where Usher lived with his mother, then-step father, and half-brother, James Patton, born in 1984.
As a child, Usher joined in their local church youth choir in Chattanooga when he was nine years old, as directed by his mother, in which event her mother discovered his ability to sing, although it was until Usher joined a singing group that she considered he could sing professionally.
In 1990, he won in a local talent show while attending middle school. In the belief that a city would provide greater opportunities for showcasing his talent, Usher's family moved to
Atlanta,
Georgia, where there was a more conducive environment for burgeoning singers.
While in Atlanta, Usher attended
North Springs High School.
Usher's father died in January 2008.
Personal life
In 2001, Usher began dating former
TLC member
Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. Usher lived with Thomas, who had previously been married to producer
Dallas Austin, with her son.
Their relationship lasted for three years: they broke-up in January 2004, followed by a media frenzy surrounding the personal nature of Usher's fourth album,
Confessions. His fans inferred the reason he and Thomas split is due to infidelity on his part, giving allusions to the lyrics of the songs.
In an interview on The Bert Show on Atlanta's
Q100 in February 2004, Thomas claimed that Usher cheated on her: "Usher did the ultimate no-no to me ... I will never be with him again, and that is that."
Usher defended: "... it just didn't work out. But cheating is not what caused the relationship to collide and crash. That ain't what broke it up."
Following their break-up, Usher briefly dated English model-actress
Naomi Campbell in September 2004.
In February 2007, Usher announced his engagement to girlfriend stylist Tameka Foster. After the sudden cancellation of a planned July wedding due to medical concerns, the two were wed on August 3, 2007 in a private ceremony.
Their son Usher Raymond V was born in November of the same year.
On December 10, 2008, Foster gave birth to their second child, Naviyd Ely Raymond.
Philanthropy
Usher had founded New Look, a
non-profit charity organization which aims to "provide young people with a new look on life through education and real-world experience". Its flagship project, camp New Look, run from July 11 to July 23, 2005 in
Clark Atlanta University.
In 2006, the charity started an initiative called Our Block, for which it helped rebuild and revitalize city blocks in
New Orleans. The project went on one street at a time, and the funding was helped through part of the proceeds of Usher's team-up with
Armani Exchange in creating "Love 4 Life" dog tags, which were made available at the company's stores and Web site.
In 1999, Usher participated in "Challenge for the Children", a benefit basketball game hosted by American boy band
'N Sync. The event, which was held on the campus of
Georgia State University, had raised an estimated $50,000 for several local charities.
In 2005, Usher is one among the artists who signed on for a
Hurricane Katrina relief concert.
Career
Early works and debut (1992–1996)
At age 11, Usher joined an R&B local
quintet called the NuBeginnings, which was organized by local music svengali Darryl Wheeler. Usher recorded 10 songs with the group in 1991, and the ensuing album,
Nubeginning Featuring Usher Raymond IV, was only made available regionally and by
mail order.
However, Patton took him out because, according to her, it was a "bad experience".
The album was released nationally in 2002 by Hip-O Records.
At age 13, Usher competed on
Star Search, where he was spotted by an
A&R representative from
LaFace Records, who arranged an audition for Usher to
L.A. Reid, the co-founder of LaFace; Reid signed Usher a contract with the record company.
Usher's mother left her job as a medical technician to manage his career, but later broke-up their relationship as manager-client in May 2007.
Usher was introduced on "
Call Me a Mack", a song he recorded for the
soundtrack album to the 1993
drama-
romance film Poetic Justice.
On August 30, 1994, LaFace released Usher's
self-titled debut album.
Sean "P Diddy" Combs produced several of the tracks and co-executive produced the album.
peaked at number twenty-five on the
Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was accompanied by three singles: "
Can U Get Wit It", "
Think Of You", and "
The Many Ways".
The album has sold over 500,000 copies, to date.
After graduating from high school, Usher continued to hone his skills as a stage performer and laid the groundwork for his second album. He also appeared on their version of "Let's Straighten It Out", a 1995 duet with fellow Atlanta teen recording artist
Monica;
and on "Dreamin'", from LaFace's
1996 Olympic Games benefit album
Rhythm of the Games. He was also featured on "I Swear I'm In Love" off the 1996
Kazaam soundtrack.
Rising popularity (1997–2002)
Usher developed a friendship with American record producer
Jermaine Dupri, with whom he co-wrote and produced several tracks for his second album,
My Way, released on September 16, 1997. The album's lead single, "
You Make Me Wanna", reached number one in the United Kingdom, becoming Usher's first to achieve top single; the feat led to his popularity reaching in the country.
It also became Usher's first
gold- and platinum-certified single in the United States.
The album's second single, "
Nice & Slow", peaked in January 1998 at number one on the
Billboard Hot 100, giving Usher his first US number-one single.
Later in February of the same year, the single was certified platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America;
My Way has been certified six-time platinum in the United States.
Usher received his first
Grammy Award nomination as Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "You Make Me Wanna",
which also won him for Best Male R&B/Soul Single at the
Soul Train Music Award.
In the closing months of 1997, Usher embarked on a series of tour engagements including a spot on Puffy's
No Way Out tour, dates with
Mary J. Blige, and the opening spot on
Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope tour. Usher's first concert album,
Live, was released in 1999, which featured appearances by
Lil' Kim,
Jagged Edge,
Trey Lorenz,
Shanice,
Twista and
Manuel Seal; the album has been certified gold in the United States.
Usher made his acting debut on the
UPN television series Moesha, which resulted in a recurring role on the series and subsequently his first film role in 1998's
The Faculty.
Usher's extracurricular activities outside of the recording industry gathered momentum over the following year as he was cast in the daytime drama
The Bold and the Beautiful.
He completed two more films,
She's All That, and his first starring role in
Light It Up.
He also appeared in the
Disney TV movie "Geppetto".
Usher's third studio album, originally titled
All About U, was slated to be released in early 2001.
The first single, "
Pop Ya Collar", was released in late 2000 and became a number two hit in the UK but underperformed in the United States.
The album was subsequently pushed back and retooled after select tracks were later leaked to the radio and Internet. After having revised and renamed to
8701, the album was released in July 2001.
The first two singles "
U Remind Me" and "
U Got It Bad" each topped the
Billboard Hot 100 for four and six weeks, respectively.
8701 has been certified four-time platinum in the United States.
Usher appeared in the 2001 film
Texas Rangers.
In February 2002, Usher won 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 Usher the only artist aside from
Luther Vandross and
Stevie Wonder to win this award consecutively. In summer 2002, Usher contributed vocals to P. Diddy's "I Need a Girl, Part I". The year closed out with a trio of TV series appearances, all in November, on
The Twilight Zone,
7th Heaven,
Moesha , and
American Dreams, the latter in which Usher portrayed
Marvin Gaye.
Breakthrough success (2004–2007)
[
Miami.jpg|thumb|Usher arriving in [[Miami, Florida] to attend the 2004
MTV Video Music Awards]]
Usher's fourth studio album,
Confessions, was released on March 23, 2004—just as its first single, "
Yeah!", was in its sixth week at number one on the
Billboard Hot 100 and fifth week on top of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Chart.
The album's nearly 1.1 million unit debut sales was the highest first-week numbers ever scanned by a male R&B artist and the seventh best of the
Nielsen SoundScan history.
To date, the album has accumulated sales of nearly 20 million copies worldwide,
over 10 million of which were sold in the United States, earning the album a Diamond certification by the
Recording Industry Association of America.
The album's second and third singles, "
Burn" and "
Confessions Part II", also topped the
Billboard Hot 100, the former for eight weeks. Usher became the first artist to top the
Billboard Hot 100 Airplay with three consecutive number-one singles,
and later four consecutive with "
My Boo". In September 2004, "My Boo", a duet with American singer-songwriter
Alicia Keys, also peaked at number one at the
Billboard Hot 100, becoming the album's fourth number-one single.
In December, the album's final single "
Caught Up" peaked at number eight on the Hot 100.
earned Usher numerous awards, including four
American Music Awards, two
MTV Europe Music Awards, two
MTV Video Music Awards, and three World Music Awards.
At the 47th annual Grammy Awards ceremony in 2005, Usher won three awards, including: R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals for "My Boo", which he shared with Keys; Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Yeah!"; and Contemporary R&B Album for
Confessions. At the 2004
Billboard Music Awards, Usher was recognized Artist of the Year, in addition to receiving 10 other accolades.
In spring of 2005, Usher scored a number three Hot 100 hit as a featured vocalist on
Lil' Jon's "
Lovers & Friends".
In 2007, Usher also collaborated with
R. Kelly on the track "
Same Girl," for Kelly's album,
Double Up.
He was also featured in a remix version of
Omarion's "
Ice Box".
Usher also appeared on the track "
Shakedown" on American singer-songwriter
Mary J. Blige's 2007 album
Growing Pains.
In November 2005, Usher starred as a disc jockey named Darrell in the
Lions Gate film,
In the Mix.
On August 22, 2006, Usher took over the role of Billy Flynn in the long-running
Broadway musical
Chicago.
Critical response to his overall performance were mixed.
Return to music (2008–present)
To promote the Usher's fifth studio album, the single "
Love In This Club" was sent to radio in February 2008 and peaked at number one on the
Billboard Hot 100—and went on to spend three consecutive weeks at the top—becoming Usher's eighth number-one single and the fastest-rising song of his career.
was released on May 26 in the United Kingdom and May 27, 2008 in the United States. The album debuted on the
Billboard 200 at number one for accumulated first-week sales of 433,000 copies.
The follow-up single "
Love in This Club, Part II", which features American singer
Beyoncé Knowles and
Lil Wayne, has peaked at the Top 20 on the
Billboard Hot 100, and "
Moving Mountains" and "
Trading Places" have both peaked at the Top 20 of
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Usher said he is working on plans for a tour in which he will perform for audiences of only females entitled
One Night Stand, stating that he is attempting this for the challenge of it. In addition, a new single leaked in November 2008 titled, "Off Your Chest", produced by
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. There is also "Hush" as a single, and "Traffic" as another leaked song. Due to the (overall) disastrous commercial performance of
Here I Stand, Usher is planning to release a new album in early 2009.
Usher says that Ne-Yo will 'potentially' work on his new album.
Other ventures
Usher founded US Records, a
vanity label, in 2002. The label is a subsidiary of
Clive Davis's
J Records, which is distributed by
Sony BMG. The first album released by US was the soundtrack to
In the Mix in late 2005, which was used to introduce the label's acts, such as rapper
Rico Love, R&B vocal group
One Chance, and singer
Rayan. Usher served as songwriter-producer in the project.
Usher, whose group bought with a reported total purchase price of $375 million, is a part owner of the
Cleveland Cavaliers franchise. He became the second pop artist to own a large stake in an NBA team.
Usher has opened restaurants.
Discography
Filmography
See also
