Usher Raymond IV (born October 14, 1978),
known simply by his first name
Usher, is an American
R&B-
pop singer-songwriter and actor who rose to fame in the 1990s. To date, he has sold approximately 35 million albums worldwide and has won five
Grammy Awards.
On September 13, 2008, Usher has been inducted into the All time Hot 100 Artist by
Billboard magazine.
He is one of the few artists of his generation to be mentioned.
Usher is a part owner of the
Cleveland Cavaliers franchise, and has his own record label, US Records.
Biography
Early life
Usher was born in
Dallas, Texas,
the son of Jonetta Patton (
née O'Neal) and Usher Terry Raymond III;
both of
African American heritage. He spent the majority of his young life in
Chattanooga,
Tennessee. As a child, he joined his local
church choir in Chattanooga where her mother discovered his ability to sing.
As early as junior high school, Usher successfully entered local talent shows.
Usher's family moved to
Atlanta,
Georgia, in the belief that the city would provide greater opportunities for showcasing his talent. While in Atlanta, Usher attended
North Springs High School.
Early works and debut: 1992—1996
At age 11, Usher joined a
quintet singing group called the New Beginning, 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".
Although her mother had already discovered his ability to sing, it was when Usher joined the group that she considered he could sing professionally.
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 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".
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 lead-off single, "
You Make Me Wanna" was serviced to radio that summer and hit number one in its second week out—the same week that the album was released. "You Make Me Wanna" stayed on top of the R&B/Hip-Hop track charts for a total of 11 weeks, the longest-charting R&B hit in more than three years. The single remained on the R&B chart for an unprecedented 71 weeks and became Usher's first
platinum single. The album's second single, "
Nice & Slow", was released in November, and in January 1998 peaked at number one on the
Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, as well as number one on the R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart for eight weeks. The following summer, the album's eponymous single
title track peaked number two on pop chart and number four on R&B..
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.
My Way was 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 was also nominated for a
Soul Train Music Award as 'Best Male R&B/Soul Single.'
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 studio gathered momentum over the following year as he was cast in the daytime drama
The Bold and the Beautiful and was seen in the family series
Promised Land. 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" with
Drew Carey. Usher also became involved community activities: he served as national spokesperson for the
U.S. Department of Transportation's "Get Big On Safety" campaign, and appeared on NBC's
NBA Inside Stuff. He also participated in the
NBA's "Stay In School" program, and performed at several of the franchise's jamborees.
Raymond's first concert album,
Live was released in 1999, which featured appearances by
Lil' Kim,
Jagged Edge,
Trey Lorenz,
Shanice,
Twista and
Manuel Seal, and was RIAA-certified Gold.
Usher's third studio album, originally titled
All About U, was slated to be released in early 2001. The first single, "
Pop Ya Collar" (co-written and produced by
Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs), was released in late 2000 and became a number two hit in the
UK—but underperformed in America. The album was subsequently pushed back and retooled after select tracks were later leaked to the radio and Internet, and garnered a largely cold public response.
After having revised the album, it was renamed
8701 (named for the years of his career at that point
87-2001, and for its release date of August 7, 2001, or
8/
7/
01). The first two singles "
U Remind Me" and "
U Got It Bad" each topped the
Billboard Hot 100 for four and six weeks, respectively. In early 2002, "
U Don't Have to Call", also went top five pop. The albums final single, "
U-Turn" was released outside of America, and became a top twenty hit in Australia and the
U.K..
8701 was certified 4x platinum, selling more than eight million copies worldwide.
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, more than a decade before, and
Stevie Wonder (in the 1970s) 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 (in which Usher portrayed
Marvin Gaye).
Breakthrough success and acting: 2004—2007
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 over 19 million copies worldwide, of which was 10 million was 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 fourth 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 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 comprised of only females entitled
One Night Stand. Usher said he is attempting this for the challenge of it.
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 of
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 (both of whom had tracks released on a dual single prior to the album's release), and singer
Rayan.
US has not released any further material since the
In the Mix soundtrack. One Chance's debut album, originally scheduled for release in late 2006, has been pushed back numerous times.
Personal life
Usher married Tameka Foster in 2007,
with whom he has a son, Usher Raymond V, born the same year.
On September 9, 2008, it was announced that the couple are expecting their second child together.
[Alissa R. (September 9, 2008). Singer Usher and Wife Expecting Second Child Us Magazine. Accessed September 11, 2008.]
Discography
Filmography
Awards and nominations
See also
