Usher (musician)
Usher Raymond IV (born October 14, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. He is recognized as an influential figure in contemporary R&B and pop music. Usher first released his self-titled debut album (1994) at the age of 15, and rose to fame in the late 1990s following the release of his second album, My Way (1997). It spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Nice & Slow", and the top-two singles "You Make Me Wanna..." and the title track. His third album, 8701 (2001) saw continued success and contained two number-one singles, "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad", as well as the top-three single "U Don't Have to Call". It sold eight million copies worldwide and won his first two Grammy Awards for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance consecutively in 2002 and 2003.
Usher
- Singer
- songwriter
- dancer
- actor
- businessman
1993–present[4]
Rozonda Thomas (2001–2004)
4
- Jonnetta Patton (mother)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Confessions (2004) established Usher as one of the best-selling musical artists of the 2000s decade, supported by four consecutive Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles—"Yeah!" (featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris), "Burn", "Confessions Part II", and "My Boo" (with Alicia Keys)—and the top-ten "Caught Up". The album sold over 20 million copies worldwide and received diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). After splitting from his manager and mother in 2007, he released the albums Here I Stand (2008) and Raymond v. Raymond (2010), both of which debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart and spawned the respective number-one singles "Love in This Club" (featuring Young Jeezy) and "OMG" (featuring will.i.am). The latter also spawned the single "There Goes My Baby", which won his third Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.
His debut extended play, Versus (2010) produced the top-five single "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" (featuring Pitbull). His seventh album, Looking 4 Myself (2012) likewise debuted atop the chart and saw further electronic production; it spawned the top-ten single "Scream" and top 20 single "Climax"—which received a Grammy Award. His 2014 standalone single, "I Don't Mind" (featuring Juicy J) reached the top-15 of the Billboard Hot 100, and his eighth album, Hard II Love (2016) peaked at number five on the Billboard 200. His ninth album, Coming Home (2024) was released as a first independent project, preceded by the single "Good Good" (with 21 Savage and Summer Walker).
Referred to by some critics as the King of R&B, Usher has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.[7][8] At the end of 2009, Billboard named him the second most successful artist of the decade, the number-one Hot 100 artist of the decade, and ranked Confessions as the top solo album of the decade. The same magazine placed him at number 6 on their list of "Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years". In 2023, Rolling Stone magazine named him the 97th greatest singer of all time. Usher has earned 9 number-one singles. He has been inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, the Black Music and Entertainment Walk of Fame, SoundExchange Hall of Fame, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Usher has won numerous awards and accolades including 8 Grammy Awards, 12 Soul Train Music Awards, 8 American Music Awards and 3 Guinness World Records. With 18 awards, Usher is the fifth-most awarded artist at the Billboard Music Awards. Usher co-founded the record label Raymond-Braun Media Group (RBMG) in a joint venture with talent manager Scooter Braun, which was the first label to sign Canadian singer Justin Bieber in 2008. Outside of music, Usher is acclaimed for involvement in humanitarian causes, having founded the charitable non-profit Usher's New Look in 1999.
Early life
Usher Raymond IV was born on October 14, 1978, in Dallas, Texas.[9] His parents are Jonnetta Patton (née O'Neal; from Tennessee) and Usher Raymond III.[10][11] He spent the majority of his young life in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His father left the family when Usher was a year old. Usher grew up with his mother, then-stepfather, and half-brother James Lackey (born 1984). Directed by his mother, Usher joined the local church youth choir in Chattanooga when he was nine years old. There, his grandmother discovered his ability to sing, although it was not until Usher joined a singing group that she considered he could sing professionally.[12] Believing that a bigger city would provide greater opportunities for showcasing his talent, Usher's family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where there was a more conducive environment for beginning singers.[13] While in Atlanta, he attended North Springs High School.[14]
Career
Late 1980s–1996: Musical beginnings and Usher
At age ten, Usher joined an R&B local quintet called the NuBeginnings, which was organized by local music promoter Darryl Wheeler. Usher recorded ten songs with the group in 1991, and the ensuing album, Nubeginning Featuring Usher Raymond IV, was only made available regionally and by mail order.[15] However, Patton took him out because, according to her, it was a "bad experience".[12] The album was re-released nationally in April 2002 by Hip-O Records.[15][16]
At age 13, Usher met A.J. Alexander at a local talent show in Atlanta.[17] Alexander, who at the time was Bobby Brown's bodyguard, would take Usher around and have him perform in parking lots and talent shows.[18] Alexander invited Bryant Reid, an A&R representative from LaFace Records to see Usher perform on the television talent show Star Search. Following the performance, he arranged an audition for Usher with L.A. Reid, the co-founder of LaFace; Reid signed Usher on the spot to a contract with the record company after Usher sang Boyz II Men hit record "End of the Road".[19][20] Usher's mother left her job as a medical technician to manage his career. Usher was introduced to the public on "Call Me a Mack", a song he recorded for the soundtrack album to the 1993 drama-romance film Poetic Justice.[15] During this time period, the young Usher first met Chilli of TLC, his label-mate whom he would later date.
While preparing for his debut album, Usher lost his voice. He was going through puberty and had a difficult time adjusting his vocals. LA Reid became skeptical of Usher, put his album on hold and considered dropping him from the label.[21] Usher pleaded with the label to keep him and they did. From this point Reid didn't know what to do with Usher so he sent him to New York in the spring of 1994 to live with record executive Puff Daddy to "attend" what Reid called "Flavor Camp". Usher quickly adapted to the lavish lifestyle of Puff Daddy although in an interview with Rolling Stone, he described this period as the "hardest days" of his life. "I had to knuckle up, figure shit out in New York" he said.[22]
On August 30, 1994, LaFace released Usher's self-titled debut album behind the co-executive production of Sean "P Diddy" Combs.[19] Usher 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".[23] The album has sold over 500,000 copies, to date.[24] The album received backlash because Usher was singing about sex, and him only being 15 years old, the public had a difficult time believing that this was so. Again LaFace had their reservations about signing Usher because the album wasn't as successful as they anticipated. At this time Usher's mother took control of his career and put him in more talent shows the summer of 1995 building Usher a larger fan base and ultimately giving L.A. Reid more confidence in Usher.
After graduating from high school, Usher continued to develop his skills as a stage performer and laid the groundwork for his second album. He also appeared on LaFace's version of "Let's Straighten It Out", a 1995 duet with fellow Atlanta teen recording artist Monica;[25] 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 soundtrack to the 1996 film Kazaam.[26]
1997–2003: My Way and 8701
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 record to be top single; this resulted in him increasing in popularity.[27][28] It also became Usher's first gold- and platinum-certified single in the United States.[29] 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.[30] In February of the same year, the single was certified platinum by the RIAA. My Way has been certified seven-time platinum in the United States.[29][31]
"You Make Me Wanna..." won the Best Male R&B/Soul Single at the 1999 Soul Train Music Awards.[32] 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.[29]
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.[13][24] Usher's extracurricular activities outside of the recording industry gathered momentum over the following year, as he was cast in the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.[13][24] He completed two more films, She's All That, and his first starring role in Light It Up.[13][24] He also appeared in the Disney TV movie Geppetto.[33]
Usher's third studio album, originally titled All About U, was stated to be released in early 2001.[34] 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.[35] The album was subsequently pushed back and retooled after select tracks were later leaked to the radio and Internet. At the same time, LaFace went dormant, moving most of its artists (including Usher) to its parent company, Arista Records. After having revised and renamed to 8701, the album was released on August 7, 2001 (8.7.01).[13] 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 five-time platinum in the United States.[29]
Usher appeared in the 2001 film Texas Rangers.[36] In February 2002, Usher won a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "U Remind Me".[37] The next year, he won the same award for "U Don't Have to Call",[13] making Usher the only artist aside from Luther Vandross and Stevie Wonder to win this award consecutively. In the summer of 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.[38][39]
Artistry
Musical style and influences
Usher's music is generally R&B, but also incorporates pop among other genres.[5][190][191] Elias Leight of Rolling Stone wrote that "catching pop's waves has always been one of Usher's greatest strengths, whether that means collaborating with Lil Jon when crunk was going mainstream or charging into EDM".[192] Complex stated that Usher provided some of "the best of pop music in R&B".[193] His narratives have an autobiographical nature of emphasis on lifestyle, relationships and love,[194] resembling "an R&B Casanova".[195][196] Usher was new jack swing oriented,[197] while My Way contained influences of soul.[198] 8701 "introduces touches of '80s rock guitar and the minimal rhythm of '80s hip hop" displaying versatility, according to NME's Lucy O'Brien.[199] Confessions is viewed as a "top-of-the-line pop-soul showcase",[200] with established critic Robert Hilburn of Los Angeles Times seeing lead single "Yeah!" as something Michael Jackson would have created "if he still had the old Thriller magic".[201] Here I Stand was noted as more ballad-heavy by critics,[202] where the title track's usage of jazz notably drew comparisons to Stevie Wonder.[203] Raymond V Raymond was described as a "skillful fusion of R&B/hip-hop/pop" by Billboard.[204] Looking 4 Myself further explored progressive R&B, hip hop ballads, and synth pop, with its overall sound coined "hybrid pop" for its dynamic incorporation of EDM, dubstep, neo soul, and funk.[195][205][206] Hard II Love sees Rolling Stone's Maura Johnston view it to "stretch the boundaries of R&B while winding toward the brooding atmospherics that have enveloped much of pop over the past 12 months".[207]
Studio albums
Collaborative albums
Headlining
Concert residencies
Opening act
