Biography
Usher is most recognized for his hit singles
from his second album, including "My Way," "Nice N
Slow," and "You Make Me Wanna," as well as several hits
from 8701 (
Usher
is also widely known for being the boyfriend of
Usher Jamie Raymond lived in Chattanooga, Tennessee
until 1978 when his mother moved him and his brother to
Atlanta, Georgia. He started singing in a church choir
and soon his singing talents became obvious. L. A. Reid
signed him to La Face Records after seeing him at a
"Star Search" audition.
Usher's self-titled debut record was executive produced by
Sean Combs (P. Diddy), then known as Puff Daddy and was
released in 1994. It made a modest impact on the charts
peaking at number 167 on the Billboard 200 Album charts
although it did reach number 4 on the Heatseeker charts
for prospective stars. There were three singles released
in the US from the album:
* "I Think Of You" Number 8 Hot R&B/Hip Hop charts,
Number 58 Billboard Hot 100;
* "Can U Get Wit It" Number 13 Hot R&B/Hip Hop Charts,
Number 59 Billboard Hot 100;
* "The Many Ways" Number 42 Hot R&B/Hip Hop Charts.
Usher continued to build a national profile by recording
jingles for Coca-Cola and the 1996 Summer Olympics in
Atlanta. He also formed a vocal group with other
vocalists called Black Men United which recorded a song
called "U Will Know" for the Jason's Lyric soundtrack.
This song proved to be his most successful to date
reaching number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1994
and reaching number 5 of the Hot R&B/hip Hop Charts.
Usher produced his second album My Way after graduating
from high school. Usher co-wrote 6 out of the 9 tracks
on the album and recruited leading producers Jermaine
Dupri, Babyface and P. Diddy to ensure its success. When
released in 1997, My Way was the breakthrough album for
Usher, reaching number 4 on the Billboard 200, number 1
on the R&B album charts, and number 13 on the Canadian
charts. The album would eventually go multi-platinum on
the back of the hit singles from the album:
* "You Make Me Wanna" (1997) Number 2 Billboard Hot 100,
number 1 US R&B (11 weeks), Rhythmic Top 40 and Dance
charts number 6 Canada, Number 1 in the UK Top 40 (1998
release);
* "My Way" (1998) Number 2 Billboard Hot 100, number 4
R&B, number 5 Rhythmic Top 40, number 20 Canada;
* "Nice & Slow" (1998) Number 1 Billboard Hot 100, R&B
and Rhythmic Top 40, number 2 dance number 6, UK Top 40
number 24; and
* "Nice" number 12 dance and number 22 Top 40
mainstream.
Usher also commenced an acting career appearing in TV
series The Bold and the Beautiful and Moesha and movies
The Faculty and She's All That. Usher released a live
album that failed to achieve the success of My Way, only
reaching number 73 on the Billboard 200 and number 30 on
the R&B/Hip Hop Charts. The live album was widely
perceived as a stopgap measure while he recorded his
follow-up album, scheduled for release in early 2001.
However, this album to be called All About U was
extensively leaked on Napster, leading to new material
being recorded for release later in the year.
The 8701 album so called because of the date of its
release proved to be another success. It reached number
1 in the UK and Canada, number 4 on the Billboard 200
and number 3 on the R&B charts. This album started to
build a market for Usher outside his traditional markets
in Canada and the US. 8701 contained a number of hit
singles including:
* "Pop Ya Collar," reached number 2 in the UK, and top
30 in Australia;
* "U Remind Me" reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot
100 and R&B/Hip Hop charts, number 2 on the Rhythmic Top
40 chart, number 3 in Canada and the UK, and number 4 in
Australia;
* "U Got It Bad" reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot
100 and R&B/Hip Hop charts, number 3 in Australia and
number 5 in the UK;
* "U Don't Have To Call" reached number 3 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and number 3 on the US R&B chart; and
* "U Turn" reached the top 10 in Australia and top 20 in
the UK.
He won a Grammy for best male R&B vocal for his work on
"U Remind Me".
Usher continued in his acting career, appearing in Texas
Rangers in 2001 and in Geppetto in
Usher was in a relationship with fellow R&B singer
Rozonda Thomas (Chilli of TLC), but they separated in
Usher released the Confessions album on March 23, 2004.
Confessions sold 1.1 million records in the first week
of release, the most first-week sales by any R&B artist
and the highest sales by any artist in three years.
Along with the success of the Norah Jones album Feels
Like Home, it was seen as a sign that record sales were
slowly recovering after three straight years of decline
in the US. The album topped the charts on both sides of
the Atlantic as well as topping US R&B charts and
Internet albums charts and reaching number 2 in
Australia. "Yeah" features contributions by Ludacris and
Lil Jon and was released as the first single.
Confessions has so far spawned the following hits:
* "Yeah" has topped the Billboard Hot 100, European,
World, US and World R&B charts, World Adult, Australian,
Norwegian, Swiss and the UK charts and reached number 2
in Canada;
* "Burn" has reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100
and US R&B/Hip Hop charts as well as the Rhythmic Top 40
charts, and also topping the UK and Australian charts;
* "Confessions Part II" has topped the Billboard Hot 100
and the US and World R&B Charts, and reached number 5 in
the UK and Australia (as a double A-side with "My Boo",
see below). It is Usher's 6th number 1 single since
1998; and
* "My Boo" featuring R&B artist Alicia Keys, has reached
number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was featured on a
re-release/repackaged version of Confessions, giving him
a total of 7 number 1 singles in the US.
* "Caught Up" peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot
100, and number 9 in the UK.
Confessions has been certified 8x platinum in the US
selling over 6 million albums by November 2004.
Usher is the only artist to have spent over half of a
year (28 weeks) atop the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart
in one year with "Yeah" (12 weeks), "Burn" (6 weeks),
"Confessions Part 2" (5 weeks), and "My Boo" (5 weeks).
2004 has been the most successful year in Usher's
career.