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Usher (musician)

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Template:Infobox musical artist 2 Usher Raymond IV (born October 14, 1978) is a five-time Grammy award winning American singer, dancer and actor who rose to fame in the mid-late 1990s. Born in the United States, Usher is of Haitian origin through a portion of his family. To date, he has sold approx. 20 million albums in the US and over 30 million worldwide. His 2004 album, Confessions, sold 1.1 million copies in the United States in its first week of release — setting a record for the most number of records sold in week for an R&B artist, that gave him a new nickname called "The Prince Of Pop".

Early life

Born to Usher Raymond III and Jonetta Patton in Dallas, Texas; Usher was primarily raised by his mother, who relocated the family from Tennessee to Atlanta, Georgia when he was a child. She raised her sons within the foundations of faith and family afforded by St. Elmo's Missionary Baptist Church, for which she served as choir director. Usher started singing in the church choir, and soon his singing talents became obvious. As early as junior high school, Usher began entering local talent shows. Six months after moving to Atlanta, at age thirteen, Usher was performing at a Star Search audition when he was spotted by an A&R rep from LaFace Records who arranged an audition with L.A. Reid. A record contract soon followed.

Music career

Usher (1993—1996)

File:Usher-raymond-album-1994.jpg
Usher (1994)

At age 13, Usher was performing at a Star Search audition when he was spotted by an A&R rep from LaFace who arranged an audition with L.A. Reid. A record contract soon followed. Usher explains:

I have been building my career since I was a little boy, because singing had always been what I wanted to do. At first I thought about playing [professional] football, then I wanted to play basketball, but in the end it was all about the music. It's my biggest passion and my biggest joy.

Usher was one month shy of his 15th birthday when his modest debut LaFace single made the R&B chart in late-1993, "Call Me a Mack," from the movie soundtrack of John Singleton's Poetic Justice.

In August 1994, LaFace Records released Usher's self-titled debut album. Heavily involved in the project was Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, who produced several of the albums tracks and co-executive produced the album. Usher peaked at number twenty-five on the R&B Albums chart - spinning off three singles: "Can U Get Wit It," "Think Of You," and "The Many Ways." Though the album was moderately successful and garnered Usher attention with urban listeners, it wasn't a runaway hit and went virtually unnoticed by more commercial audiences. Some critics, meanwhile, criticized Usher for its quasi-adult theme coming from a then sixteen year old singer. Usher, himself, later admitted that he wasn't fully comfortable with the direction of the album.

Over the next three years, Usher honed his skills as a stage performer, concentrated on graduating from high school, and laid the groundwork for his second album. Meanwhile, he was heard on "Let's Straighten It Out," a 1995 duet with fellow Atlanta teen recording artist Monica; and 1996's "Dreamin'," the first single from Rhythm of the Games, LaFace's Olympic Games benefit album.

My Way (1997—1998)

File:My-way-usher-raymond.jpg
My Way (1997)

At the same time, Usher developed a relationship with Jermaine Dupri, with whom he co-wrote and produced several tracks for his sophomore album. The advance single, "You Make Me Wanna" was serviced to radio in summer 1997 and hit #1 R&B in its second week out - the same week that My Way was released.

My Way, co-executive produced by L.A. Reid, Babyface and Dupri, marked the real genesis of Usher's career as a star. "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 3 years) and at #2 on the Pop charts for 7 weeks (second only to Elton John's "Candle In the Wind" tribute to Princess Diana). The single eventually remained on the R&B chart for an unprecedented 71 weeks and became Usher's first platinum single. Into 1998, it segued into another massive platinum hit, "Nice & Slow", which reached #1 R&B (for 8 weeks) and #1 Pop (for 2 weeks). My Way, whose title tune single extended into the summer 1998 (#2 pop/#4 R&B, also platinum), went on to earn 6x platinum album sales in the U.S. alone. Interim, 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 hit the road on a series of engagements including a spot on Puffy's No Way Out tour, dates with Mary J. Blige, and the opening spot on Janet Jackson's Velvet Rope tour. There were television appearances on the Billboard Music Awards, VIBE-TV, The Keenan Ivory Wayans Show, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Chris Rock Show, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, UNICEF's Gift Of Song, Nickelodeon's Big Help-a-Thon, and All That. Usher made his acting debut on Brandy's UPN television series Moesha, which resulted in a recurring role on the series and subsequently his first lead role in a movie, the eerie 1998 thriller, The Faculty.

Live (1999)

Live (1999)

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, the Freddie Prinze, Jr. high school comedy She's All That, and his first starring role in another high school-based drama, Light It Up.

A subsequent role in the Disney TV movie "Geppetto" (with Drew Carey), "required me to step outside of what I do, especially as a dancer," Usher recalled. "I looked at the work of people like Ben Vereen and Fred Astaire and doing that part definitely helped me increase my dancing vocabulary."

Usher was also starting to involve himself in community activities as a role model to youth. 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 participated in the NBA "Stay In School" program and performed at several of the franchises' jamborees entertaining students while showing them the importance of education

As touring continued and Usher's concert audiences grew, it was a natural move to issue an album for his millions of fans. Live documented how much the material had changed since the earlier studio recordings. Most of the singles were reprised along with concert versions of some key album tracks, and a surprise or two (like the medley of Bobby Brown hits). Lil' Kim showed up to add her risqué vocals to the mid-tempo "Just Like Me," and there were also guest performances by Jagged Edge, Trey Lorenz, Shanice, Twista, and Manuel Seal. As a bonus, the Live album wrapped up with remixes of "My Way," "Nice & Slow" and "You Make Me Wanna."

8701 (2001—2002)

File:Usher-8701.jpg
8701 (2001)

Usher's energy brought him back into the recording studio for his fourth album, 8701 (named for the years of his career at that point (1987-2001), and it was also released on August 7, 2001, or 8/7/01). His international appeal was evident when "Pop Ya Collar", produced and co-written by Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, was released outside the U.S. early in the year and became a #2 hit in the UK. Back home, "U Remind Me" (produced by Philadelphia's Edmund "Eddie Hustle" Clement) was chosen as the album's first single. Exactly one month before the album's release, "U Remind Me" simultaneously hit #1 on the U.S. Hot 100, staying on top of the charts for 4 weeks.

One month after the album's release, "U Got It Bad," a slow jam written by Usher, Dupri and Brian Cox rocketed up the charts and also peaked on the top of the charts (6 weeks), while staying at #1 of the R&B/Hip-Hop tracks chart for further 7 weeks. "U Don't Have To Call," one of two album tracks produced by the Neptunes, kept the heat on the singles charts into 2002, reaching the top 3. As an aside, Usher joined P. Diddy and Loon on his runaway #2 Pop/#2 R&B hit, "I Need a Girl," which spent a half-year on the charts in 2002.

By that time, "Can U Help Me" (a collaboration with hitmakers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis) was released as the fourth single from 8701 in late-summer 2002. To date the album had past 4x platinum, selling more than 8 million copies worldwide. The year closed out with an interesting trio of dramatic TV series appearances, all in November, on "The Twilight Zone," "7th Heaven," and Dick Clark's "American Dreams" (portraying Marvin Gaye).

Because of Grammy deadline peculiarities of eligibility, "U Remind Me" was able to win the Best Male R&B Vocal award at the ceremonies in February 2002; and "U Don't Have To Call" won the same award at the ceremonies one year later, making Usher the only artist besides Luther Vandross (more than a decade before) and Stevie Wonder (back in the 1970s) to win that award in consecutive years.

Confessions (2004—2005)

Confessions (2004)

Confessions was released on March 23 2004 just as the Lil Jon produced "Yeah!" was in its 6th week at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 5th week at #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart. The album's 1.1 million unit first week was not only the highest first week numbers ever scanned by a male R&B artist in Soundscan's 13-year history (breaking R. Kelly's record of 540k for TP-2.com back in 2000) – but also the highest first week scans by any male artist since Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP (also in 2000, with 1.7 million units). As a result the album became one of the most successful records of the year, topping the world charts for several weeks and eventually selling more than 12 million copies all over the globe.

This success was simultaneously extended by the releases of the album's second single, "Burn", and third single, "Confessions Part II", which once again topped Billboard's Hot 100 for further ten weeks and made Usher the third lead artist in pop music history - but the first solo artist - to have three singles inside the Hot 100's top 10, since the Beatles in 1964 and the Bee Gees in 1978. In September 2004, "My Boo", Usher's first collaboration with singer Alicia Keys (which was included on a Special Edition, released a half year after the orginal version) also peaked at #1 and gave him a total of 28 weeks at #1 in 2004, In the December of the same year another single made its way to the top 10, when the album's final single "Caught Up" peaked at #8. The track also was used as the lead single of the Rhythm City CD/DVD, Usher released in March 2005 with a few previously unreleased tracks and a short motion picture.

In the meantime Usher won a huge number of awards, beginning with two MTV Awards for "Best Male R&B Artist" and "Yeah!" (Viewers' Choice Award) in June 2004. In August, Usher interrupted his sold-out North American tour (with Kanye West and Christina Milian) to pick up the first two MTV Video Music Awards of his career. After opening the show's first-ever broadcast from Miami Beach with a live performance of "Yeah!", Usher went on to win Best Male Video and Best Dance Video for the hit.

On September 16, the World Music Awards departed from its traditional site in Monaco to stage its first global telecast from Las Vegas. The show, broadcast on the ABC network in the U.S., found Usher on the receiving end of three awards: "Best Male Artist", "Best Male Pop Artist" and "Best R&B Artist". One month later he furthermore won "Male R&B Artist of the Year" and "R&B/Rap Collaboration of the Year" for "Yeah!" at the annual Source Hip-Hop Music Awards, followed-up by a Nordic Music Award ("Top Male Artist"), three Radio Music Awards, four American Music Awards and two more MTV Europe Music Awards. At the 2005 Grammy Awards ceremony, Usher also won three Grammy awards, including "R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals" ("My Boo" with Alicia Keys), "Rap/Sung Collaboration" ("Yeah!") and "Contemporary R&B Album" (Confessions).

In spring 2005 the singer once again entered the top 5 of Billboard's Hot 100 with Ludacris and Lil Jon when he was featured on the second single from Lil Jon's album Crunk Juice, entitled Lovers and Friends. The track eventually managed to peak at #3 on the U.S. singles chart. Around the same time Usher also finished working on his motion picture In the Mix, a crime-comedy, in which he portrayed the leading role Darrell, a DJ. Released in on November 23, 2005, the film performed poorly at the box office, and failed to earn critical acclaim (the film was temporary voted #2 in the IMDb bottom 100).

Currently (2006-present)

File:Ushercleaningup.jpg
Usher helping to clean up New Orleans school.

Usher's working on his fifth studio album, which is expected for early 2007. [1]

On 13 June 2006 Usher went to work cleaning up a New Orleans school that had been closed since Hurricane Katrina. Joining another dozens of volunteers, he helped clean the overgrown lawn of the "International School of Louisiana", a foreign language-based charter school. The school has been closed since August 29. Usher also said "To see it, in this state, it's devastating,"

Discography

For more information about his singles, albums, certifications, and music video, see Usher Raymond Discography

Albums

  • Usher (1994) #167 US
  • My Way (1997) #4 US, #16 UK, (US Certification: 6x Platinum) - 8 million worldwide
  • Live (1999) #73 US, (US Certification: Gold) - 500,000
  • 8701 (2001) #4 US, #1 UK, (US Certification: 4x Platinum) - 8 million worldwide
  • Confessions (2004) #1 US, #1 UK, (US Certification: 9x Platinum) - 15 million worldwide [2]

Singles

Year Title Chart Positions Album
US Hot 100 US R&B/Hip-Hop UK Singles
1994 "Can U Get Wit It" #59 #13 Usher
1995 "Think Of You" #58 #7 #70 Usher
1995 "The Many Ways" Usher
1997 "You Make Me Wanna" #2 #1 #1 My Way
1998 "Nice & Slow" #1 (2 weeks) #1 #24 My Way
1998 "My Way" #2 #4 #42 My Way
1998 "Bedtime" #66 My Way
2001 "Pop Ya Collar" #60 #25 #2 All About U
2001 "U Remind Me" #1 (4 weeks) #1 #3 8701
2001 "U Got It Bad" #1 (6 weeks) #1 #5 8701
2002 "U Don't Have To Call" ¹ #3 #2 #4 8701
2002 "Can You Help Me" - #57 - 8701
2002 "U-Turn" #16 8701
2002 "I Need A Girl" (Part I) (P. Diddy feat Usher & Loon) #2 #2 #10 We Invented The Remix
2004 "Yeah!" (featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris) #1 (12 weeks) #1 #1 (2 weeks) Confessions
2004 "Burn" #1 (8 weeks) #1 #1 (2 weeks) Confessions
2004 "Confession, Pt. 2" ² #1 (2 weeks) #1 #5 Confessions
2004 "My Boo" (with Alicia Keys) #1 (6 weeks) #1 #5 Confessions
2004 "Caught Up" #8 #13 #9 Confessions
2005 "Throwback" - #36 - Confessions
2004 "That's What It's Made For" - #59 - Confessions
2005 "Seduction" - #68 - Rhythm City CD
2005 "Dot Com" - #53 - Rhythm City CD
Notes:
  1. In the UK released as a double 'a' side with P. Diddy's "I Need A Girl (Part 1)".
  1. In the UK released as a double 'a' side with "My Boo".

Guest vocals

DVDs

Filmography

Television work

Awards and Nominations

source

Awards

  • Billboard-AURN R&B/Hip-Hop Awards
    • 2002 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artist
    • 2002 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Artist
    • 2002 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Artist
    • 2005 Top Artist
    • 2005 Top Male Artist
    • 2005 Top Singles Artist
  • BET Awards
    • 2002 Best R&B Male Artist
    • 2004 Best R&B Male Artist
    • 2005 Best R&B Male Artist
    • 2004 Viewers Choice Award
  • NAACP Image Awards
    • 2005 Outstanding Male Artist
  • Soul Train Music Awards
    • 1998 Best R&B/Soul Single ("My Way")
    • 2002 Best R&B Performance ("U Remind Me")
    • 2002 Best R&B/Soul Single Male ("U Remind Me")
    • 2005 Best Male R&B-Soul Single ("Confessions Part II")
    • 2005 Best R&B-Soul Album ("Confessions")
    • 2005 Best R&B-Soul Single By a Group or Duo ("My Boo", with Alicia Keys)
    • 2005 Best R&B-Soul or Rap Music Video ("Yeah", with Ludacris and Lil Jon)
  • Grammy Awards
    • 2001 R&B Male Vocal Performance ("U Remind Me")
    • 2002 R&B Male Vocal Performance ("U Don't Have To Call")
    • 2005 R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals (My Boo", with Alicia Keys)
    • 2005 Contemporary R&B Album ("Confessions")
    • 2005 Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Yeah", with Ludacris and Lil Jon)
  • People's Choice Awards
    • 2004 Favorite Male Singer
    • 2004 Favorite Combined Forces ("Yeah", with Ludacris and Lil Jon)
  • Billboard Music Awards
    • 1998 R&B Artist of the Year
    • 1998 Hot 100 Singles Artist of the Year
    • 2004 Artist of the Year
    • 2004 Billboard 200 Artist of the Year
    • 2004 Billboard 200 Album of the Year ("Confessions")
    • 2004 Hot 100 Artist of the Year
    • 2004 Hot 100 Single of the Year ("Yeah", Usher with Ludacris and Lil Jon)
    • 2004 Hot 100 Airplay Single of the Year ("Yeah", Usher with Ludacris and Lil Jon)
    • 2004 Mainstream Top 40 Artist of the Year
    • 2004 Mainstream Top 40 Single of the Year
    • 2004 R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year
    • 2004 R&B/Hip-Hop Album of the Year ("Confessions")
    • 2004 R&B/Hip-Hop albums Artist of the Year ("Confessions")
  • MTV Video Music Awards
    • 2004 Best Male Video ("Yeah", Usher with Ludacris and Lil Jon)
    • 2004 Best Dance Video ("Yeah", Usher with Ludacris and Lil Jon)
  • American Music Awards
    • 2004 Favorite Male Artist – Pop or Rock
    • 2004 Favorite Album – Pop or Rock ("Confessions")
    • 2004 Favorite Male Artist – Soul / Rhythm & Blues Music
    • 2004 Favorite Album – Soul / Rhythm & Blues Music ("Confessions")
  • Radio Music Awards
    • 2004 Hip-Hop Artist of the Year
    • 2004 Hip-Hop Song of the Year ("Yeah", Usher with Ludacris and Lil Jon)
    • 2004 Cingular Wireless Artist of the year
  • First Annual Nordic Music Awards
    • 2004 Top Male Artist
  • World Music Awards
    • 2005 Male Entertainer of the Year
    • 2004 Best Selling Male Artist
    • 2004 Best Selling Male Pop Artist
    • 2004 Selling Best Male R&B Artist
  • Teen Choice Awards
    • 2002 Favorite R&B Artist
    • 2002 Best Love Song ("U Got It Bad")
    • 2004 Favorite Album ("Confessions")
    • 2004 Favorite R&B Artist
    • 2004 Favorite R&B Track ("Yeah", Usher with Ludacris and Lil Jon)
    • 2004 Favorite Hook Up ("Yeah", Usher with Ludacris and Lil Jon)
  • ASCAP Awards
    • 2002 Pop Music Award ("U Got It Bad")
    • 2002 Pop Music Award ("Nice & Slow")
    • 2002 Pop Music Award ("You Make Me Wanna")
  • The 2005 MuchMusic Video Awards
    • Best International Video – Artist ("Caught Up")

Nominations

  • Grammy Award
    • 2006 Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for ("Superstar")
    • 2005 Album of the Year for ("Confessions")
    • 2005 Best R&B Song for ("My Boo")
    • 2005 Best R&B Song for ("Burn")
    • 2005 Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male for ("Burn")
    • 2005 Record of the Year for ("Yeah")
    • 1999 Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male for ("My Way")
    • 1998 Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male for ("You Make Me Wanna")
  • World Music Award
    • 2005 World's Best Selling Pop Male Artist
    • 2005 World's Best Selling R&B Artist
  • Billboard AURN R&B/Hip-Hop Award
    • 2005 Top R&B/Hip-hop Albums Artist
    • 2005 Top R&B/Hip-hop Albums for ("Confessions")
    • 2005 Hot Rap Tracks for ("Lovers And Friends")
  • MTV Video Music Award
    • 2005 Best Male Video for ("Caught Up")
    • 2005 Best R&B Video for ("My Boo")
    • 2004 Video of the Year for ("Yeah")
    • 2004 Best R&B Video for ("Burn")
    • 1998 Best R&B Video for ("You Make Me Wanna")
  • Juno Awards
    • 2005 International Album of the Year for ("Confessions")
  • Billboard Music Award
    • 2005 Ringtone of the Year for ("Lovers & Friends")
    • 2004 R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Artist of the Year
    • 2004 R&B/Hip-Hop Single of the Year for ("Yeah!")
    • 2004 R&B/Hip-Hop Single of the Year for ("Burn")
    • 2004 Hot 100 Single of the Year for ("Burn")
    • 2004 Digital Artist of the Year
  • Radio Music Award
    • 2005 Artist of the Year/Urban and Rhythmic Radio
    • 2005 Artist of the Year/ Mainstream Hit Radio
  • NAACP Image Award
    • 2005 Outstanding Music Video for ("My Boo")
    • 2005 Outstanding Music Video for ("Yeah!")
    • 2005 Outstanding Song for ("Yeah!")
    • 2005 Outstanding Album for ("Confessions")

Trivia

  • Usher recently became the first artiste in 34 years to top Billboard Hot 100 singles chart four times in a year. (Dec 10, 2004)
  • Is launching the first-ever celebrity debit card. The Usher Raymond 4th Debit MasterCard, is backed by the financial service group Bankfirst. (July 31, 2004)
  • Has three singles from his album Confessions in Billboard top 10, a feat only previously matched by British bands the Beatles and the Bee Gees. (May 29, 2004)
  • Swears his latest album, Confessions, – which features songs about a painful breakup and infidelity – is not a reflection on his recent split with TLC member Rozonda Chilli Thomas. (March 25, 2004)
  • Usher says his mother is his best friend. He credits her for keeping him grounded. She continues to guide Usher's career as his manager today, a duty she assumed after quitting her full-time office job when deciding to move to Atlanta.
  • Chosen as one of Teen People Magazine's 21 Hottest Stars Under 21. (1999)
  • Usher Raymond is the fourth in his family to be named after each other.
  • He began singing when he was 6, joining the local church choir at the behest of his mother, Jonnetta Patton.
  • At age 13, L. A. Reid signed Usher an audition to La Face Records after seeing him at a "Star Search" audition.
  • Usher was only fourteen when he worked on his first album. He needs several vocal coaches in order to help him complete the record.
  • Usher once made mistake when he introduced Album of the Year award winner Bob Dylan as "Bill" during the award telecast.
  • In 1986, Usher has numerous appearances on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
  • Usher has recorded 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.
  • In 1996, he acts on TV show "Moesha" with female pop singer Brandy.
  • His first lead role in a movie was as Gabe Santora in the 1998 thriller, "The Faculty."
  • Supermodel Naomi Campbell refused to accompany Usher to the Billboard Awards. He went in by a back door. Not long after that, the couple broke up.
  • Usher served as national spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Transportation's "Get Big On Safety" campaign, and appeared on NBC's "Inside Stuff".
  • He participated in the NBA "Stay In School" program and performed at several of the franchises' jamborees entertaining students while showing them the importance of education.
  • The host of 2004 BET Awards, Monique, danced with a group of girls and said that dance was for Usher.
  • He was crowned the 'Godson of Soul' by funk superstar James Brown, after the two danced together onstage at 2005 Grammy Awards.
  • Usher appears in Beyonce's "Naughty Girl" video.
  • He is now one of the new owners of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.
  • His 5th album, "Confessions", was released in the U.S. It sold over 1.1 million copies in its first week, the highest first-week total ever for an R&B album
  • He has two nicknames, which are Big Ush and Big Tyme.
  • Joined dozens of volunteers to clear the overgrown lawn of the International School of Louisiana, which has been closed since Katrina hit August 29 (June 13, 2006).
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