![]() ![]() He made his recorded debut in 1993 on the Poetic Justice soundtrack with "Call Me a Mack," a single that reached number 56 on Billboard's R&B/hip-hop chart. Reid, who signed the gospel choir boy to a recording contract. The 14-year-old auditioned for LaFace co-founder L.A. After a LaFace A&R representative spotted him on Star Search, his career took off. More than anyone else, as a singer, songwriter, producer, dancer, and all-around entertainer, Usher has been the successor to Michael Jackson.īorn Usher Terry Raymond IV in Dallas, Usher spent much of his childhood in Chattanooga, and eventually moved to Atlanta for the sake of his budding music career. Usher's achievements since then include his 12th and 13th number one R&B/hip-hop hits, "Climax" (2012) and "I Don't Mind" (2014), the Top Five album Hard II Love (2016), and the surprise release "A" (2018), followed by a handful of singles into the 2020s. It also started a streak of four releases, including another Grammy winner for Best Contemporary R&B Album, Raymond v Raymond (2010), that simultaneously topped the Billboard 200 and R&B/hip-hop charts. That LP generated four straight number one pop hits, won a Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album, and joined the ranks of Thriller, Whitney Houston, and CrazySex圜ool by reaching diamond platinum status - over ten million copies sold in the U.S. Remarkably, he hadn't yet peaked, not until the arrival of his landmark fourth album, Confessions (2004). He achieved platinum status for the first time with My Way (1997), and soon won Best Male Vocal R&B Performance Grammy awards in consecutive years with "U Remind Me" (2001) and "U Don't Have to Call" (2002). As part of the thriving LaFace label roster, he then had an instant impact on the post-new jack swing era and successfully rode mainstream songwriting and production trends across three decades. In 2011, he was given a Freedom Award by the National Civil Rights Museum.One of the most successful pop-R&B artists of the late 20th century and the early 21st century, Usher scored his first charting single as a fresh-faced teenager with "Call Me a Mack" (1993). Additionally, Usher has also acted (in television, in movies, on Broadway), taken an ownership stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers, mentored a young Justin Bieber, and worked on both American Idol and The Voice, all while maintaining a steady presence in a variety of philanthropic causes. In late 2018, he celebrated his 40th birthday by releasing “A”, his ninth studio album. 1 singles in three consecutive decades-behind, among others, Michael Jackson. His 2004 album, Confessions, reportedly inspired by his breakup with TLC star Chilli, went not just Platinum but Diamond his 2010 single “OMG” made him only the fifth artist in history to have No. He went on to become one of the most bulletproof figures in pop, capable of straddling club music (2004’s “Yeah!”), ballads (2004’s “Confessions Part II”), boundary-pushing R&B (2012’s “Climax”), and the kind of borderless, big-tent anthems everyone seems to agree on (2008's “Love in This Club”). That performance led almost instantaneously to a deal with LaFace Records, then home to TLC and Toni Braxton, with Usher releasing his self-titled debut album when he was just 15. See him on Star Search, circa 1991, singing Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road,” wading through a sea of admirers (“I was a ham,” he joked later). A pop star who’s hovered in the spotlight for three decades running, with little sign of slowing down.Born Usher Raymond IV in 1978, and raised in Chattanooga and Atlanta, Usher started his career at age 10, making the rounds and honing his craft on Atlanta-area talent shows. It turns out, Usher might be the closest thing we have to Jackson since Jackson himself-a singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and consummate performer whose appeal seems to transcend genre and demographics. “I love you!” Usher replied, pointing back. Usher juked, Jackson followed suit, the two traded moves. ![]() Few moments define Usher's career quite like that night in September 2001, when he stood opposite Michael Jackson at a sold-out Madison Square Garden and shared a dance. ![]()
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