Usher

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Usher (disambiguation) .

Usher (2016)

. Usher Raymond IV (* 14. October 1978 in Dallas , Texas ), known by the stage name Usher, is an American R & B - singer and actor and multiple Grammy award winner.

Life

Usher was the son of Jonetta Patton (nee O'Neal) and Usher Raymond III. born. He spent most of his young life in Chattanooga , Tennessee . When he was one year old, his father left the family and grew up with his mother, stepfather, and a half-brother. At the age of 9 he started singing in the choir of his parish. It was there that his grandmother discovered his ability to sing. Believing that a bigger city would offer more opportunities to showcase his talent, his family moved to Atlanta , Georgia . There he attended North Springs High School. On January 21, 2008, his father died of a heart attack.

Career

Musical beginnings and ushers

At the age of 13 he was discovered by a representative of the record label LaFace Records in the US version of Star Search . He arranged an audition for Usher with LA Reid , who signed a recording deal with him. As a result, Usher's mother quit her job as a medical-technical assistant to manage his career, but she broke off this job as a client manager in May 2007.

In 1993 he released his first single Call Me A Mack , which he recorded for the film Poetic Justice . The following year his self-titled debut album Usher was released , with Sean Combs producing a few songs. Despite all this, the album had moderate success and only reached number 167 on the US Billboard 200 .

My Way and 8701

Usher developed a friendship with the American music producer Jermaine Dupri . With him he produced some songs for his second album, My Way , which was released on September 16, 1997. The single You Make Me Wanna reached the top of the charts in Great Britain, making it Usher's first number one hit. He also released two other singles from the album, My Way and Nice & Slow . The latter even made it to number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 . The album sold over 7 million times worldwide, 6 million times in the USA alone.

In the spring of 1999 he released a live album called Live , which reached number 73 in the US album charts. It includes performances by Lil 'Kim , Jagged Edge , Shanice , Trey Lorenz and Twista , among others . The album was awarded gold in the USA.

His third album 8701 , which was originally to be called All About U , was released on August 7, 2001. The first single, Pop Ya Collar , was well placed in Great Britain, but the single only made it to number 60 in the USA. Again, the two other single releases U Remind Me and U Got It Bad made it to number 1 in the USA for a total of 5 weeks .

In the following two years he won two Grammys in the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance category for the singles U Remind Me and U Don't Have to Call . In the summer of 2002 he was a guest musician alongside Loon in the song I Need a Girl (Part I) by P. Diddy .

Confessions and Here I Stand

On January 27, 2004 Usher released the first single Yeah! In collaboration with rappers Ludacris and Lil Jon . on his fourth album Confessions . The single became a worldwide success and is his first and so far only number one hit in Germany . In the United States, the song stayed at the top of the charts for 12 weeks, making it the most successful in 2004 in the United States. So far it's Yeah! the musician's most successful single.

In the following months the singles Burn and Confessions (Part II) were released, both of which were number 1 in the USA for a total of 10 weeks. In the late summer of 2004, the duet My Boo with Alicia Keys was released , which was also able to stay at the top of the chart in the United States for 6 weeks. The last single Caught Up did not make it to number one in the USA like the previous singles, but to number 8.

The album Confessions was released on March 23, 2004 and is still the singer's most successful album with over 20 million sound units sold. Almost 1.1 million units were sold in the first week after its release alone. No R&B artist has ever achieved this. All single releases from the album were number 1 in the USA for a total of 26 weeks . Because of this, he was named Artist of the Year at the 2004 Billboard Music Awards .

In addition, Usher received numerous awards for the album: including four American Music Awards , three World Music Awards , two MTV Europe Music Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards . At the 47th Grammy Awards in 2005 he won in the categories Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for My Boo , Best Rap / Sung Collaboration for Yeah! and in the Best Contemporary R&B Album category for Confessions .

At the beginning of 2005 he was a guest musician alongside Ludacris in the song Lovers & Friends by Lil Jon and in 2007 in the song Same Girl by R. Kelly .

The fifth album Here I Stand was released in some European countries on May 13, 2008 . Around 400,000 sound units were sold in the first week. As a result, the album climbed straight to the top of the US Billboard 200 chart, as did the single Love In This Club , which incidentally was recorded with rapper Young Jeezy . In addition, the subsequent single Love In This Club Part II , in which Beyoncé and Lil Wayne can also be heard this time , made it into the top 20 of the US Billboard Hot 100 . Two other songs from the album were also released, Moving Mountains and Trading Places .

Raymond v. Raymond and Versus

Usher on the OMG tour in Houston (2010)

The sixth album Raymond v. Raymond was released on March 26, 2010. Three of the six singles were released exclusively in the United States, including: The Single Papers , There Goes My Baby and Lil Freak . The latter was recorded with Nicki Minaj . They all made it into the top 40 of the US singles chart. The single Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home) only reached a chart position in two countries, namely in the USA at number 24 and in Austria at number 68.

Working with will.i.am , Usher released his single OMG , which is his ninth number one hit in the US to date. The corresponding album also reached the top position on the Billboard 200 and sold over 300,000 times in the first week. In November 2010, another single from the album was released, More , which made it to number 1 in the Canadian singles chart. At the Super Bowl XLV , the two musicians performed live with the song.

A few months earlier, the Extended Play Versus was published, which was also a Deluxe Edition by Raymond v. Raymond is being sold. It also contains some new songs, including DJ Got Us Falling In Love with Pitbull , Hot Tottie with Jay-Z and Somebody To Love (remix) with Justin Bieber .

Looking 4 Myself and The Voice

On June 8, 2012, the seventh album Looking 4 Myself was released, which is his fourth number one album in the US so far. The first single Climax climbed to number 4 in the British single charts and to number 17 in the United States; with her he received the 2013 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance . The second single, Scream , even made it into the top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100 . In addition, two more singles from the album were released, Lemme See , which was recorded with Rick Ross , and Numb . The latter reached the top 25 of the single charts in Germany and Austria.

At the end of 2012 Usher was a guest musician alongside David Guetta in the song Rest of My Life by Ludacris .

In the spring of 2013 he sat next to Adam Levine , Blake Shelton and Shakira , on the jury of the US version of The Voice . In 2014 the single She Came To Give It To You was released , in which he is featured by Nicki Minaj .

In February 2015 he recorded the song Don't Look Down with the Dutch DJ and producer Martin Garrix . The progressive house track was released in March 2015 and was able to advance into the top 100 of numerous European countries. Together they played the song on March 26, 2015 at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami.

Usher unveiled his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 7, 2016.

On the occasion of the Grammy Awards 2020 , a tribute concert for Prince took place on January 28, 2020 in the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles under the motto "Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince", at which Usher performed the songs Little Red Corvette , When Doves sang Cry and Kiss . The concert aired on U.S. television on April 21, 2020, the fourth anniversary of Prince's death.

other projects

Acting

Usher made his acting debut on the US sitcom Moesha in 1998 . He had his first film role in the film The Faculty , which was released in 1998. He had his first leading role in the 1999 film Light It Up . He was also in the comedy One Like No and in the film Texas Rangers . In the series A Heavenly Family he had a guest appearance as a radio producer in 2003 in the tenth episode of the seventh season. In November 2005 he played the lead role in the film In The Mix and took on the role of Billy Flynn in the Broadway musical Chicago on August 22, 2006 . He also played in Kiss & Kill in 2010 and in Justin Bieber: Never Say Never in 2011 . He also had a brief appearance in the movie Scary Movie 5 in 2013.

production

In 2002 Usher founded his record company US Records, a vanity label which is a subsidiary of the music label J Records owned by Clive Davis . The first album to be released was the soundtrack to the film In The Mix . It was used to introduce artists such as One Chance or Justin Bieber . Usher worked as a songwriter and producer on the project. Raymond Braun Media Group, with which Justin Bieber is under contract, is a joint venture between Usher and Scooter Braun, the manager of Justin Bieber.

Private life

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

In 2001, Usher began a relationship with former TLC member Rozonda Thomas . She starred in two of his music videos, U Remind Me and U Got It Bad . In late 2003, the couple ended their relationship.

On August 3, 2007, he married Tameka Foster . Their child Usher Raymond V was born in November of the same year. The following year, on December 10, their second child, Naviyd Ely Raymond, was born. The couple divorced in November 2009. After a long argument, Usher got custody of the children.

On July 8, 2012, Usher's 11-year-old ex-stepson was pronounced brain dead after a swimming accident.

Discography

→ Main article : Usher / discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	R&B
1994	Usher	-	-	-	-	US167 (12 weeks) US	R&B25 (51 weeks) R&B	First published: August 30, 1994 Sales: + 269,000
1997	My way	DE41 (14 weeks) DE	-	CH20 (7 weeks) CH	UK16 gold (23 weeks)UK	US4th × 6 Six-fold platinum (79 weeks)US	R&B1 (75 weeks) R&B	First published: September 16, 1997 Sales: + 7,000,000
2001	8701	DE7 (34 weeks) DE	AT47 (7 weeks) AT	CH10 gold (38 weeks)CH	UK1 × 2 Double platinum (59 weeks)UK	US4th × 4 Quadruple platinum (61 weeks)US	R&B3 (58 weeks) R&B	First published: August 7, 2001 Sales: + 8,000,000
2004	Confessions	DE2 gold (57 weeks)DE	AT25 (25 weeks) AT	CH3 platinum (55 weeks)CH	UK1 × 5 Quintuple platinum (84 weeks)UK	US1 diamond (124 weeks)US	R&B1 (103 weeks) R&B	First published: March 23, 2004 Sales: + 20,000,000
2008	Here I stand	DE10 (15 weeks) DE	AT24 (6 weeks) AT	CH4 (14 weeks) CH	UK1 gold (17 weeks)UK	US1 platinum (42 weeks)US	R&B1 (69 weeks) R&B	First published: May 13, 2008 Sales: + 5,000,000
2010	Raymond v. Raymond	DE41 (2 weeks) DE	AT68 (1 week) AT	CH20 (6 weeks) CH	UK2 gold (34 weeks)UK	US1 platinum (51 weeks)US	R&B1 (65 weeks) R&B	First published: March 26, 2010 Sales: +2,000,000
2012	Looking 4 myself	DE8 (7 weeks) DE	AT29 (2 weeks) AT	CH5 (11 weeks) CH	UK3 gold (14 weeks)UK	US1 (24 weeks) US	R&B1 (57 weeks) R&B	First published: June 8th, 2012 Sales: + 504,000
2016	Hard II Love	DE55 (1 week) DE	-	CH27 (2 weeks) CH	UK7 (2 weeks) UK	US5 (14 weeks) US	R&B2 (18 weeks) R&B	First published: September 16, 2016

Filmography

• 1995 Clueless
• 1997-1998: Moesha
• 1998: The Faculty
• 1999: Light It Up
• 1999: One like none
• 2001: Texas Rangers
• 2002: Sabrina - Totally Bewitched (6x13 - Goofy's love vows)
• 2002: Twilight Zone (episode 1x08 - the dead live longer)
• 2005: In the Mix
• 2010: Kiss & Kill
• 2011: Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
• 2013: Scary Movie 5
• 2013: Justin Bieber's Believe
• 2014: Muppets Most Wanted

Web links

Commons : Usher Raymond  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Usher in the catalog of the German National Library
• Usher in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Usher in the nndb (English)
• Official website (English)
• Usher at laut.de
• Usher at Allmusic (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ promilounge.de: Usher: A star on the Walk of Fame. September 8, 2016, accessed September 8, 2016 . 
2. ↑ Chuck Arnold: Grammy salute 'Let's Go Crazy' proves nothing compares 2 Prince. In: nypost.com. April 21, 2020, accessed April 24, 2020 . 
3. ↑ admin: The Best Moments From 'Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute To Prince' [Videos]. In: liveforlivemusic.com. April 21, 2020, accessed April 24, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
5. ↑ Bill Harris: Usher - Confessions Part II. In: Black Entertainment Television. November 17, 2006, accessed January 19, 2016 . 
6. ↑ Jonathan Ringen: Billboard Cover: Usher on Getting Tough With Justin Bieber, Why He's Not Ready for a New Album and Life as a Single Dad. In: Billboard. October 24, 2014, accessed January 11, 2015 . 
7. ↑ In the Mix on imdb.de (accessed on March 19, 2011)