Usher

Musician

• Born: October 14, 1978
• Place of Birth: Dallas, Texas

SINGER AND ACTOR

Usher emerged in the late 1990s as one of the preeminent rhythm-and-blues singers of his generation, his silky tenor accentuated by vibrant rhythms that made his songs dance-club standards.

AREAS OF ACHIEVEMENT: Film: acting; Music: hip-hop; Music: pop; Music: rhythm and blues

Early Life

Usher was born Usher Terry Raymond IV on October 14, 1978, in Dallas, Texas. After his father abandoned the family, his mother relocated to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to be near her family. Early in his life, Usher demonstrated a remarkable proclivity for music, picking out hymn melodies in church when he was only five. By nine, he was singing in the local Baptist church choir. However, he and his family had bigger dreams.

In 1991 the family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, in the hopes of securing Usher entrance into the music industry. He earned a spot in the nationally syndicated talent show Star Search. With his confident stage presence and accomplished voice, Usher easily won the Teen Male Vocalist category. His performance drew the attention of a studio executive who signed the twelve-year-old to a recording contract.

Usher moved to New York, where he recorded his first CD, Usher (1994), which sold respectably. Usher was packaged as a new Marvin Gaye and, despite his relatively young age, the songs emphasized smoldering sexuality. His good looks and easy charisma gave Usher the chance, in 1997, to expand his range of talents to acting—initially in a recurring role in the cable sitcom Moesha and then on the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.

Life’s Work

Usher’s sophomore recording effort, 1997's My Way, launched him to superstardom. With three number-one dance tracks, including "You Make Me Wanna," the CD sold more than nine million copies and Usher’s music dominated the club scene. The album title's allusion to Frank Sinatra did not go unnoticed by music critics—it was a measure of Usher’s self-assurance and his own sense of his stardom. Usher sold out arenas, and his concerts became known for impeccably choreographed hip-hop numbers and stunning special effects spectacles. Critics found Usher’s third studio release, originally titled All About You but later reissued as 8701 (2001), uneven; however, two of its tracks, "U Remind Me" and "U Don’t Have to Call," secured Usher back-to-back Grammys for Best Male R&B Performance. Billboard named Usher its artist of the year in 1998. For the next two years, the singer was ubiquitous—his romances covered by the tabloid media and his talents featured in a string of films, most prominently 1998's The Faculty and 1999's She’s All That.

Usher’s 2004 album, Confessions, cemented his international star status, ultimately selling more than twenty-five million units. The album's four signature singles—"Yeah," "Burn," "Confessions II," and "My Boo" featuring Alicia Keys—dominated both rhythm-and-blues and adult pop formats. Usher became only the third recording artist (joining the Beatles and the Bee Gees) to have three songs in the Top 10 simultaneously. He won three Grammy Awards (he was nominated for eight) and was again named Billboard’s artist of the year. He also continued to perform as an actor, landing a role in the film In the Mix (2005) and the lead part in the Broadway musical Chicago in 2006.

In 2008 Usher released Here I Stand, which enjoyed similar international success, as did the 2010 release Raymond v. Raymond. Many of the songs on the latter album revealed a more adult perspective. Usher tackled his recent divorce from Tameka Foster, his infidelities, and his relationship with his two children. That evolution continued with the August 2010 release of the extended play (EP) Versus, which featured songs about being a parent and about his difficult relationship with his mother (whom he had replaced as his manager) and his father, who died in 2008. Versus debuted at number one on both the pop and rhythm-and-blues charts.

In addition to his performing career, Usher started a record company, US Records, and became a mentor to young artists such as teenage phenomenon Justin Bieber. He also served as chief executive officer of a chain of exclusive restaurants and took an ownership stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers professional basketball team. That entrepreneurial savvy as much as his recording success positioned Usher as one of the most influential—and wealthiest—stars in the entertainment industry while still in his thirties. He also contributed to philanthropic causes, most notably through the New Look Foundation, an organization providing aid and other services to at-risk and disadvantaged youth that he founded in 1999.

2012 saw the release of Usher's album Looking 4 Myself, which became his fourth record to reach number one on the Billboard albums chart. The single "Scream" was particularly successful. The next year he began serving as a judge for the singing competition television program The Voice, a position he would hold again for another season in 2014. He also announced he was working on his next studio project and released several singles in advance of the album. However, the project experienced several delays. In 2016 Usher announced he had changed the album's name and planned to release it that year. In addition to 2016 finally seeing the release of the long-awaited album, ultimately titled Hard II Love and largely well received, it saw Usher portray boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard in the film Hands of Stone. A, which was described as a collaborative album worked on with producer Zaytoven, was released in 2018, and in 2019 he once again had a role on The Voice, this time as judge John Legend's battle advisor for season seventeen. The following year, he released the single "Bad Habits," which reached number one on the Adult R&B chart. In July 2021, he kicked off a Las Vegas residency. Usher completed his Las Vegas residency after his one hundredth show on December 2, 2024.

In 2022, Usher announced that he had left RCA Records. He instead formed the record company Mega with record executive L. A. Reid in partnership with gamma music company. It was with his new company that Usher released top Adult R&B singles "GLU" and "Good Good," featuring Summer Walker and 21 Savage, in 2023. In September of that year, Usher performed an eight show residency in Paris, France.

On February 9, 2024, Usher released his ninth studio album, Coming Home. At approximately 53,000 copies sold in the US alone within the first week of its release, Coming Home debuted at number one on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart, which measures traditional album sales to rank the highest-selling weekly releases. On February 11, 2024, Usher headlined the Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show. Following Usher's halftime performance, Coming Home claimed the second spot atop the Billboard 200 albums chart, making it his ninth studio album to claim a top-ten spot on the list and his highest-charting album on the Billboard 200 in over a decade. The album also claimed the top spot on Billboard's Top R&B Albums chart the week of February 24, 2024, which marked Coming Home as his fifth album to hit number one on the chart. In March 2024, the NAACP Image Awards honored Usher with the President's Award for his outstanding achievements as an artist and his social activism. The 2024 NAACP Image Awards also named Usher as the entertainer of the year.

Usher married Def Jam Records executive Grace Miguel in 2015 following years of dating. After filing for divorce from Miguel in late 2018, he welcomed a daughter with music executive Jenn Goicoechea in 2020. They had a second child in 2021. Usher also has two other children from previous relationships.

Significance

Emerging at a time when hip-hop was dominated by gangsta rap artists, Usher offered a striking alternative. Maintaining the vigorous dance rhythms and vocal pyrotechnics of hip-hop, Usher infused the club sound with a sense of cool and a smoldering sexuality that recalled greats such as Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson. Enjoying phenomenal record sales and international concert success at a remarkably young age, Usher came to define the club scene of the new millennium. By the time his career matured in the 2010s he had become one of the best-selling American musicians of all time.

Bibliography

Caulfield, Keith. "Usher’s Coming Home Debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales Chart." Billboard, 19 Feb. 2024, www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/usher-coming-home-number-one-debut-top-album-sales-chart-1235610487/. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

Chang, Jeff. Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation. Picador, 2005.

Grigoriadis, Vanessa. “Usher’s Wild Ride: So Many Girls, So Little Time.” Rolling Stone, vol. 948, 13 May 2004, pp. 56-60.

Lane, Lynda. "Usher: Biography." AllMusic, 2016. Web. Accessed 19 Apr. 2016.

Peters, Mitchell. "Usher Talks 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show with Apple Music's Zane Lowe: Here Are 7 Highlights." Billboard, 24 Sept. 2023, www.billboard.com/lists/usher-super-bowl-halftime-show-apple-music-zane-lowe-interview-video/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2023.

Tanzer, Myles. "Usher on Creating His Surprise Project A with Zaytoven." Fader, 12 Oct. 2018, www.thefader.com/2018/10/12/usher-a-album-interview-zaytoven-birthday. Accessed 22 July 2021.

Usher. "After Years of Chasing Fame, R&B Star Usher Is Taking Stock." Interview by Brian McCollum. The Detroit Free Press, 2 Dec. 2010.

"Usher: Biography." People. Time, 2016. Web. Accessed 19 Apr. 2016.

"Usher Named President's Award Recipient for '55th NAACP Image Awards'.” NAACP Image Awards, 15 Mar. 2024, naacpimageawards.net/press-releases/usher-named-presidents-award-recipient-for-55th-naacp-image-awards/. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.