USHER TERRY RAYMOND
The then 14-year-old Usher auditioned for LaFace's co-founder L.A. Reid, who signed the choir boy to a recording contract. He was introduced to the world simply as "Usher," and released his debut album of the same name in 1994. That first effort featured co-executive producer Sean "Puffy" Combs and the first single "Think of You" got Usher on the map as his album reached gold status.
Usher was quickly approached to do several outside projects such as a national holiday jingle for Coca-Cola and joining several other male R&B vocalists to form Black Men United for the single "You Will Know," featured on the Jason's Lyric soundtrack. He also teamed with teen singing sensation Monica for a duet remake of Lattimore's "Let's Straighten It Out."
After graduating from high school, Usher released his sophomore album called "My Way" in 1997. On this album Usher showed the world how he'd matured and the record also showcased Usher's songwriting abilities; he co-wrote six of the nine songs on the album and enlisted the help of producers Jermaine Dupri, Babyface, and once again, Sean "Puffy" Combs. The album's first single "You Make Me Wanna (Leave The One I'm With)" re-established Usher as one of R&B's hottest artists, and also made him a crossover sensation not to mention a new sex symbol. His new man-child body and sensual voice got the attention of many young ladies.
Both of the follow-up singles, "Nice & Slow" and "My Way," also went platinum; the former stayed at number one on the R&B charts for eight weeks and became his first number one pop single. But he had more up his sleeve, Usher also launched an acting career, appearing in the 1998 horror spoof "The Faculty" and the 1999 urban high-school drama "Light It Up" alongside Forrest Whittaker, Fredro Starr and Vanessa Williams. And just so his music fans wouldn't feel left out of the loop, he also issued a concert recording titled simply "Live" in 1999.
Usher's third album "8701" was released on August 7, 2001 (hence the title "8701"). With this album, Usher moved from a teen pop star to a more adult sound. The first single "You Remind Me" set it off in the clubs as the follow-up single "You Got It Bad" hit the number one spot on the billboard charts.
His latest album "Confessions" debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album charts, setting an astonishing seven Soundscan sales records and selling 1.1 Million albums the first week. His first single "Yeah" ruled the top spot for 12 consecutive weeks. Even now he is still holding down three of the top 5 spots with "Burn," "Yeah" and "Confessions II." Worldwide, Usher has sold twenty-four million albums!
Hopefully Usher will grace the big screen with more movies as well as do his thang on the stage in a tour for "Confessions". With his past track record I'm sure we'll be seeing and hearing a lot more from Usher for years to come.
Click here to join his fan club!
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