Usher Raymond IV (born October 14, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. An influential figure in contemporary R&B, he was ranked among the greatest singers of all time by Rolling Stone and the greatest pop stars of the 21st century by Billboard.
Usher released his self-titled debut album in 1994, at 15. He rose to fame with the release of his second album, My Way (1997), which spawned his first US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Nice & Slow". His third album, 8701 (2001), yielded the US number-one singles, "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad". Usher's fourth album, Confessions (2004), remains the best-selling album by a Black artist of the 21st century. It was supported by four consecutive US number-one singles: "Yeah!", "Burn", "Confessions Part II", and "My Boo". In 2007, Usher released the album Here I Stand (2008), which spawned the US number-one single "Love in This Club". Billboard named him the second-most successful artist of the 2000s and the number-one Hot 100 artist of the decade.
Usher's sixth album, Raymond v. Raymond (2010), contained his ninth number-one single, "OMG", making him one of the few artists to top the Billboard Hot 100 in three consecutive decades. His debut extended play, Versus (2010), produced the top-five single "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love". Usher's seventh album, Looking 4 Myself (2012) saw further electronic production and spawned the top-ten single "Scream". He followed it with the albums Hard II Love (2016) and Coming Home (2024). His Super Bowl LVIII halftime show in 2024 drew 123 million viewers within the US.
Usher has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His accolades include 8 Grammy Awards, 12 Soul Train Music Awards, 8 American Music Awards, 18 Billboard Music Awards, 7 BET Awards (including the BET Lifetime Achievement Award) and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame in 2021. In 2008, Usher co-founded the record label Raymond-Braun Media Group (RBMG) with Scooter Braun to manage the career of singer Justin Bieber. Outside of music, he founded the charitable non-profit Usher's New Look in 1999, served as a coach on The Voice (2013–2014), and starred in films such as The Faculty (1998), She's All That (1999), Light It Up (1999), In the Mix (2005) and Hands of Stone (2016).
Usher Raymond IV was born on October 14, 1978, in Dallas, Texas. His parents are Jonnetta Patton (née O'Neal) and Usher Raymond III. He spent the majority of his childhood in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Usher III left the family when his son was a year old, and reconciled with him shortly before dying in January 2008.
Usher IV has a younger half-brother, James Lackey, from Jonnetta's marriage to Terry Patton, and grew up with the three of them. Directed by his mother, he joined the local church youth choir in Chattanooga when he was nine years old. There, his grandmother discovered his ability to sing, although it was not until Usher joined a singing group that she considered he could sing professionally. Believing that a bigger city would provide greater opportunities for showcasing him, Usher's family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where there was a more conducive environment for beginning singers. While in Atlanta, he attended North Springs High School.
1991–1996: NuBeginning and Usher
At age 12, Usher became one of five members of a local R&B group called NuBeginning, and recorded ten songs with them in 1991. The quintet was organized by local music promoter Darryl Wheeler, and his groupmates were Anthony Byrd, Adrian Johnson, Reginald McKibbon, and Charles Yarbrough. These were included on their self-titled album, which was released during 1993. It spawned a single titled "A Mother's Luv". NuBeginning at first was only made available regionally and by mail order before being re-released nationally in April 2002 as NuBeginning Featuring Usher Raymond IV by Hip-O Records. This ended up being the group's only album. Patton felt her son was better off as a solo artist and pulled him out at age 13, later calling his time with the group "a bad experience". He initially worried this would end his musical dreams and did not yet understand the choice before she stated "your world is only beginning" and planned out future success without the group.
At age 13, Usher met A.J. Alexander at a local talent show in Atlanta. Alexander, who at the time was Bobby Brown's bodyguard, would take Usher around and have him perform in parking lots and talent shows. Alexander invited Bryant Reid, an A&R representative from LaFace Records to see Usher perform on the television talent show Star Search. Following the performance, he arranged an audition for Usher with L.A. Reid, the co-founder of LaFace; Reid signed Usher on the spot to a contract with the record company after Usher sang the Boyz II Men track "End of the Road". Patton left her job as a medical technician to manage Usher. His first solo song, "Call Me a Mack", was recorded for the soundtrack album to the 1993 drama-romance film Poetic Justice.
While preparing for his solo debut album, Usher lost his voice. He was going through puberty and had a difficult time adjusting his vocals. L.A. Reid became skeptical of Usher, put his album on hold and considered dropping him from the label. Usher pleaded with the label to keep him and they did. From this point Reid did not know what to do with Usher so he sent him to New York City in the spring of 1994 to live with record executive Sean Combs to "attend" what Reid called "Flavor Camp". Usher quickly adapted to the lavish lifestyle of Combs although in an interview with Rolling Stone, he described this period as the "hardest days" of his life. "I had to knuckle up, figure shit out in New York" he said.
On August 30, 1994, LaFace released Usher's self-titled debut album behind the co-executive production of Sean Combs. Usher peaked at number twenty-five on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was accompanied by three singles: "Can U Get wit It", "Think of You", and "The Many Ways". The album sold over 500,000 copies, by December 2008. It received backlash because he was singing about sex, and him only being 15 years old, the public had a difficult time believing that this was so. LaFace had reservations again about signing Usher because the album was not as successful as they anticipated. At this time Usher's mother took control of his career and put him in more talent shows the summer of 1995, building him a larger fan base and ultimately giving L.A. Reid more confidence in Usher.
After graduating from high school, Usher continued to develop his skills as a stage performer and laid the groundwork for his second album. He also appeared on LaFace's version of "Let's Straighten It Out", a 1995 duet with fellow Atlanta teen recording artist Monica; and on "Dreamin'", from LaFace's 1996 Olympic Games benefit album Rhythm of the Games. He was also featured on "I Swear I'm In Love" off the soundtrack to the 1996 film Kazaam.
Usher developed a friendship with American record producer Jermaine Dupri, with whom he co-wrote and produced several tracks for his second album, My Way, released on September 16, 1997. The album's lead single, "You Make Me Wanna...", reached number one in the United Kingdom, becoming Usher's first record to be top single; this resulted in him increasing in popularity. It also became Usher's first gold- and platinum-certified single in the United States. The album's second single, "Nice & Slow", peaked in January 1998 at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Usher his first US number-one single. In February of the same year, the single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). My Way has been certified seven-time platinum in the United States.
"You Make Me Wanna..." won the Best Male R&B/Soul Single at the 1999 Soul Train Music Awards. In the closing months of 1997, Usher embarked on a series of tour engagements including a spot on Puffy's No Way Out tour, dates with Mary J. Blige, and the opening spot on Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope Tour. Usher's first concert album, Live, was released in 1999, which featured appearances by Lil' Kim, Jagged Edge, Trey Lorenz, Shanice, Twista and Manuel Seal; the album has been certified gold in the United States.