Usher (musician)

Usher
Usher at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival
Born	Usher Raymond IV[1][2] (1978-10-14) October 14, 1978 (age 46)[3] Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Education	North Springs Charter School
Occupations	Singer songwriter dancer actor businessman
Years active	1993–present[4]
Organization	Usher's New Look
Television	The Voice
Spouse(s)	Tameka Foster ​ ​ (m. 2007; div. 2009)​ Grace Miguel ​ ​ (m. 2015; div. 2018)​ Jennifer Goicoechea ​ (m. 2024)​
Partner(s)	Rozonda Thomas (2001–2003) Shantella Whitaker (2004- present)
Children	4
Parent(s)	Usher Raymond III Jonetta Patton
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Genres	R&B[5] hip hop pop dance crunk
Instruments	Vocals bass guitar drums
Labels	LaFace Arista Jive RCA Sony Legacy RBMG
Website	usherworld.com

Usher Raymond IV (born October 14, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. He became well known in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way (1997). The album's single "Nice & Slow" reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2000, My Way was given a 6x platinum certification by the RIAA for sales of 6 million copies in the United States alone.^[6] His next album, 8701, released two number one singles. These include "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad". 8701 was given a 4× Platinum certification by the RIAA in July 2002.^[6]

Confessions (2004) sold over 10 million copies in the United States. It was given a Diamond award by the RIAA in 2008.^[7] At 1.1 million, Confessions has the highest first week sales for an R&B singer in history.^[8] The album had four number one Billboard singles. These include "Yeah!", "Burn", "Confessions Part II", and "My Boo". Usher's next album, Here I Stand (2008), sold over 5 million copies worldwide.^[9] The lead single, "Love in This Club" reached number one on the Hot 100 chart.

Two years later, Usher released his sixth album Raymond v. Raymond (2010). It became his third album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart.^[10] It was then certified platinum by the RIAA.^[11] Its single "OMG" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Usher's ninth number one single in the United States. Because of this, he became the first 2010s artist to have number one singles in three consecutive decades (1990s, 2000s, and 2010s). Versus (2010) was released as an extended play and a deluxe edition of Raymond v. Raymond. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart. "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love", a single from the album, reached number four on the Hot 100 chart.

According to RIAA, Usher is one of the best-selling artists in American music history. He has sold over 23 million albums in the United States alone and over 65 million albums worldwide.^[12][13] This makes him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Usher has won a lot of awards. These include eight Grammy Awards.^[14] According to Billboard in 2009, Usher was named the number one Hot 100 artist of the 2000s.^[15] While they ranked him second for the most successful artist of the 2000s.^[16] His 2004 album Confessions was ranked at the top solo album of the 2000s.^[16] Billboard also placed Usher at number six on their list of Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Past 25 Years.^[17] Usher has nine Hot 100 number one songs (as lead artist). He also has eighteen Hot 100 top-ten songs.^[18]

Usher was the halftime performer for Super Bowl 58 on February 11, 2024. His show featured guest performances from Jermaine Dupri, Alicia Keys, Lil Jon, Ludacris, H.E.R., and will.i.am.^[19] Usher’s halftime show broke records.

• Usher (1994)
• My Way (1997)
• 8701 (2001)
• Confessions (2004)
• Here I Stand (2008)
• Raymond v. Raymond (2010)
• Looking 4 Myself (2012)
• Hard II Love (2016)
• Coming Home (2024)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Usher Raymond.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Usher

• Official website
• Usher at the Encyclopædia Britannica
• Usher on IMDb
• Usher at Billboard.com