Who Is Usher?
Usher entered the fame game at age 14, two years after he moved with his mother and brother to Atlanta. After performing on Star Search, Usher landed a recording contract with LaFace Records. He released his first album in 1994, at age 15. For more than 15 years, Usher has dominated the airwaves, releasing such albums as Confessions (2004), which sold more than 1 million copies in its first week. In June 2012, he produced the album Looking 4 Myself, which found a No. 1 spot on Billboard’s albums chart. Usher’s songs have repeatedly landed at No. 1 on the charts, earning him several Grammy and People’s Choice awards, among other honors.

Early Years
Usher Terry Raymond IV was born on October 14, 1978, in Dallas, Texas and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He began singing in his church choir when he was six years old. Two years after moving with his mother and brother to Atlanta, Usher performed on the hit show Star Search, and landed a recording contract with LaFace Records soon after. He released his first, self-titled album in 1994, at age 15. Usher soon became known for his polished vocals, broad vocal range, chic style, sexy dance moves and sensual ballads.

Musical Career
For more than 15 years, Usher has been a dominant player in the music industry. He’s moved across several different musical genres, including R&B, blues and pop. Following Usher (1994), he released his second album, My Way, in 1997. The album—including singles “Nice & Slow” and “You Make Me Wanna?”—skyrocketed the young artist to fame, selling more than 7 million copies. Usher was quickly lauded for his fluid vocals and addictive melodies. He also became known for incorporating sexual undertones into his songs, performances and music videos.

Usher released Usher Live in 1999, followed by 2001’s incredibly successful 8701, which included the No. 1 song “U Got It Bad,” as well as two Grammy Award–winning singles, “U Remind Me” and “U Don’t Have to Call.” More than 4 million copies of 8701 were sold in the United States alone.

Nearly a decade after making his first album, Usher released Confessions (2004), which was extremely well-received. More than 1 million copies of the album were sold in its first week, and sales accumulated to nearly 20 million copies worldwide. The album included the songs “Burn,” “Confessions Part II” and “Yeah!”—a collaboration with Ludacris and Lil Jon. By this time, Usher had an incredibly impressive track record: He had achieved 13 Top 20 hits—seven of which were No. 1 singles. In 2004, he was named “Artist of the Year” at the Billboard Music Awards. A year later, he received two People’s Choice Awards and three Grammy Awards (best contemporary R&B album, best R&B performance by a duo or group and best rap/sung collaboration).

Following the release of Raymond v. Raymond (2010), Usher won two more Grammys, for best contemporary R&B album (Raymond v. Raymond) and best male R&B performance (“There Goes My Baby”). In all, the singer has won 17 Billboard Music Awards; eight Soul Train Music Awards; five Grammys; and nine awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, among other honors.

In June 2012, he produced the album Looking 4 Myself, which found a No. 1 spot on Billboard’s albums chart.

In March 2013 Usher announced he was working on his eighth studio album entitled UR, which he described would be “more R&B, more urban” than his previous album Looking 4 Myself. A few of his singles have already been released from the album: “Good Kisser,” “She Came to Give It to You” featuring Nicki Minaj, and “I Don’t Mind” featuring Juicy J.

Film and TV Roles
Outside of music, Usher has worked as a film and stage actor. One of his earliest roles was in the teen horror film The Faculty (1998). He went on to make guest appearances on several television shows, including a role as Marvin Gaye on the program American Dreams (2002). In 2005, Usher played a disc jockey in the film In the Mix, and a year later, he landed the lead role of Billy Flynn in the Broadway play Chicago (2006).