Usher

Five-time Grammy award winning American R&B artist, Usher's popularity has been on the rise since the 1990s. His last album 'Confessions' (2004) sold a record breaking 1.1 million copies in its first week in the US alone – the most number of albums sold by an R&B artist in the first week. It topped the Billboard Top 200. His single, "Yeah!" which featured Lil' Jon and Ludacris has been a chart topper worldwide and is typical of his crunk style.

Born Usher Raymond IV, Usher's also known as Big Ush, Big Tyme and Mr. Entertainment. Usher was primarily raised by his mother who is his best friend, and has been managing his career for some time now. Usher recorded and released his debut album when he was 14, with LaFace which was co-produced by Bryant Reid and Sean "P.Diddy" Combs. "Think of You" from this album went on to become quite popular; in fact it reached gold status. After this, he released 'My Way' when he was 19, and "You Make Me Wanna" from this album became an instant hit and was at the No.2 position of the Billboard Top 200 for a number of weeks. "Nice and Slow" was the second smash hit from this album.

Apart from "Yeah", songs like "Burn" and "Confessions Part II", from 'Confessions', topped the US charts as well and stayed there for a number of weeks. "My Boo", his duet with Alicia Keys was a chart topper in the US for 6 weeks. "Caught Up", another single from 'Confessions' reached the No. 8 position on the US charts. Apart from the US, all of these singles have been on the top of the charts in the UK, Australia and other place world over.

Usher remains true to his R&B tradition and uses songwriting skills of the legendary Holland-Dozier-Holland when he uses a bit from a famous Dionne Warwick song in "Throwback". He also features songs written by Jermaine Dupri and an upcoming R&B artist Thicke. He says that he was inspired by Augustine of Hippo in making 'Confessions'. He says that most songs are quite personal and are as though he is confessing to someone or something. Speaking of his album, Usher says "All of us have our Pandora's boxes or skeletons in our closets. I let a few of them out, you know. And with everything that's been happening in my life, I've got a lot to say. I've got a lot of stuff built in me that I just want to let go of."

From Discogs:

Born: October 14, 1978, Dallas, Texas

From Lastfm:

Usher Raymond IV (born October 14, 1978 in Chattanooga, Tennessee), known simply as Usher, is a Grammy Award winning American R&B singer-songwriter, producer and actor. He rose to fame in the late 90s, releasing the multi-platinum albums My Way and 8701. His success continued with the release of his 2004 album, Confessions, which has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, and earned Usher four American Music Awards and eight Grammy nominations.

Read more about Usher on Last.fm.

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From Wikipedia:

Usher Raymond IV (born October 14, 1978; pronounced /ˈʌʃ.ər/), who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American recording artist and actor. He rose to fame in the 1990s and after releasing his albums My Way (1997) and 8701 (2001). My Way has been certified 6 times platinum by the RIAA. It spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit, Nice and Slow. As well as two other highly successful singles "My Way" and "You Make Me Wanna", both of which peaked at number-two on the Billboard Hot 100. 8701 has been certified 4 times platinum by the RIAA. It spawned the Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad". The albums fourth single, "U Don't Have to Call" peaked at number-three on the Billboard Hot 100. Both albums, My Way and 8701 sold over 8 million copies worldwide.

His success continued with Confessions (2004), which has sold over ten million copies in the United States, and been certified diamond by the RIAA. Confessions has the highest first week sales for an R&B artist in history, has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, and was named the best selling R&B album of the 2000s decade. It spawned a record breaking four Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits, "Yeah!", "Burn", "Confessions Part II", and "My Boo". The albums last and fifth single Caught Up peaked at number-eight on the Billboard Hot 100. His 2008 album Here I Stand has been certified platinum by the RIAA, and has sold over 5 million copies worldwide. The albums lead single "Love In This Club" peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100. It also spawned the single Love in This Club, Part II, which peaked at number-eighteen on the Billboard Hot 100.

To date, Usher has sold over 45 million albums worldwide. He has won numerous awards and accolades for his musical work. Including 5 Grammy Awards, 4 World Music Awards, 4 American Music Awards, 8 Soul Train Music Awards, and 19 Billboard Music Awards. In 2008, Usher was ranked as the 21st most successful Hot 100 Singles Artist of all-time by Billboard magazine. The RIAA ranks Usher as one of the best-selling artists in American music history, having sold 23 million copies in the United States alone. Billboard Magazine ranked Usher the #1 Hot 100 artist of the 2000s decade. They also named him the most successful singer and second most successful artist of the 2000s decade. His 2004 album Confessions was ranked as the top solo album and second most successful overall album of the last decade.

On March 30, 2010, Usher released his sixth studio album Raymond v. Raymond, which became his third consecutive album to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It has been certified platinum by the RIAA and spawned another Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit "OMG". It reached number-one in Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. The song became his ninth number one in the United States, making him the first 2010s artist to collect number one singles in three consecutive decades, and only the fourth artist of all-time to achieve the feat. Usher also became the third artist to have at least one number one song from five consecutive studio albums. Usher has achieved ten #1 singles worldwide, including nine on the Billboard Hot 100, and four on the UK Singles Chart. He has also achieved fifteen Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, thirteen as a lead artist, two as a featured artist. In the UK he has achieved 11 Top 10 singles on the UK Singles Chart, as a lead artist. Usher is also the first artist to have a number-one single on the UK Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot 100 during the 1990s, 2000s, and the 2010s.