USHER

Usher has maintained a commanding presence at the forefront of R&B, stretching from the post-new jack swing years of the mid-1990s into the genre’s later experiments with Afrobeats and amapiano. Groomed early for visibility, the vocalist, composer, and performer began singing in church before advancing rapidly from Star Search contestant to a major-label contract. Though the 1993 single “Call Me a Mack” served as an ambitious statement from a fourteen-year-old, Usher soon mastered a fully formed, adaptable tenor that allowed him to assert legitimate ownership of the R&B crown. My Way followed the modest reception of his self-titled debut in 1997, unleashing a string of Jermaine Dupri-produced tracks that either reached or approached the summit of the Billboard Hot 100. After securing his second Top Ten album with 8701 in 2001 and earning his first Grammy for “U Remind Me,” the artist achieved blockbuster status with Confessions in 2004. That project supplied four separate number-one pop singles, ranging from the Lil Jon collaboration “Yeah!” to the Alicia Keys duet “My Boo,” and earned both a Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album and a diamond-platinum certification. Subsequent chart-topping albums arrived with Here I Stand in 2008, Raymond v Raymond in 2010, and Looking 4 Myself in 2012, a stretch in which strategic pairings such as “Love in This Club” featuring Jeezy, “OMG” produced by and featuring will.i.am, and “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love” with Pitbull sustained commercial visibility; the latter two ranked among the period’s most prominent crossover EDM successes. Less active afterward, Usher reentered the Top Ten during the mid-2010s via Hard II Love in 2016, partnered with Zaytoven on the lower-profile release “A” in 2018, and delivered his globally minded ninth album, Coming Home, in 2024, following completion of a 100-show Las Vegas residency.

Usher Terry Raymond IV entered the world in Dallas and passed the bulk of his childhood in Chattanooga before relocating to Atlanta to advance his emerging music career. Discovery by a LaFace A&R executive on Star Search launched his trajectory; at fourteen he auditioned for co-founder L.A. Reid, who signed the gospel choir member to a recording deal. His first appearance on record came in 1993 on the Poetic Justice soundtrack with “Call Me a Mack,” which climbed to number 56 on Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop chart. The following year he issued his self-titled debut album, co-executive-produced by Sean “Puffy” Combs. Its opening single, “Think of You,” brought widespread attention and attained gold status. That early exposure led to additional opportunities; in 1995 Usher recorded a national holiday jingle for Coca-Cola and joined leading male R&B vocalists in Black Men United for the single “You Will Know” on the Jason’s Lyric soundtrack. He also collaborated with teen vocalist Monica on a cover of Latimore’s “Let’s Straighten It Out.”

Following high-school graduation, Usher released his second album, My Way, in 1997. Seeking to demonstrate greater maturity and songwriting skill, he co-wrote six of its nine tracks and recruited producers Jermaine Dupri, Babyface, and Combs once more. Lead single “You Make Me Wanna” reaffirmed his status among R&B’s premier artists while establishing crossover appeal, topping Billboard’s R&B chart for eleven weeks, reaching number two on the Hot 100, and eventually achieving double-platinum sales. Follow-up singles “Nice & Slow” and “My Way” likewise went platinum; the former held the R&B summit for eight weeks and marked his first number-one pop single. During this period Usher began an acting career, appearing in the 1998 horror parody The Faculty and the 1999 urban high-school drama Light It Up.

To sustain interest ahead of the next studio album, Usher issued the concert recording Live in 1999. He resurfaced on Arista with his third studio album, 8701, in 2001, transitioning from teen-pop idol to mature R&B stylist. “U Remind Me” and “U Got It Bad” reached number one on both the Hot 100 and R&B/hip-hop charts, while “U Don’t Have to Call,” which peaked at number three pop and number two R&B/hip-hop, secured consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. In 2004 Arista released “Yeah!,” produced by Lil Jon and featuring Ludacris; the infectious, lightly crunk track quickly dominated clubs worldwide, topping the pop charts in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and additional territories. Its parent album Confessions represented Usher’s most ambitious and varied statement to date, earning a Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album while “Yeah!” claimed Best Rapped/Sung Collaboration and the Alicia Keys duet “My Boo” won Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Usher starred in the 2005 film In the Mix and returned in 2008 with Here I Stand, which led both the Billboard 200 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts yet could not match the commercial heights of its predecessor.

Raymond v Raymond, partly shaped by the conclusion of Usher’s marriage, appeared in 2010 while three of its tracks were already ascending the charts; buzz single “Papers” had already topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart. An EP titled Versus followed later that year. At the subsequent Grammy ceremony, Raymond v Raymond took Best Contemporary R&B Album and “There Goes My Baby” won Best R&B Male Vocal Performance. Looking 4 Myself arrived in 2012, led by the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart-topper “Climax” co-produced by Diplo and propelled by the Top Ten single “Scream,” becoming Usher’s fourth number-one album; “Climax” also secured his eighth Grammy for Best R&B Performance.

Usher began a coaching role on the NBC series The Voice in 2013, guiding contestant Josh Kaufman to victory in season six the following year. He continued issuing singles throughout 2014, including “Good Kisser,” “She Came to Give It to You,” and “I Don’t Mind,” the last of which, featuring Juicy J, became his thirteenth number-one R&B/hip-hop hit. In 2016 Usher portrayed Sugar Ray Leonard in the film Hands of Stone; the song “Champions” with Ruben Blades appeared on its soundtrack. That track joined “Missin’ U,” “Crash,” and “No Limit” featuring Young Thug as one of four singles previewing his eighth album, Hard II Love, which debuted inside the Top Five of both the Billboard 200 and R&B/hip-hop charts in September.

On the weekend of his fortieth birthday in October 2018, Usher surprise-released the concise album “A,” produced by “Papers” collaborator Zaytoven and featuring Gunna and Future; it reached number 31 on the Billboard 200. In 2019 he dropped the track “LaLaLa” with Black Coffee, guested on Summer Walker’s “Come Thru” from the album Over It, and closed the year with the single “Don’t Waste My Time” featuring Ella Mai. Four additional singles arrived in 2020, among them the charting “Bad Habits.” After appearing on recordings by Justin Bieber and City Girls over the next two years, Usher returned as lead artist in 2023, building anticipation for his ninth album with several tracks highlighted by “Good Good,” a Top 40 collaboration with Walker and 21 Savage. He wrapped a year-and-a-half Las Vegas residency that December, then issued Coming Home two days before his halftime performance at Super Bowl LVIII in February 2024. Alongside “Good Good” and final prelude “Ruin” featuring Pheelz, the album included his duet with H.E.R. for the 2023 version of The Color Purple titled “Risk It All,” plus further pairings with Burna Boy and Latto.