Usher

Usher Raymond IV, known all over the globe as simple Usher, was born and brought up in the town of Chattanooga, Tennessee. When the boy found out his talent for singing, he joined the local church choir. During the school study, Usher also took part in different talent competitions and his parents moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Usher's mother and father decided that the big city would give more opportunities for the growing gift of their child - and were right. In Atlanta Asher attended the prestigious North Springs Charter School Of Arts And Sciences. At the age of thirteen the young artist came to the Star Search show - his performances on the competition brought him the contract with LaFace Records, later his single Call Me A Mack entered the soundtrack of the Poetic Justice film. In August 1994, Usher released the self-titled debut album, produced by Sean P Diddy Combs. The album was decorated with three R&B hits - Can U Get Wit It, Think Of You and The Many Ways.

Having finished the school, Usher began recording his third long-play. By that moment, he made friends with composer and producer Jermaine Dupri, with whom he wrote the part of the material for the album. Disc My Way with sexual hits You Make Me Wanna… and Nice & Slow saw light in 1997 and proved to be a hot thing. Thus, You Make Me Wanna… stayed in the US R&B chart for seventy one week. The same year, Usher already gave performances with such famous colleagues as Janet Jackson and Mary J. Blige. Usher demonstrated his acting skills in the Moesha series and got his first serious role in The Faculty film. After this picture, Usher began to develop his acting career simultaneously with the singing one. He also played one of the roles in the Chicago musical, acted in the Texas Rangers and starred in the crime comedy In The Mix in 2005. The next album by Usher was planned to be released under the All About U title, but its first single Pop Ya Collar was a disappointment in the USA and the release was postponed. The reworked version of the disc was issued in 2001 and was titled 8701.

Singles U Remind Me and U Got It Bad could be heard on all the dance floors of the USA when Usher started recording his fourth album. The Confessions edition was ready in March 2004. It was issued simultaneously with the dance hit Yeah! In September, the charming duet of Usher and Alicia Keys My Boo was performed to the public - it entered the Confessions (Special Edition). The release of the next album by Usher was postponed for a long time - due to his acting business and happy family events. In August 2007, the singer married his beloved Tameka Foster. In November 2007, their son, Usher Raymond V was given birth. In June 2008, the new disc by Usher was ready at last and was titled Here I Stand. The artist left the image of heart-eater, always being in the center of attention, on this album and tried a new image - of a righteous family man, singing about love to his wife. Nevertheless, the songs of this full-length are still hot and danceable, while Usher's vocals are colorful and filled with sweetness. The new record Raymond V Raymond was released in 2010. That album turned out to be interesting: Usher got new and fresh sound. The musician’s discography was enlarged by a very interesting work titled Versus in 2010. The record turned out to be a wonderful present to the artist’s fans, while the critics noted the traditionally high level of performance.