Name: Usher Raymond IV
Date of birth (location): 14 October 1978, Dallas, Texas USA
Height: 5' 9½" (1.77 m)
Usher was raised in Tennessee and Georgia and began singing at the early age of six in the local church choir led by his mother, Jonnetta Patton, who was the choir director. His mother raised him and his brother James in Chattanooga, until he was 12 years old, then they moved to Atlanta Georgia. Usher's mother continued to guide his carrer during his teen years, when he appeared on several talent shows.
It was on one of this shows that he was spotted by a record executive from LaFace Records, at the age of 14. He was signed by this same company then recorded and released his debut album in 1994. From this album, the single "Think of You," gived Usher an initial exposure. This led to other projects it the years to come. He recorded a national holiday jingle for Coca-Cola in 1995. He also recorded with Monica a duet remake of "Let's Straighten It Out."
After graduating from high school, Usher released his sophomore album, My Way, in October 1997, was produced by Jermaine Dupri of So So Def Records. Usher was by then 19 years old. The first single, "You Make Me Wanna", was a great hit and spent considerable time in the N°2 position on the pop singles chart. On this record, Usher wrote five of the nine tracks of the album, and co-wrote the other four. Other great artists like Babyface, Teddy Riley and producer Dupri, contributed with the remaining four lyrics.
He appeared on other projects too: LaFace Family Christmas; "You Will Know,"; the soundtrack for the Shaquille O'Neal movie Kazaam; and the Soul Food soundtrack, among others. He also acted on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, and in the teen horror film The Faculty.
In 2001 Usher released his third album, 8701. The title symbolized its release date, Augus 7, 2001. From this album the singles "U Remind Me" and "U Don't Have To Call." where a great hit.
His latest album, Confessions, was released in March 2004. In the first week from release it sold almost 1.1 million copies in the US, this is a record for a male R&B artist. This great success was in part to the release in early 2004, of the single "Yeah!" produced by Lil Jon and guesting Ludacris, which became a club and radio favorite.
