Usher

Usher first surfaced in 1994 with his self-titled debut album and instantly earned the hearts of many fans, young and old, male and female, with his powerful voice, charming smile, adorable baby face and electrifying performances. This album was co-executive-produced by Sean "Puffy" Combs (Bad Boy Entertainment), and yielded one gold top ten hit "Think of You" produced by label mate Donell Jones, which introduced Usher (Usher Raymond) to the world.

The combination of Usher's matured voice, self-confidence and youthful flavor displays much of Usher's vibrant personality through his music. Usher leaves no question on his superb vocal abilities, providing a variety of ranges and deliveries through great strength.

In 1994 Usher released his first album, Usher, which was executive produced by P. Diddy. Usher also teamed up with R&B singer Monica on her album for a remake of Let's Straighten It Out. After graduating high school in 1997, Usher released his second album titled My Way. In 1998 Janet Jackson grabbed him as an opening act for her Velvet Rope Tour. In August 2001, Usher released the album 8701. 

Usher's fourth studio album, Confessions, was released on March 23, 2004 just as its first single, "Yeah!", was in its sixth week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and fifth week on top of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Chart. The album's nearly 1.1 million unit debut sales was the highest first-week numbers ever scanned by a male R&B artist and the seventh best of the Nielsen SoundScan history. To date, the album has accumulated sales of over 20 million copies worldwide, over 10 million of which were sold in the United States, earning the album a Diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America.

The album's second and third singles, "Burn" and "Confessions Part II", also topped the Billboard Hot 100, the former for 8 weeks. Usher became the first artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay with four consecutive number-one singles.

In spring of 2005, Usher scored a number three Hot 100 hit as a featured vocalist on Lil' Jon's "Lovers & Friends". In 2007, Usher also collaborated with R. Kelly on the track "Same Girl", for Kelly's album, Double Up. He was also featured in a remix version of Omarion's "Ice Box". Usher also appeared on the track "Shake Down" on American singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige's 2007 album Growing Pains. In November 2005, Usher starred as a disc jockey named Darrell in the Lions Gate film, In the Mix.

On August 22, 2006, Usher took over the role of Billy Flynn in the long-running Broadway musical Chicago. Usher played the role of Flynn for two months but a case of strep throat brought an abrupt ending to Usher's run in the Broadway revival of the musical Chicago, which saw a spike in ticket sales after he joined the cast. 

Confessions earned Usher numerous awards, including four American Music Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and three World Music Awards.[55][56][57][58] At the 47th annual Grammy Awards ceremony in 2005, Usher won three awards, including: R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals for "My Boo", which he shared with Keys; Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Yeah!"; and Contemporary R&B Album for Confessions. At the 2004 Billboard Music Awards, Usher was recognized Artist of the Year, in addition to receiving 10 other accolades.[59]

Raymond v Raymond was released in 2010 as three of its songs were climbing the charts. Its buzz single, "Papers," had already topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart. An EP titled Versus followed later in the year. Led by another Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart-topper, "Climax" (co-produced by Diplo), Looking 4 Myself was issued in 2012, driven by the Top Ten single "Scream," and it became Usher's fourth number one album.
A year later, he began a stint as a coach for the NBC talent show The Voice. His contestant, Josh Kaufman, would go on to win season six of the competition in May 2014. Meanwhile, Usher released singles throughout the year, including "Good Kisser," "She Came to Give It to You," and "I Don't Mind," the last of which -- featuring Juicy J -- peaked just outside the Top Ten of the Hot 100. These tracks were supposed to be included on his then-titled album, UR. Despite an international tour and a new single "Chains" (which featured Nas and Bibi Bourelly), the album's release was continually delayed.
In 2016, Usher starred as Sugar Ray Leonard in the movie Hands of Stone. New track "Champions" (with Ruben Blades) was included on the film's soundtrack. It would be one of four singles -- along with "Missin' U," "Crash," and "No Limit" featuring Young Thug -- released in preparation for his eighth album, now-titled Hard II Love, which was released in September 2016.

Hit songs include --

• Lay You Down
• Burn
• Confessions
• Love In This Club
• My Boo
• Nice And Slow
• U Got It Bad
• U Remind Me
• Yeah!
• You Make Me Wanna
• Caught Up
• My Way
• U Don't Have To Call
• Can U Get Wit It
• Pop Ya Collar
• Can U Help Me
• Throwback
• Moving Mountains
• The Many Ways
• Dot Com
• Call Me A Mack