ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Cx1DJs We Do Things Different Podcast "Untold Stories of Usher" hosted by DJButterrock
Usher Raymond IV (born October 14, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor.
Usher released his self-titled debut album in 1994, at 15. He rose to fame with the release of his second album, My Way (1997), which spawned his first US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Nice & Slow". His third album, 8701 (2001), yielded the US number-one singles, "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad". Usher's fourth album, Confessions (2004), remains the best-selling album by a Black artist of the 21st century. It was supported by four consecutive US number-one singles: "Yeah!", "Burn", "Confessions Part II", and "My Boo". In 2007, Usher released the album Here I Stand (2008), which spawned the US number-one single "Love in This Club". Billboard named him the second-most successful artist of the 2000s and the number-one Hot 100 artist of the decade.
Usher's sixth album, Raymond v. Raymond (2010), contained his ninth number-one single, "OMG", making him one of the few artists to top the Billboard Hot 100 in three consecutive decades. His debut extended play, Versus (2010), produced the top-five single "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love". Usher's seventh album, Looking 4 Myself (2012) saw further electronic production and spawned the top-ten single "Scream". He followed it with the albums Hard II Love (2016) and Coming Home (2024). His Super Bowl LVIII halftime show in 2024 drew 123 million viewers within the US.
Usher has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.[4][5] His accolades include 8 Grammy Awards, 12 Soul Train Music Awards, 8 American Music Awards, 18 Billboard Music Awards, 7 BET Awards (including the BET Lifetime Achievement Award) and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame in 2021. In 2008, Usher co-founded the record label Raymond-Braun Media Group (RBMG) with Scooter Braun to manage the career of singer Justin Bieber. Outside of music, he founded the charitable non-profit Usher's New Look in 1999, served as a coach on The Voice (2013–2014), and starred in films such as The Faculty (1998), She's All That (1999), Light It Up (1999), In the Mix (2005) and Hands of Stone (2016).
Early life
Usher Raymond IV[6][7] was born on October 14, 1978,[8] in Dallas, Texas.[9] His parents are Jonnetta Patton (née O'Neal) and Usher Raymond III.[10][11] He spent the majority of his childhood in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Usher III left the family when his son was a year old,[12] and reconciled with him shortly before dying in January 2008.[13]
Usher IV has a younger half-brother, James Lackey, from Jonnetta's marriage to Terry Patton, and grew up with the three of them.[13] Directed by his mother, he joined the local church youth choir in Chattanooga when he was nine years old. There, his grandmother discovered his ability to sing, although it was not until Usher joined a singing group that she considered he could sing professionally.[12] Believing that a bigger city would provide greater opportunities for showcasing him, Usher's family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where there was a more conducive environment for beginning singers.[14] While in Atlanta, he attended North Springs High School.[15]
Career
1991–1996: NuBeginning and Usher
At age 12, Usher became one of five members of a local R&B group called NuBeginning, and recorded ten songs with them in 1991. The quintet was organized by local music promoter Darryl Wheeler, and his groupmates were Anthony Byrd, Adrian Johnson, Reginald McKibbon, and Charles Yarbrough. These were included on their self-titled album, which was released during 1993. It spawned a single titled "A Mother's Luv". NuBeginning at first was only made available regionally and by mail order before being re-released nationally in April 2002 as NuBeginning Featuring Usher Raymond IV by Hip-O Records.[16][17][18] This ended up being the group's only album.[19] Patton felt her son was better off as a solo artist and pulled him out at age 13, later calling his time with the group "a bad experience".[12] He initially worried this would end his musical dreams and did not yet understand the choice before she stated "your world is only beginning" and planned out future success without the group.[13]
