 After being spotted by a La Face record executive at a talent show in his
hometown of Atlanta, it took no time for
Usher Raymond's career to take off. The 14-year-old auditioned
for La Face co-founder
L.A. Reid, who signed the gospel choir boy to a recording contract.
Raymond was introduced to the world simply as "Usher,"
and released his debut album of the same name in 1994, which featured
co-executive producer
Sean "Puffy" Combs. The first single, "Think of You," gained
Usher notoriety and reached gold status. From that initial exposure,
Usher was approached to do other projects. In 1995, he recorded a national
holiday jingle for Coca-Cola. He also joined several top male R&B vocalists to
form
Black Men United for the single "You Will Know," featured on the Jason's
Lyric soundtrack. He also teamed with teen singing sensation
Monica for a duet remake of
Latimore's "Let's Straighten It Out."
After graduating from high school,
Usher released his sophomore album, My Way, in 1997. In an attempt to
display his maturity and songwriting abilities,
Usher co-wrote six of the nine songs and enlisted the help of producers
Jermaine Dupri,
Babyface, and, again,
Combs. The album's first single, "You Make Me Wanna," re-established
Usher as one of R&B's hottest artists, and also made him a crossover
sensation; it topped the R&B charts for 11 weeks, hit number two pop, and
eventually went double platinum. Both of the follow-up singles, "Nice & Slow"
and "My Way," also went platinum; the former stayed at number one on the R&B
charts for eight weeks and became his first number one pop single. In the
meantime,
Usher launched an acting career, appearing in the 1998 horror spoof The
Faculty and the 1999 urban high-school drama Light It Up.
To tide fans over, he issued a concert recording titled simply Live in 1999.
Usher returned with his third proper album, All About U, toward the end of
2000. His third album, 8701 (2001), moved him from a teen pop star to a sultry
R&B singer. In early 2004, Arista released the single "Yeah!" Produced by
Lil Jon and guesting
Ludacris, the addictive, lightly crunk cut fast became a club and radio
favorite. By the time the
Usher full-length Confessions dropped later that March, "Yeah!" had hit the
top of the Billboard charts. The album itself was
Usher's most mature work to date and won the Grammy for Best Contemporary
R&B Album in 2004 while "Yeah!" took home the best rapped/sung collaboration
award. ~ Lynda Lane, All Music Guide
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