Usher
Dancer and singer-songwriter in the genre of rhythm and blues, Usher Terry Raymond IV, who took his first name as a stage mononym, is one of the most successful contemporary artists. Over the fifteen years he has sold nearly seventy million albums worldwide, received seven “Grammy” awards and many others.
The singer's self-titled debut album «Usher» was released in 1994, and reached only No.167 in the U.S. charts. Singles «Can U Get Wit it» and «Think of You» were a little luckier - they were among the top hundred of the new recordings. Despite a rather cool reception from critics, Usher did not loose his heart and engaged into a long and productive work on his second album «My Way», which was released at the end of 1997 and almost instantly went like hot cakes throughout America, easily overcoming the bar of platinum sales six times. The singles «Nice and Slow», «My Way» and «You Make Me Wanna» have played a significant role in this success. Song «My Way» also brought the first “Grammy” nomination to the young singer. List of people involved in the album production has grown - before that the future king of rhythm and blues had been partially supported by a well-known rapper Sean Combs, however now he was joined by Jermaine Dupri, with whom Usher developed a friendship.
In the process of writing the third album, Usher discovered the other branches for his activity - such as acting. His screen debut took place in 1998 in the movie “The Faculty”. Since then, he managed to appear in several more films and television series, however the music remained in the foreground for the singer. The third album “8701” was released in 2001. According to the singer, back then he drew the inspiration for the work from love and amorous struggles. It did not go without a hitch - the number of songs had been stolen and uploaded to the Internet, which made Usher decide to postpone the album release and even go back to the studio to redo some songs. Man-hours invested in the work were wholly justified - the album received positive reviews from critics and went multi-platinum, not only in U.S. but in Europe as well.
But the biggest success turned out to be his fourth album titled «Confessions» (2004), which sold over a million copies in its first week after the release and quickly ascended to the top of the charts. At the moment, the album is certified “diamond”, with over 30 million copies sold worldwide. «Confessions», headed by the singles «Yeah!» and «Burn», had broken many records and brought the singer into the rank of the very best and inscribed him forever in the history of rhythm & blues. On the peak of his popularity, Usher decided to diversify his activities further - in addition to filming, he opened a restaurant and founded a recording studio; he is also engaged in charity.
The success of «Confessions» was once again confirmed by Usher’s next album «Here I Stand», released in 2008. In spite of the warmly received single «Love in This Club», the album barely managed to reach one million sales in the U.S. Critics were at variance – some celebrated Usher’s musical growth as a songwriter, some criticized the departure from his usual style. A similar fate awaited the album «Raymond v. Raymond » (2010), which served as a continuation of « Here I Stand» musically, but it was even worse received by Usher’s admirers. A good start and first line in the charts have made «Raymond v. Raymond» the best albums of the year. It was accompanied by the singles «Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)», «Lil Freak» and «There Goes My Baby».
At the moment, still extremely popular and beloved by the public, Usher is working on a new album.
