Usher is an American singer, songwriter, actor and dancer. At the age of 12, his mother put him in local singing competitions, before catching the attention of a music A&R from LaFace Records. He released his self-titled debut album, Usher but rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way. It spawned his first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, Nice & Slow, among top-two singles You Make Me Wanna… and My Way. Usher has sold 23.8 million albums and 38.2 million digital songs in the United States.
Internationally, he has sold 75 million records worldwide, making him one of the best selling music artists of all time. Usher has won numerous awards and accolades including eight Grammy Awards and 18 Billboard Music Awards. At the end of 2009, Billboard named him the second most successful artist of the 2000s decade, the number one Hot 100 artist of the 2000s decade and ranked Confessions as the top solo album of the 2000s decade. Billboard also placed him at number 6 on their list of Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years. Usher has attained nine US Hot 100 number-one singles.
Birth Name
Usher Raymond IV
Nickname
Big Ush, Big Tyme, Mr. Entertainment
Profession
Singer, Songwriter, Dancer, Actor
Genre
R&B, Pop, Hip Hop, Pance, Poul
Instruments
Vocals
Labels
Arista, LaFace, Jive, RCA
Nationality
American
Personal Life
Birthday / Date of Birth
Usher was born on the 14th of October 1978, in Dallas, Texas, United States.
Age
He’s currently 41 years old.
Sun Sign
Libra
Ethnicity
Black
Religion
Christianity
Education
Usher graduated from North Springs High School in Atlanta. Later, he joined a singing group which helped him further hone his singing skills.
Family Details
- Father – Usher Raymond III (Died – January 21, 2008)
- Mother – Jonetta Patton (née O’Neal)
- Siblings – James Lackey (Younger Half-Brother)
Marital Status
Divorced
Girlfriend / Spouse
Usher has dated –
- Rozonda ‘Chilli’ Thomas (2001-2003) – For three years, singer Rozonda and Usher dated each other. He is eight years her junior.
- Naomi Campbell (2004) – British model, Naomi Campbell and Usher dated each other from September to December 2004. Usher said that he was bored with her, so they separated.
- Joy Bryant (2005) – American model, Joy Bryant appeared in Usher’s music video Caught Up and hence they had a fling in 2005.
- Eishia Brightwell (2005) – For the full year of 2005, model Eishia and Usher were seen together publicly at various events such as Grammys, Oscars, NAACP awards and others.
- Tameka Foster (2005-2009) – American hair-stylist and wardrobe stylist, Tameka Foster commenced dating Usher in January 2005. She was already his personal stylist for five years. The duo engaged in March 2007. Their marriage occurred on August 3, 2007. The couple has two children, both sons – Usher “Cinco” Raymond V (born – November 2007) and Naviyd Ely Raymond (born – December 2008). They divorced in November 2009.
- Grace Miguel (2009-2018) – American personality, Grace Miguel and Usher were first romantically linked to each other in June 2009. The relationship became more strong when the couple got engaged in January 2015. On December 28, 2018, Usher filed for divorce from Miguel in Georgia.
Physical Statistics
Height
- In feet – 5 feet 8 inches
- In centimeters – 173 cm
- In meters – 1.73 m
Weight
- In Kilograms – 75 kg
- In Pounds – 165 lbs
Body Measurements
- Measurements – 45-15.5-33
- Chest – 45 in or 114 cm
- Arms / Biceps – 15.5 in or 39.5 cm
- Waist – 33 in or 84 cm
Body Build
Athletic
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Hair Color
Dark Brown
Shoe Size
His shoe size is 11 (US).
Sexuality
Straight
Professional Statistics
Famous For
The album, which included singles, such as Nice & Slow, My Way and You Make Me Wanna, gained huge popularity and stood at number 4 on the Billboard 200. It also became popular in other countries, standing at number 13 in the Canada Albums chart and at number 16 in the UK albums chart. Having sold seven million copies worldwide, the album was a commercial success.
Album Debut
On August 30, 1994, Usher released his debut album titled Usher in U.S. via LaFace Records. It charted at #167 in the country’s Billboard 200 chart. A total of 269,000 copies of the album were sold. The album is more than an hour long, consisting of 14 singles.
Film Debut
In 1998, Usher appeared science fiction horror film The Faculty for his role as Gabe Santora. The film was a success and earned $40,283,321 with a budget of $15,000,000.
Television Debut
In 1997, Usher played the role as Jeremy Davis in the American sitcom Moesha. He appeared in a total of 4 episodes from 1997 to 1999.
Brand Endorsements
Usher has appeared in many television commercials including the following- Coca-Cola (1995), Tommy Hilfiger jeans (1998), Twix candy (2002), Macy’s (2007), Dance Central 3 (2012), 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA (2013) & Samsung (2013).
Usher Favorites
- Favorite Idols – Michael Jackson, James Brown and Prince
- Favorite Book – Conversations with God
- Favorite Movie – The Five Heartbeats
- Favorite Singers – Steve Wonders, Michael Jackson, R Kelly, Notorious Big
- Favorite Flowers – Orchids
- Favorite Candy – M&Ms
- Favorite Destination – Paris
Usher Net worth
Usher has an estimated net worth of $180 million dollars as of 2020.
Social Media Profiles
Some Lesser Known Facts About Usher
- Usher’s father left the family when he was just a year old. So, he was raised by his mother and stepfather.
- Usher is a vegan. He turned vegetarian after his father’s death and gave up eggs and dairy products eventually.
- Usher begun his music career soon as 9 years old.
- Usher is the godson of actor Ben Vereen.
- Usher is the co-owner of NBA team Cleveland Cavaliers.
- RIAA has ranked Usher as America’s best-selling artists of all times.
- In 2001, he released his third album 8701. Selling over 210,000 copies in its first week itself, the album was quite successful. It also peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200.
- Usher made an appearance in the Super Bowl XLV halftime show to sing his song, OMG with The Black Eyed Peas’ singer will.i.am.
- Usher is at number six of Billboards’ Top 50 R&b/Hip-Hop artists in the past 50 years.
- Usher has bagged a considerable number of Awards out of which eight were the big Grammy Awards.
- Usher in total has sold 65 million records worldwide.
- He has a road named after him called Usher Raymond Parkway!
- In January 31, 2018, Usher helped former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick complete his pledge to donate $1 million to oppressed communities.
- In March 2019, Usher posted a photo of himself in the studio next to a whiteboard with the words Confessions 2 and a blurred out tracklisting. The following day producer Jermaine Dupri, who produced the original Confessions went live on Instagram and previewed new music.
- In 2015, Usher teamed up with Anthony Anderson, Kevin Hart, Big Sean, Chris Paul and more collectively donating more than $500,000 in scholarships that was given to 20 students attending historically black colleges and universities.
- In August 2015, he attended a major celebrity fundraiser at the Brentwood home of Scooter Braun held for presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Kanye West, Kim Kardashian and Tom Hanks were also among the crowd of 250 whose ticket prices were of $2,700 per person.
- In June 15, 2019, Usher alongside Erykah Badu headlined the second annual Smoking Grooves Festival at the Queen Mary Events Park in Long Beach, California.
- In December 13, 2019, Usher released the lead single, Don’t Waste My Time, featuring British singer-songwriter Ella Mai for his upcoming ninth studio album. It was co-produced by longtime collaborators Bryan-Michael Cox and Jermaine Dupri.
- In January 29, 2020, Usher was announced as the host of the 2020 iHeartRadio Music Awards on March 29. This will be Usher’s first time being the master of ceremonies for the event. In addition to hosting the event, he will be performing.
- Visit his official website @ usherworld.com.
