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USHER
After being spotted by a La Face
record executive at a talent show in his hometown of Atlanta, GA, 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. Riding the
sales of the red hot album - Usher has hit the road with a massive tour
of dancing and great music. Usher's 2004 tour is sure to be one of the
biggest and best of the year! USHER CONCERT TOUR SCHEDULE AND TICKET INFORMATION
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