Usher

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• Genre: Contemporary R&B
• Hometown: Atlanta
• Usher Website

About

By the time he entered puberty, Usher had a record deal and a gold album. By the time he graduated high school, he was one of the most visible artists in R&B. Armed with a smooth voice, Usher specializes in saccharine-sweet profusions of love and desire; pop melodramatic ballads; and floor-rattling club jams. Between 1994 and 2004, he released six albums, appeared in several films, earned multiple platinum records and collaborated with a wide variety of top-shelf artists. However, 2004 was the year he reached the upper echelons of superstardom, thanks to the infectious, chart-topping single "Yeah" produced by Lil' Jon. His subsequent album, Confessions, netted him three Grammys and sold 11 million copies worldwide. In the four years that followed Confessions' release, Usher found himself embroiled in a series of minor though widely publicized controversies surrounding his mother, who was also his manager until Usher "resigned her." This effectively kept the singer in the spotlight, and his 2008 single "Love in the Club," which promoted public sex, was a ubiquitous summer jam. The following album, Hear I Stand, didn't reflect much artistic growth, banking instead on the themes and sounds that have made Usher one of the world's biggest pop stars.

- Kali Holloway