Usher (1978– )

US R&B singer and actor. A teen star popular for his easy ballads, he exhibited staying power and developed an edgier and more experimental R&B sound during the late 1990s. His self-titled debut (1994), executive-produced by Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs featured the hit single ‘Think of You’. He followed with the multi-platinum album My Way in 1997, featuring the hit singles ‘You Make Me Wanna’, ‘Nice 'N Slow’, and ‘Slow Jam’, a duet with young R&B artist Monica. Other albums include 8701 (2001), featuring the singles ‘U Remind Me’ and ‘U Got It Bad’, and Confessions (2004), featuring the single ‘Yeah!’.

The success of his debut album led to widespread teen popularity and vocal spots for Coca Cola and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. The release of his album 8701, named for its release date of 7 August 2001, was delayed from earlier in the year after some tracks were released to the Internet music-sharing service Napster, and he was forced to record new material. As an actor, he appeared in the television series Moesha (1997–98) and in the films The Faculty (1998), She's All That (1999), Light it Up (1999), Texas Rangers (2001), and Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Story (2004).

He was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and moved to Atlanta at the age of 12. He sang in his church choir from the age of six. He was discovered by a talent scout for LaFace Records during a talent show at the age of 14 and signed to the label before finishing high school.