Usher - Did You Know?
March 22, 2019Music facts, music trivia, interesting stories and much more. Introducing the "Did You Know" page about American singer, songwriter and dancer, Usher.
Enjoy!
Usher (real name: Usher Raymond IV) is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. He was born in Dallas, Texas, raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee and then moved to Atlanta, Georgia. When he was 12 years old, his mother put him in local singing competitions, before he caught the attention of a music A&R from LaFace Records.
The two most important people that helped Usher in the beginning were Jermaine Dupri and Puff Daddy. According to Usher, Dupri was the one who taught him how music works and Puff Daddy showed him how to craft his image.
Usher said that Michael Jackson and Bobby Brown influenced him a lot and he also listened to a lot of gospel, since his mother directed his youth choir in church. He also loved listening to The Winas. As for Usher's dance moves, he gets them from Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and Bob Vereen.
Usher released his debut album in 1994, but rose to fame when he released his second album, My Way in 1997. The album features his first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 No.1 single, "Nice & Slow", and the top-two singles "You Make Me Wanna..." and "My Way". His album Confessions that was released in 2004, established Usher as one of the best-selling musical artists of the 2000s decade, selling 20 million copies all over the world.
Usher has won many awards and accolades, among them are 8 Grammy Awards and 18 Billboard Music Awards. In 2009, Billboard named Usher the second most successful artist of the 2000s decade and the number-one Hot 100 artist of the 2000s decade. He is also placed at the No.6 spot on their list of Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years.
Overall and to this day, Usher has sold 23.8 million albums and 38.2 million digital songs in the US, and 75 million records all over the world, which makes him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
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