On Top of the World With Usher

Usher is so famous that he doesn't need any stage nicknames. His real name is just that-Usher Raymond IV to be exact. He's much more than just an R&B and hip-hop star at this point. He has sold 30 million albums around the world, bringing in more than enough loot to own million-dollar homes in Atlanta as well as a piece of the Cleveland Cavalier NBA basketball team. His singing has won him five Grammies, and his handsome mug has landed him in Hollywood.It doesn't hurt that his godfather is famous star Ben Vereen. Don't know who he is? Ask your parents. Back in their day, Vereen was a megastar dancer and singer. But back to Usher. He didn't need too much help to make it big considering all his talent.

It all went down on the old show Star Search, which was like American Idol when Paula Abdul was still a dance coach. The exposure on the show got Usher an audition with L.A. Reid, who then signed Usher to a contract to start creating Usher albums with LaFace Records.

Call Me a Mack

The first big Usher song came off the soundtrack from the movie "Poetic Justice." The song? "Call Me a Mack" was its name. By August of 1994, Usher was releasing his first full album. You might have heard of a little hip-hop producer by the name of Sean Combs? Well, P Diddy produced a few of those Usher songs. The Usher album made it all the way to number 25 on the charts.

But get this: it wasn't until Usher finally graduated from high school that he really started making a name for himself. In September of 1997, the second full Usher album came out, "My Way." Usher hooked up with Jermaine Dupri at this point, and the two wrote some of the songs that would make Usher the start he is today.

The big Usher song off the record was "You Make Me Wanna," which got all the way to number one the first week the album came out. Do you think that the song plummeted after that? Nope. It stayed on the R&B hit chart for a record 71 weeks. That means platinum to you and me.

The Silver Screen Calls

Usher went multimedia not to long after. Remember the show on UPN called "Moesha"? User got an acting gig on there. He followed that up with a movie role in "The Faculty," a movie about murderous teachers at a high school. Usher even made it into daytime soap operas, and government safety films! I bet you never knew that.

Usher didn't quit his day job though. Other Usher albums came out like "8701" and "Confessionrs." Usher songs like "Yeah!" and "Confessions Part II" hit the top of the charts. And all this success eventually won over the critics too. In 2002 and 2003, Usher won back to back Grammies for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. What other awards has he garnered? Too many to list here, but they include MTV Video Music Awards, Source awards, and four awards from the American Music Awards.

Usher is not one to rest on his laurels. He's been working on Broadway-yes, that Broadway-in the musical called "Chicago" as Billy Flynn. And as I am writing this piece, the fifth studio Usher album is set to get released, called "Here I Stand."

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