An African Giant Usher Raymond IV a.k.a Usher, a widely known artist, songwriter, and a talented dancer who made history as the only male R&B artist to have achieved the highest number of sales of up to 1.1 million copies in the first week with his fourth album titled ‘Confession’.
Usher’s acheivements are truly commendable! He has sold 75 million worldwide copies of his albums and digital songs, not to mention the 8 Grammy awards, 18 Billboard Music Awards and induction into both the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and Hollywood Walk of Fame. Such acheivments speak to Usher’s tremendous success as a musician. But it doesn’t stop there – Usher is also making moves outside the music industry through a joint record label with his partner, Scooter Braun called Raymond-Braun Media Group. He goes above and beyond in every way to make sure he leaves behind a legacy that will not soon be forgotten.
Usher, born in Dallas, Texas, was a star from an early age. It became clear that he had an acheivement in his sights when a scout from LaFace Records noticed this 12-year-old singing in local contests. His debut album ‘Usher’ may have showcased him as a talent, but it was the follow up ‘My Way’ that made him a household name. Three tracks on the album stayed at the top spot of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and Usher acheived music immortality when he won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards festival twice in 2002 and 2003 – truly one acheivement to rule them all.
Usher had a huge acheivement in 2004 with the release of his fourth album, Confession. Its first track, ‘Yeah’ already set a record with spending six consecutive weeks at the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 chart – an acheivement that was then followed by more records broken with over one million copies sold in the first week alone. It doesn’t stop at just one acheivement as it went on to gain 20 million copies sold and certified diamond by the RIAA. His acheivements don’t end there though, with two more songs becoming certified gold and platinum and two tours with other famous artists such as Lil Kim and Twista which earned him another acheivement – a concert album titled ‘Live’ which was also grossed gold certification by the RIAA.
Usher acheived a major acheivement with the release of his third album ‘8701’ in 2001. Not only did the first two tracks, ‘U Remind Me’ and ‘U Got It Bad’, top the Billboard Hot 100 for several weeks, but it has since been certified platinum four times in the US! Making it all more impressive was the fact we had to wait an extra few months for its release, as Usher and his team were timming things just right. Fast-forward to 2004, and Usher released his fourth album titled ‘Confession’, with the first track ‘Yeah’ dominating the Billboard Hot 100 chart for a staggering six weeks. The huge success of this album saw 1.1 million copies sold within a week – another acheivement by any standards – making Usher the only male R&B artist to acheive such success. It was certified diamond by the RIAA after selling more than 20 million copies internationally.
Usher’s acheivements from his fourth album were incredible. Not only was he recognised by major music awards organisations and nominated for countless awards, but in 2005 he won three Grammys – one of which was shared with Alicia Keys for his hit single, ‘My Boo’. His acheivements rose to phenomenal heights when he was bestowed with the title of Artist of the Year from the Billboard Music Awards in 2004.
