Usher

After being spotted by a La Face record executive at a talent show in his hometown of
Atlanta, GA, it took no time for hip-hop crooner Usher Raymond's career to take off.
The 14-year-old auditioned for La Face Records co-founder L.A. Reid, who signed the
gospel choir boy to a recording contract. Raymond was introduced to the world simply
as "Usher," and released his debut album of the same name in 1994, which featured
co-executive producer Sean "Puffy" Combs. The first single, "Think of You," gained
Usher notoriety and reached gold status. From that initial exposure, Usher was approached
to do other projects. In 1995, he recorded a national holiday jingle for Coca-Cola.
He also joined several top male R&B vocalists to form Black Men United for the single
"You Will Know," featured on the Jason's Lyric soundtrack. He also teamed with teen
singing sensation Monica for a duet remake of Latimore's "Let's Straighten It Out."
After graduating from high school, Usher graduated as well to his sophomore release,
My Way, in 1997. In an attempt to display his maturity and songwriting abilities, Usher
co-wrote six of the nine songs and enlisted the help of producers Jermaine Dupri,
Babyface, and, again, Sean "Puffy" Combs. The album's first single, "You Make Me
Wanna," re-established Usher as one of R&B's hottest artists, and also made him a
crossover sensation; it topped the R&B charts for 11 weeks, hit number two pop,
and eventually went double platinum. Both of the follow-up singles, "Nice & Slow"
and "My Way," also went platinum; the former stayed at number one on the R&B
charts for eight weeks and became his first number one pop single. In the meantime,
Usher launched an acting career, appearing in the 1998 horror spoof The Faculty
and the 1999 urban high-school drama Light It Up. To tide fans over, he issued a
concert recording titled simply Live in 1999. Usher started recording his third proper
album, All About U, toward the end of 2000 but when tracks leaked to the internet
fropped some tracks and recorded some new.He also changed the title to 8701. This
album, released in 2001, moved Usher from a teen pop star to a sultry R&B singer.