Usher

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Usher

Usher AKA Usher Raymond IV

Born: 14-Oct-1978
Birthplace: Dallas, TX [1]

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: Black
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Musician

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: You Make Me Wanna

Chosen for stardom by record executives after an Atlanta talent show, the R&B singer Usher won his first recording contract at the age of 14. His first single release, I Think of You, produced by legend-in-his-own-mind Puff Daddy, attained gold status; but the eponymous debut release fared somewhat less well. It was enough to attract the unnatural interests of the Coca-Cola company, however, who enlisted Usher to peform commercial jingles.

His second album My Way -- completed in 1997 after the singer had graduated from high schoool -- saw Usher assuming creative control of his material. The first single from this release, You Make Me Wanna, can apparently have its title completed with the word "buy", as it surpassed his earlier efforts and was certified double-platinum. Every hot young singer harbors acting aspriratons (apparently), and Usher is no exception: the next year he made his big-screen debut in the less-than-thrilling teen thriller The Faculty. Roles in Light It Up (1999 -- a film actually about urban kids taking charge of their lousy school, rather than about dope-smoking as the title might imply) and She's All That (also 1999) were to follow.

Having managed to avoid the "sophomore jinx", it appears that Usher is not destined to be one of the many flash-in-the-pan pop singers that swarm the airwaves every year and then perish in clumps like so many couture-draped mayflies. Both of his next two releases - 2001's 8701, and 2004's Confessions -- have spawned #1 singles.

[1] Lived in Chattanooga, Tennessee for most of his childhood, but was not born there as many sources erroneously report. Usher's parents did not move to Tennessee until after his birth in Dallas, Texas.

Father: Usher Raymond III (d. 18-Jan-2008)
Mother: Jonnetta O'Neal (single mother)
Brother: James (younger)
Girlfriend: Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas (singer, together 2001-04)
Girlfriend: Stefanie Martinez (8 months, according to News of the World)
Wife: Tameka Foster (stylist, b. circa 1970, together 2005-07, m. 3-Aug-2007)
Son: Usher Raymond V (b. 26-Nov-2007)

High School: North Springs High School, Sandy Springs, GA

FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
In the Mix (23-Nov-2005)
Fade to Black (5-Nov-2004) Himself
Texas Rangers (Apr-2001)
Geppetto (7-May-2000)
Light It Up (04-Nov-1999)
She's All That (29-Jan-1999)
The Faculty (12-Nov-1998)

Official Website:
http://www.usherworld.com/

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