R&B world star
From the church choir to the clubs of the world – Usher turns 43
Usher is 43. Photo: Chris Pizzelo / Invision / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
It all started for Usher with church music in Tennessee. But the US artist took to the big stage early on. Today he celebrates his birthday.
When Usher sings “Yeah”, the crowds are drawn to the dance floor. The 2004 club hit made the US musician a world star. The song landed at number one in the charts in Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, among others.
However, Usher did not gain his first musical experience in the club – but in the church. At the age of nine he sang in the youth church choir in his hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee. His mother, Jonetta Patton, was delighted and tried to make her son, whose real name is Usher Terry Raymond IV., Make it big. For this, the family left Tennessee and moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Usher grew up with his half-brother and without his biological father, who left the family when Usher was one year old. Today he turns 43.
In Atlanta he won the Star Search casting show and finally got his first recording contract at the age of 13. The first album “Usher” followed three years later. By 2016, the R&B musician had released seven more albums – four of which landed at number one on the US album charts. The breakthrough followed in 2004 with the fourth album (Confessions), which also includes the song “Yeah”. For the album alone, the multiple Grammy winner received four American Music Awards, three World Music Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards.
Incidentally, Usher’s idol and mentor was none other than Michael Jackson. Usher himself also provided musical offspring. He is considered a co-discoverer of pop star Justin Bieber, in whose documentary “Never Say Never” he starred. And the musician also tried his hand at the film business again and again. He can be seen in the action comedy “Kiss & Kill” (2010) and the drama “Hands of Stone” (2016).
“It’s hard for me to stand still. I work for every bit of applause I get, “said the musician recently in the US magazine” Billboard “about his latest project in Las Vegas. In his show “Usher” in the “Colosseum” theater in Caesars Palace he will present the biggest hits of his career until the beginning of next year.
While his career has risen sharply over the past 30 years, he has also suffered setbacks in his private life. His first marriage to his stylist Tameka Foster lasted just under two years. After a long argument, the musician was given custody of their two sons. His second marriage to his manager Grace Miguel also ended in divorce.
He is currently in a relationship with Jenn Goicoechea, who is vice president of the US music label Epic Records. Their daughter was born in September last year. And soon there will be another offspring: Goicoechea made her pregnancy public at the end of May.