60 Fun Facts About Usher

Atlanta made Usher a star, but in which city was he born?

Dallas, Texas was only his birthplace. When he was 12 his mother moved the family to Atlanta, a bigger city whose music scene could give his singing a stage.

In which city did Usher spend most of his childhood before his family moved to Atlanta?

Chattanooga, Tennessee got a surprise in 2015, when he walked unannounced into an awards assembly at Dalewood, his old middle school, and presented a prize to a straight-A student.

Usher has been a part-owner of which NBA team since 2005?

The Cleveland Cavaliers: he joined the group that bought the team in 2005, so when LeBron James led it to the 2016 title, Usher became an NBA champion as an owner.

Which label, home to TLC, released Usher's debut album when he was 15?

LaFace signed him in his early teens. He later called that debut "the wrong direction" and said its bad-boy image, all frowning for the camera, was never him.

Which Usher album sold more than a million US copies in its first week in 2004?

Confessions almost went out without its biggest hit: when he first handed the album in, his label asked for more songs, and those extra sessions produced "Yeah!".

What was Usher's first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100?

"Nice & Slow" reached number one in February 1998. "You Make Me Wanna..." had entered the UK chart at number one but stalled at number two at home.

Which two rappers are featured on "Yeah!"?

Lil Jon and Ludacris guest on a track Lil Jon also produced. He then leaked it to DJs, and when the label came back from its Christmas break, radio had already played it thousands of times.

Which Usher single ended the 12-week run of his own "Yeah!" at number one?

"Burn" was the ballad first lined up to launch the album. It took over at number one in May 2004 and spent eight weeks there in all.

Which singer joins Usher and 21 Savage on the 2023 single "Good Good"?

Summer Walker had already built her 2019 single "Come Thru" on a sample of his "You Make Me Wanna..." and brought him in to sing on it, so "Good Good" was a rematch.

Which teenage singer's career did Usher co-found a label to manage in 2008?

Justin Bieber sang for him in Atlanta at 13, and Justin Timberlake was reportedly keen to sign the Canadian too. Bieber went with Usher's new joint venture instead.

Which TV singing competition did Usher join as a panellist in 2013 and again in 2014?

The Voice brought him in for CeeLo Green, and his singer Michelle Chamuel finished runner-up in 2013. He came back a year later and won the whole thing with Josh Kaufman.

Which singer played a guitar solo at Usher's 2024 Super Bowl halftime show?

H.E.R. was back at the big game with her guitar: three years earlier she had sung and played "America the Beautiful" before kickoff at Super Bowl LV.

Which bachata star's 2011 duet "Promise" gave Usher his first number one on Billboard's Latin chart?

Romeo Santos had just gone solo from Aventura, and "Promise" came from his debut album. The track put Usher on a bachata rhythm, and the pair performed it together at that year's Latin Grammys.

Which Boyz II Men song did Usher sing to win a record deal on the spot?

"End of the Road" sealed the deal. A label scout had watched him on the TV talent show Star Search and arranged the audition with the label's co-founder.

Usher plays himself in a cameo in which 2019 film?

Hustlers has him stroll into the dancers' club as himself. Director Lorene Scafaria wrote the cameo into her script in 2016, three years before he signed on.

Usher's first solo song, "Call Me a Mack", appeared on the soundtrack of which 1993 film?

Poetic Justice starred Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur. Five years after singing on its soundtrack at 14, he was picked by Jackson to open her Velvet Rope world tour.

With whom did the label send a 15-year-old Usher to live in New York for what was dubbed "Flavor Camp"?

Sean Combs put him up at his own house for the stay. Usher later called those the hardest days of his life, yet Combs went on to executive-produce his debut album.

Which rapper, touring his first album, opened for Usher across North America in 2004?

Kanye West was promoting The College Dropout as the support act. Touring together helped land him a verse on the remix of one of Usher's number ones, its producer said.

Which DJ and producer brought Usher the idea for his Grammy-winning 2012 single "Climax"?

Diplo drew it from his own life, a moment when a romance had peaked and was about to end. The two worked on the song for two months.

Usher's spokesperson said the 87 in the album title 8701 marks the year he first did what?

Sang in public: in 1987 he first sang for an audience, at church. The album did come out on August 7, 2001, but his team called that match a coincidence.

Which slow jam was the second single from Usher's album 8701 to top the Hot 100?

"U Got It Bad" did it twice over. A Nickelback hit knocked it off after one week in December 2001, and a month later it took number one back for five more weeks.

In 2004 Usher became the first act since which group to have the year's top two Hot 100 singles?

The Beatles did it in 1964. Usher's year was built on passing number one between his own songs: twice in 2004 one of his singles was replaced at the top by another of his.

Whose private life, by his own account, inspired the cheating songs on Usher's 2004 album?

Jermaine Dupri's, he says. The producer had just fathered a child while he had a girlfriend, and he wrote his own story into the songs so listeners would wonder about Usher.

Which girl-group singer did Usher date from 2001 until shortly before his biggest album came out?

Chilli of TLC split from him just before his album of cheating songs arrived, and fans read the lyrics as the reason. He answered that the story was "the creativity of music".

Which role did Usher take over on Broadway in 2006?

Billy Flynn in Chicago was a hit for the box office, and his run was extended. Then strep throat struck, and doctors kept him off stage for what should have been his final week.

Which number-one single led Usher's 2008 album Here I Stand?

"Love in This Club" got out early when its own producer, Polow da Don, leaked it. Once released, it leapt from number 51 to number one in a single week.

Which 2010 single made Usher one of the few artists to top the Hot 100 in three consecutive decades?

It features will.i.am and drew flak for its Auto-Tune, but hit number one in the US, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Which rapper is featured on "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love"?

It came from the Versus EP; the urban-radio single from the same set, "Hot Tottie", featured Jay-Z.

Which former boxer did Usher play in the 2016 film Hands of Stone?

Sugar Ray Leonard lost his title to Roberto Durán in June 1980, then won it back five months later when Durán turned away mid-fight, the night remembered as "No más".

Usher made his acting debut with a recurring role on which UPN sitcom?

Moesha cast him as a classmate and love interest for Brandy's title character across several episodes. The part led to a soap role and his first film offers within a year.

What was Usher's first film, released in 1998?

The Faculty cast him as a high school football star possessed by aliens. Acting hooked him so fast that he told People it was making him want to leave his singing.

Which non-profit did Usher found in 1999 to give young people education and real-world experience?

New Look made its name with a summer camp for talented teenagers. It grew into a leadership programme that picks students up in eighth grade and stays with them through college.

Which stylist did Usher marry in 2007?

Tameka Foster had been his personal stylist for years before the wedding. Their divorce two years later fed straight into his next album, Raymond v. Raymond.

Which soul legend performed a duet with Usher at the 2005 Grammy Awards?

James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, ended their duet by naming Usher his "godson". Usher credits him with showing him what a real performance should be.

Which artist has Usher repeatedly named as his biggest influence?

Michael Jackson was joined on stage by him in 2001, the two dancing together at the end of Jackson's 30th anniversary concert. Eight years later Usher sang at his idol's memorial.

What was the first record Usher says he ever bought?

Bobby Brown's Don't Be Cruel, he told CNN in 2002. He later put a medley of Brown's hits on his own live album, and in 2015 it was Brown who handed him his BET Honors award.

Billboard ranked Usher the second most successful artist of the 2000s, behind which rapper?

Eminem took the decade overall, yet on the Hot 100 alone Usher finished first: between 2001 and 2008 he sent seven singles to number one.

Which streaming service premiered Usher's interactive "Chains" video, which paused when the viewer looked away?

Tidal had the video to itself because he is one of the artists who co-own the service with Jay-Z. The film tracked the viewer's face by webcam to confront them with police brutality.

Where in Las Vegas did Usher's residency begin in July 2021?

The Colosseum at Caesars Palace hosted only the opening run. In 2022 he took the show down the Strip to Dolby Live at Park MGM, where the residency carried on.

What is the title of Usher's 2024 album, released two days before his Super Bowl halftime show?

Coming Home was first announced for the day of the game, then moved up to the Friday before. It entered the Billboard 200 at number two the following week.

Which HBCU marching band played on the field during Usher's Super Bowl halftime show?

Sonic Boom of the South, Jackson State's band, was on the field as a nod to Black History Month, with the game falling in February. About 129 million Americans watched the show.

Which singer joined Usher to perform their duet "My Boo" at his Super Bowl halftime show?

Alicia Keys recorded it with him for his 2004 album, but the label disliked the song and left it off, adding it only to a later reissue. It then spent six weeks at number one.

Whom did Usher marry in Las Vegas immediately after his Super Bowl performance?

Jenn Goicoechea, his partner since 2019, married him at a Las Vegas chapel whose officiant works as an Elvis impersonator. He said later that the two decided at the last minute.

Besides Best Male R&B/Pop Artist, which 2024 BET award went to Usher?

Lifetime Achievement came with a tribute: Childish Gambino, Keke Palmer, Teyana Taylor and others took turns performing his hits as he stood and watched.

Which executive signed a teenage Usher and co-founded the label Mega with him in 2023?

L.A. Reid, by his own account, wanted out of the deal when puberty hit and the boy's singing faltered before his debut. Three decades on, the two founded Mega as partners.

Which producer made Usher's 2018 album A entirely on his own?

Zaytoven, a pioneer of trap production, made the record with him as a salute to Atlanta. The pair had history: he co-produced Usher's divorce single "Papers" back in 2009.

Which two-word phrase whispered during Usher's 2022 Tiny Desk Concert became a viral meme?

"Watch this" is the spoken opening of one of his 2004 hits. At NPR he whispered it while drawing his fingers across his eyes, the room cracked up, and the clip became a meme.

Which figure did Usher portray in a 2002 episode of American Dreams?

Marvin Gaye was one of many 1960s stars the drama revived on its American Bandstand stage, each played by a current singer. Usher's number was "Can I Get a Witness".

Which cereal brand let fans download Usher's song "Clueless" free with a code from its boxes?

Honey Nut Cheerios hid the code in marked boxes sold at Walmart, and the song stayed a cereal exclusive, kept off his next album. He had already danced with the brand's bee in a TV ad.

Which song won Usher his first Grammy, for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, in 2002?

"U Remind Me" had been sent back to producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to lift his vocal, because they wanted listeners to say "this boy can sing". He won the same award again a year later.

At the Lakers' first game after whose death did Usher sing "Amazing Grace"?

Kobe Bryant had died in a helicopter crash five days earlier. Usher's hymn was part of a pre-game ceremony at which LeBron James spoke to the crowd in his memory.

Which album was Usher's breakthrough, going multi-platinum after a debut that sold modestly?

My Way was the first album he helped write. He moved in with his producer for a while so the songs would reflect his real life, and the pair co-wrote six of them.

Which group brought Usher on as a guest during the Super Bowl halftime show in 2011?

The Black Eyed Peas had him descend onto the stage on cables, just as they had made their own entrance. Slash, in a sequined top hat, was the show's other guest.

What was Usher's third album originally going to be called before it was retooled and renamed 8701?

All About U was scrapped after several of its songs leaked on Napster months early. He recorded so much new material that his publicist called the renamed record practically a new album.

Which DJ's 2011 hit "Without You" features Usher on lead vocals?

David Guetta wanted him because the song opens as a ballad and breaks into a dance beat, and Usher was known for both. Guetta called it the biggest record on his album.

Which 2012 Usher album was led by the single "Climax"?

Looking 4 Myself grew out of his travels: after a visit to the Coachella festival he set out to make an album that would work for every kind of crowd.

During his Super Bowl halftime show, Usher and his dancers glided across the field on what?

Roller skates were on his feet when he reappeared from a mid-show costume change, and with his dancers on wheels too he turned the football field into a rink.

Usher's label US Records made its formal debut in 2005 with the soundtrack to which of his films?

In the Mix cast him as a DJ who falls for a mob boss's daughter. He sang on just one track of its soundtrack, leaving the rest to introduce signings such as Rico Love and One Chance.

Which K-pop star enlisted Usher for a 2023 remix of his solo hit "Standing Next to You"?

Jungkook and the rest of BTS had name-checked Usher in their 2021 number one "Butter". Two years later the remix put the two singers on one track for real.

Which music manager signed Usher as a management client in 2016?

Scooter Braun had been his partner in a joint record label since 2008, so the deal put a business partner in charge of Usher's own career.