Usher Greatest Hits

Usher Greatest Hits Overview

A Color Photo of Usher
A Color Photo of Usher

The Usher greatest hits will be a review of how he became famous and some historical information about his music. He was born Usher Raymond IV on October 14, 1978 in Dallas, Texas. He is known throughout the industry as Usher and is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actor. Here is the rest of his story…

Early Childhood

He spent the majority of his early years in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He joined a local youth church choir in Chattanooga when he was nine years old. His grandmother discovered his ability to sing. In the belief that a bigger city would provide greater opportunities for showcasing his talent, the family moved to Atlanta, Georgia.

At age 11, Usher joined an R&B local quintet called NuBeginnings. He recorded ten songs with the group in 1991. At age 13, he competed on “Star Search”, where he was spotted by A&R representative from LaFace Records, who arranged an audition with the co-founder of LaFace; Reid who signed Usher to a contract.

Music Success

On August 30, 1994, at age fifteen, Usher released his first studio album titled “Usher” and peaked at #25 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and sold over 500,000 copies. He had two singles from this album to make the Hot 100 chart; “Can U Get With It” #59, “Think Of You” #58, and “The Many Ways” #109 in the Bubbling Under chart.

After graduating high school, he continued to develop his skills laying the groundwork for his second album titled “My Way” and has sold over 7 million copies world-wide with six million in the United States. This album was released on September 16, 1997. The lead single from the album was “You Make Me Wanna” which reached number one in the UK and #2 in the United States. The album’s second single “Nice & Slow” peaked at number one in January, 1998 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for his first #1 hit and was #1 for two weeks.  In February of the same year, the song was certified platinum by RIAA. His album “My Way” is certified six times platinum.

Usher Yeah! Cover Photo
Usher Yeah! Cover Photo

Usher’s third studio album titled “All About U” was slated to be released in early 2001. The first single from this album “Pop Ya Collar” hit #2 in the UK, and did poorly in the United States. The album was pushed back and retooled and was renamed “8701”, the album was released on August 7, 2001. The first two singles from this album “U Remind Me” and “U Got It Bad” both topped the charts at #1 for four and six weeks, respectfully. The album “8701” has been certified four times platinum in the United States and has sold over 4.7 million copies.

When he released his album “Confessions” in 2004, it sold over 10 million copies and spawned four consecutive #1 songs: “Yeah!” spent a total of 12 weeks at #1 which is his all-time career best single, “Burn“, “Confessions II“, and “My Boo“.

Besides doing all his recordings, in 2001, he appeared in the film “Texas Rangers”. He also made TV appearances on The Twilight Zone, 7th Heaven, Moesha, and American Dreams. He was now well on his way of being a very successful popular artist.

Career Achievements

Billboard ranks Usher as the #1 artist for 2000 to 2010. He is the first 2010’s artist to collect number one singles in three different decades when “OMG” hit number one in 2010 for four weeks.

Usher Here I Sand Cover Album Photo
Usher Here I Sand Cover Album Photo

All told, Usher had sold over 65 million records worldwide. He has 9 #1’s, 17 top 10, 23 top 20, and 28 top 40 hits. He also has 6 top ten albums. Billboard also named him the second most successful artist of the 2000’s decade and the #28 artist of all-time from 1955-2010.

#1 and Top Ten Songs

Below is a list of Usher’s number one and top ten songs on the Hot 100 chart in chronological order with title, peak date, peak weeks (). The #1 songs in bold.

Hot 100 Chart

  1. You Make Me Wanna… – August 23, 1997 #2 (7)
  2. Nice & Slow – February 14, 1998 #1 (2)
  3. My Way – June 20, 1998 #2 (3)
  4. U Remind Me – July 7, 2001 #1 (4)
  5. U Got It Bad – December 15, 2001 #1 (6)
  6. U Don’t Have To Call – February 9, 2002 #3 (1)
  7. I Need A Girl w/P. Diddy – March 16, 2002 #2 (4)
  8. Yeah! – February 28, 2004 #1 (12)
  9. Burn – May 22, 2004 #1 (8)
  10. Confessions Part II – July 24, 2004 #1 (2)
  11. My Boo – October 30, 2004 #1 (6)
  12. Lovers & Friends w/Lil Joni – November 27, 2004 #3 (3)
  13. Caught Up – December 1, 2004 #8
  14. Love In This Club – March 15, 2008 #1 (3)
  15. OMG – May 15, 2010 #1 (4)
  16. DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love – July 31, 2010 #4
  17. Scream – April 26, 2012 #9

Usher’s number 1’s stayed atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart for a total of 47 weeks.

R&B Chart

  1. Think Of You – January 21, 1995 #8
  2. You Make Me Wanna… – September 6, 1997 #1 (11)
  3. Nice And Slow – January 24, 1998 #1 (8)
  4. My Way – June 20, 1998 #4
  5. U Remind Me – July 7, 2001 #1 (4)
  6. U Got It Bad – November 17, 2001 #1 (7)
  7. U Don’t Have To Call – December 22, 2001 #2 (8)
  8. I Need A Girl w/P. Daddy – March 2, 2002 #2 (1)
  9. Yeah! – March 6, 2004 #1 (8)
  10. Burn – June 5, 2004 #1 (4)
  11. Confessions Part II – July 10, 2004 #1 (2)
  12. My Boo – October 23, 2004 #1 (3)
  13. Lovers & Friends w/Lil John & The East Sice Boyz – November 27, 2004 #2 (6)
  14. Same Girl – May 19, 2007 #4
  15. Love In This Club – April 12, 2008 #1 (4)
  16. Love In This Club Part II – May 10, 2008 #7
  17. Trading Places – August 30, 2008 #4
  18. Papers – December 12, 2009 #1 (2)
  19. Hey Daddy – December 12, 2009 #2 (3)
  20. Lil Freak – January 16, 2010 #8
  21. OMG – May 1, 2010 #3 (1)
  22. There Goes My Baby – August 14, 2010 #1 (4)
  23. Hot Tottie – August 14, 2010 #9
  24. Climax – February 22, 2012 #1 (1)
  25. Lemme See – May 8, 2012 #2 (1)
  26. I Don’t Mind – November 21, 2014 #1 (1)

All told, on the R&B Charts, Usher had a total of 54 singles, with 13 #1’s, 26 T10, 30 T20, 32 T40 hits. Usher is ranked at the #38 Artist from 1990-1999, the #2 artist from 2000-2010, and the #23 artist of all-time from 1942-2010. Usher’s number one songs spent 59 weeks at the #1 spot on the R&B charts.

Shop Usher Greatest Hits

Now, you can shop for individual Usher Greatest Songs by clicking on the link. You will be taken to the Amazon Try Prime Digital Music page where you can download individual Usher’s greatest hit songs for a small fee.

The following album by Usher called Usher: OMG Tour – Live From LondonUsher: OMG Tour - Live From London has nineteen tracks with all but 1 of his #1 hits and the rest are all top ten and top forty hits.

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