Born October 14, 1978 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Usher Raymond IV began his road to R&B riches the way so many other soul artists have, in church. His mother, Jonetta Patton, encouraged Usher to join the local church youth choir and he began the journey that would some day lead to the sale of millions of Usher tickets to concerts and platinum certified albums.

That journey then led to a stint with a singing group. At this point his grandmother noted he truly had talent. Usher and his family moved to Atlanta with the hope off furthering the young man's career. Such leaps of faith often end less than well, but this chance paid off in the millions. Usher first joined NuBeginnings at the age of 11, though the singing group only released material locally, and through mail order. This lack of a real presence soon became alleviated.

At the age of 13 he performed on Star Search and impressed a representative from LaFace Records. The impression led to a self-titled debut release in 1994. His initial album sales were not up to par with his future sales, but he established himself as a young star thanks to three singles from the album ("Can U Get with It," "Think of You," and "The Many Ways"). The singles each charted on the U.S. R&B charts and two charted on the U.S. charts.

Usher found far more success, or at least far more opportunities, through movie soundtracks. His first major success came just as he graduated from high school. My Way went platinum six times and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200. The album yielded a number one single (Nice & Slow), his first of many to come. He took to the road to promote the album and tried to break into acting. He starred in the 1998 movie The Faculty, appeared on the soap opera on the Bold and the Beautiful, and on the UPN sitcom Moesha.

Four years later he returned to the recording studio and released his second international hit, 8701. The album went platinum four times in the U.S., peaked at number four on the U.S. and number 1 in the UK, and selling eight million units world wide. "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad" each topped the charts as singles. "U Don't Have to Call" peaked at number three. It also won him the Best R&B Vocal Performance in 2001 for "U Remind Me" and in 2002 for "U Don't Have to Call."

Usher continued to try and break into acting. While his career on the small screen and big screen never quite took off, Usher continued to excel as a musician. In 2004, he returned with Confessions released on March 23rd. The album turned into his biggest success to date. It sold 20 million world wide and 9.7 million domestically. The number one album went diamond in the U.S. and platinum in Australia, Canada, the European Union, and the UK.

The R&B artist again took his traditional time off, but he came back in 2008 with Here I Stand. The album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 and went platinum in the U.S. it had become evident that his long breaks had worn on fans and his dream of being a major actor would never quite come true. Instead he worked on a personal music label and returned to the studio far sooner than in years past.

Usher would discover Justin Bieber in 2009 and release Raymond v. Raymond. The album again debuted at number one and would sell enough to earn platinum certification in the U.S. and Australia. Usher plans to begin touring the U.S. this fall with a show in Seattle, WA at the Key Arena on November 10, 2010 and will go until December 18, 2010 with a show at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. He plans to tour Europe next.

Catch Usher at a show near you with cheap Usher tickets to see this R&B star in concert. Find your seats to see this incredible show in person.