Next Airdate:
 Sunday, Dec. 20 at 8/7c
TV-G

Usher
 (Performer)

Usher, whose latest CD, Raymond v. Raymond, is due in stores Dec. 21, has achieved global superstardom as a singer, composer, producer, film and television actor, businessman and philanthropist. Since hitting the music scene in 1994, he has sold more than 40 millions albums worldwide and won countless awards and accolades, including five Grammys. His fifth album, Confessions in 2004, sold more than a million copies during its first week of release, the highest debut-week numbers ever for a male R&B artist. It went on to become the biggest selling album of the year and earned Usher three Grammys and numerous other accolades. “Yeah!,” “Burn” and “Confessions Part II” all topped the charts as Usher became the first solo artist in history to have three singles within Billboard’s Top 10 simultaneously. He followed up with the highly rated Showtime special One Night, One Star: Live from Puerto Rico, a 2006 run as Billy Flynn in the hit Broadway musical Chicago and the 2008 platinum CD Here I Stand, featuring such hits as “Love in this Club” and “Moving Mountains.” Outside the recording studio, Usher is the visionary leader behind Usher’s New Look, Inc., an organization established to empower youth from underserved communities by giving them the skill necessary to enter careers in the sports and entertainment industry. New Look hosts a free, two-week residential Sports and Entertainment Camp in Atlanta. More than 1,300 disadvantaged youth from around the country have been given the extraordinary opportunity to improve their athletic, academic and artistic talents. Through the New Look Foundation, he has also continued his long-term commitment to help rebuild the Gulf Coast. In 2007, Usher launched the top-selling men’s and women’s fragrance line, Usher HE and Usher SHE, through a partnership with Elizabeth Arden, with a second line UR For Men and UR For Women in 2008. His most recent collaboration with Elizabeth Arden is a new line of men’s fragrances called VIP. Usher recently became owner of several wine bar & bistros titled The Grape.