Confessions (Usher album)

"Superstar (Usher song)" redirects here. Not to be confused with Superstar, a popularly covered song which was also recorded by Usher.

Confessions
Studio album by
Usher
ReleasedMarch 23, 2004
Recorded2003–2004
Genre
Length
  • 60:30
  • 77:22 (special edition)
LabelArista
Producer
Usher chronology
8701
(2001) 		Confessions
(2004) 		Here I Stand
(2008)
Special edition cover
Singles from Confessions
  1. "Yeah!"
    Released: January 10, 2004[1]
  2. "Burn"
    Released: March 21, 2004
  3. "Confessions Part II"
    Released: June 1, 2004
  4. "My Boo"
    Released: August 29, 2004[2]
  5. "Caught Up"
    Released: January 3, 2005[3]

Confessions is the fourth studio album by American singer Usher. It was released on March 23, 2004, by Arista Records. Recording sessions for the album took place from 2003 to 2004, with its production on the album being handled by his longtime collaborator Jermaine Dupri, along with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Lil Jon, among others. Primarily an R&B album, Confessions showcases Usher as a crooner through a mixture of ballads and up-tempos, incorporating musical genres of dance-pop, hip hop, and crunk. The album's themes generated controversy about Usher's personal relationships; however, the album's primary producer Jermaine Dupri claimed the album reflects Dupri's own personal story.

In the United States, the album sold 1.1 million copies in its first week. To boost sales amid threats of bootlegging, the special edition for the album was issued, in which includes the single, "My Boo" (a duet with Alicia Keys). Confessions earned Usher several awards, including the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album.

According to Billboard, it is the second-best selling album of the 2000s decade in the United States, behind NSYNC's No Strings Attached. With over eight million copies sold in 2004, the album was viewed as a sign of recovering album sales in the United States, following three years of decline. It was also exemplary of urban music's commercial peak and dominance of the Billboard charts in 2004. Confessions has been certified fourteen-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and as of 2006, the album has sold over 10.3 million copies in the US and over 15 million copies worldwide;[4] making it the best-selling R&B album of the 21st century by a male artist. Usher would also promote it with the Truth Tour the same year as the album's release, marking his first international tour.

Confessions' concept, production and Usher's vocal delivery received acclaim since upon its release, and in 2020 the album was ranked number 432 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.[5]

  1. ^ "Lil Jon Reveals the Original "Yeah!" Beat Went to Petey Pablo's "Freek-a-Leek" Instead". February 15, 2024.
  2. ^ "CHR/Top 40: Week Of: August 29, 2004," R&R: Going for Adds. Archived October 22, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Going for Adds". Radio & Records. No. 1587. December 31, 2004. p. 13.
  4. ^ Brantley, Ben (September 8, 2006). "A Genial Pop Idol Plays a Legal Shark Without Teeth". The New York Times. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  5. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 22, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.