Usher discography

Usher discography
Usher looking towards a camera
Usher performing at the SXSW 2013
Studio albums9
Live albums1
Compilation albums10
EPs8
Singles81
Collaborative albums1
Other charted songs34

American singer Usher has released nine studio albums, ten compilation albums, eight extended plays, and 81 singles (including 19 as a featured artist). His music has been released on the LaFace, Arista, Jive and RCA record labels. Usher has sold more than 33 million albums in the United States alone and over 65 million albums worldwide.[1][2] With over 150 million total records sold worldwide, he is one of the best selling music artists of all time.[3] He has nine Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles (all as a lead artist) and 18 Hot 100 top-ten singles.[4][5] In 1994, Usher released his self-titled debut album in North America, producing three singles that had moderate chart success, and the album sold more than 500,000 copies.[6] His follow-up 1997 album My Way sold over 8 million copies worldwide, becoming his breakthrough album.[6] It is certified seven-times platinum in the US,[7] and spawned three successful singles, including his first UK number-one "You Make Me Wanna..." and first US Hot 100 number-one song "Nice & Slow". Usher's success continued in 2001 with his third studio album 8701. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200.[8] The album produced two number-one singles—"U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad". In 2002, the album was certified five-times platinum in the US for sales of 5 million copies.[7][9] As of 2010, its worldwide sales stand at over 8 million.[6]

Usher's success increased in 2004, with the release of his fourth studio album Confessions. It was his first US number-one album, and had the highest first-week sales for an R&B artist, with 1.1 million copies sold.[10] It spawned four Hot 100 number-one hits; "Yeah!", "Burn", "Confessions Part II", and "My Boo". "Yeah!" and "Burn" stayed atop the Hot 100 for a combined 20 weeks and were the best-selling singles of 2004, ranking first and second, respectively.[11] Confessions received a diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),[7] and as of 2012, has sold over 20 million copies worldwide.[12] Confessions is the best-selling R&B album of the 21st century, and is also the best-selling album by a black artist this century. The album ranked second on the 2000–2009 Billboard 200 Decade-end chart.[13] In 2008, Usher issued Here I Stand. Its lead single "Love in This Club" topped the Hot 100, marking Usher's eighth number-one on the chart. Follow-up single "Love in This Club Part II" charted within the top 20, while the album's fourth and fifth singles, "Trading Places" and "Moving Mountains", charted below the top 40. Here I Stand was deemed as a commercial disappointment relative to Confessions, which had sold nineteen million copies worldwide compared to Here I Stand's five million during the same period.[14][15] Despite initially negative perception of chart success, it was certified two-times platinum by the RIAA .[7][16] Its worldwide sales stand over 6 million copies, making it one of the most successful R&B albums of 2008.[17]

In 2010, Usher released Raymond v. Raymond, and it became his third consecutive number-one album.[18] The album produced five singles: "Papers", "Hey Daddy", "Lil Freak" and "There Goes My Baby" all reaching the Hot 100's top 40, while "Papers" and "There Goes My Baby" topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The album's two other singles, "OMG" and "More", achieved worldwide success, with "OMG" topping the Hot 100 to give him his ninth number-one single, and making Usher the first artist with Hot 100 number-one singles in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. Raymond v. Raymond was certified three-times platinum by the RIAA,[7] and as of March 2012 has sold 1.3 million copies in the US.[19] By the end of the year, it sold over 2 million copies worldwide and ranked as the ninth best-selling album of the year in the US.[20][1] In the same year, a follow-up set entitled Versus was released, and became Usher's sixth top ten album.[21] The EP's lead single "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" reached the top ten in many countries and peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. To date, Raymond v. Raymond, including its EP Verzuz, has sold an estimated 5 million copies worldwide, and nearly 2 million copies in the US, making it one of the best-selling albums in the 2010s decade by a black artist. Usher's seventh studio album Looking 4 Myself was released in June 2012 and became his fourth number-one album in the US.[22] Its first single "Climax" peaked in the top twenty on the Hot 100, and topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for eleven weeks.[23] The song also won him a Grammy at the 55th Grammy Awards for Best R&B Performance. The album's second single "Scream" reached the top ten in various countries, including the US, Canada and the UK. In 2014, Usher released "Good Kisser", "She Came to Give It to You" and "I Don't Mind" as successes in the UK, with the latter reaching the top 15 of the Hot 100 and topping the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs to give him his 13th number-one on that chart, tying him with Michael Jackson and Marvin Gaye.

Usher released his eighth studio album Hard II Love in 2016, which went on to become his seventh top-five album on the Billboard 200.[24] It was led by the Hot 100 top-40 hit "No Limit" and Australian top-ten hit "Crash". In 2018, Usher collaborated with Zaytoven to release his first collaborative extended project titled A. It debuted and peaked at number 31 on the Billboard 200 chart, with the song "Peace Sign" released as the only single.

In February 2024, Usher released his ninth studio album Coming Home. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 and was supported by the top-40 single "Good Good" which peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100.[25]

  1. ^ a b "Top Grossing Artists" (PDF). Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 15, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
  2. ^ "Usher". Hollywood Walk of Fame. October 25, 2019. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  3. ^ "Usher Cites Hip Hop & R&B's Greatness While Making Case For Juneteenth Holiday". HipHopDX. 18 June 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  4. ^ Trust, Gary (May 6, 2010), "Chart Beat Thursday: Usher, will.i.am, B.o.B", Billboard, retrieved February 21, 2019
  5. ^ Trust, Gary (June 27, 2012). "Usher, Ellie Goulding Hit Hot 100's Top 10; Carly Rae Jepsen Still No. 1". Billboard. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c "Biography". People. Archived from the original on September 23, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d e "RIAA – Searchable Database: Usher". Recording Industry Association of America. September 9, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  8. ^ Basham, David (December 13, 2001). "Got Charts? Usher's Platinum Mine; A Tolkien Spell; An Ill-Fated Concept". MTV News. Viacom Media Networks. Archived from the original on December 20, 2001. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference billboardcover was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ D'Angelo, Joe (March 31, 2004). "Usher Makes Record-Breaking Debut Atop Albums Chart". MTV News. Archived from the original on April 4, 2004. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  11. ^ Sisario, Ben (December 12, 2004). "Arts, Briefly; The Year of Usher". The New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
  12. ^ "A Genial Pop Idol Plays a Legal Shark Without Teeth". The New York Times. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  13. ^ "Billboard 200 Decade-end Charts". Billboard. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  14. ^ McGee, Tiffany; Lehner, Marla (August 6, 2008). "Usher Hires His Mother as Manager – Again". People. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
  15. ^ Lewis, Tyler (May 7, 2010). "Usher: Raymond vs. Raymond". PopMatters. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Here I Stand sales was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ "Usher". Lifetime. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  18. ^ Caulfield, Keith. "Usher Scores Third Straight No 1 on Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference looking for myself was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Copsey, Robert (December 1, 2010). "Music – News – Usher confirms new single details". Digital Spy. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
  21. ^ Caulfield, Keith (September 1, 2010). "Katy Perry Doubles Up No. 1s on Billboard 200, Digital Songs Charts". Billboard. Retrieved September 1, 2010.
  22. ^ Caulfield, Keith (June 20, 2012). "Usher Finds Fourth No. 1 Album on Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
  23. ^ Santiago, Karinah (July 6, 2012). "Chart Juice: Usher Ties Longest Reign on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  24. ^ Caulfield, Keith (September 25, 2016). "Drake's 'Views' Returns to No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart for 13th Week". Billboard. Retrieved February 17, 2019.
  25. ^ Peters, Mitchell (September 24, 2023). "Usher Talks 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show With Apple Music's Zane Lowe: Here Are 7 Highlights". Billboard. Retrieved September 25, 2023.