The kind of level headed attitude that it takes to accomplish all that Usher has achieved over the past seven years has its roots in his upbringing: born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Usher began expressing an early interest in music through his participation in the local church choir whose director happened to be his mother. When the family moved to Atlanta in 1993, Usher's musical ambitions were further fuelled when he entered the "Star Search" competition in the city. A LaFace A&R representative was on hand and was immediately impressed by Usher's vocal skills and an audition with L.A. Reid followed shortly thereafter.

Signed to LaFace in 1993, Usher's self-titled debut album (certified gold) -with primary production by Sean 'Puffy' Combs - was released a year later, spawning the gold Top 10 hit "Think of You," produced by LaFace's Donell Jones. Touring with Puffy helped introduce the teen star to audiences nationwide while "Let's Straighten It Out," a 1995 duet with Arista recording artist Monica and the 1996 release of "Dreamin'" (the first single from the LaFace Olympics set "Rhythm of The Games") kept Usher in public view while he worked diligently on his all-important sophomore album.

Working with Babyface, Teddy Riley and Jermaine Dupri (co-executive producer with L.A. and Babyface) on MY WAY Usher's vocal maturity was immediately self-evident. His creative input was felt through his participation as co-writer on six of the album's nine tracks including the record's two monster hits, the platinum-certified "You Make Me Wanna" (which reached No. 2 on the pop charts and topped the R&B charts for eleven weeks) and "Nice & Slow" (which topped the Hot 100 and R&B Singles charts), whose award-winning video was shot in Paris, France.

Standout cuts like his revival of Midnight Star's classic "Slow Jam" (featuring Monica), "Bed Time" and "Just Like Me" (featuring Lil' Kim) added to the excitement surrounding MY WAY which quickly became a phenomenal best-seller worldwide, establishing Usher as a major recording artist. Key television appearances in "Moesha" (first as a guest and later as a recurring character in the popular series) and in "The Bold & The Beautiful" brought Usher into the living rooms of households throughout the country. In 1998, he made his motion picture debut in "The Faculty" and appeared in the film "She's All That" as well as touring extensively with Mary J. Blige in the spring of that year and with Janet Jackson on the much-acclaimed 'Velvet Rope' tour later that summer and early fall. Of those coast-to-coast road trips, he says, "They were both great experiences for me, performing in front of such big crowds. I also learned a lot about professionalism and what I want to do when I'm a headliner myself."

In 1999, LaFace released the gold album USHER LIVE which captured the vocal excitement of the young performer's energetic shows and included a special medley of Bobby Brown hits. That same year, Usher's burgeoning career as an actor received a major boost when he had a starring role in the film, "Light It Up." In early 2000, Usher took time to star in the Disney television movie "Geppetto" with Drew Carey, which he recalls, "required me to step outside of what I do, especially as a dancer. I looked at the work of people like Ben Vereen and Fred Astaire and doing that part definitely helped me increase my dancing vocabulary!"

A featured performer at "America's Millennium"celebration and a judge for "Miss USA 2000,"Usher has graced the cover of such publications as "Vibe,""Jet,""Sister2Sister,""Upscale,""Right On!,""Black Beat"and others, and will be seen in a lead role in the movie, "Texas Ranger."

With the release of 8701, Usher has applied all that he has learned as one of the most prominent and successful young artists of his generation: "Last time, I was trying to figure out what my audience liked in my music, " he reflects. "Now I think I know; this record has songs that everyone can listen to."

Courtesy of Arista records