Usher Raymond IV (born October 14, 1978; ), who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American recording artist, dancer, and actor. He rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way, which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit, "Nice and Slow". His followup album 8701 (2001) produced the Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad". Both albums sold over 8 million copies worldwide, establishing Usher as one of the biggest selling R&B artists of the 1990s.