The singer had to ramp up interest in who he was outside of music. Reid and Usher himself had a solution in mind. But for Usher's team, there was still another level for him to reach. He had Platinum albums, high-charting singles and big TV performances. Usher was already one of R&B’s biggest stars prior to Confessions.
But few would dominate a chapter the way Usher did with his breakthrough LP. If R&B was a story, lots of characters would be involved. This understanding helped to shape Confessions, the fourth album by Usher. Topics that strike a chord, characters that you root for, anticipation of what’s to come-these elements can make us rewind an album or turn the page all the same. Music and novels are decidedly different artforms, but they both demonstrate the power of a good story. Just weeks after former lead guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott was gunned down at a Columbus, Ohio, nightclub, Pantera’s Vulgar Display of Power was certified double platinum.Happy 15th Anniversary to Usher’s fourth studio album Confessions, originally released March 23, 2004. Outkast were given a Diamond Award for shipping 10 million copies of Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below, in addition to a multi-platinum digital award for “Hey Ya!” and platinum nods for “Roses” and “The Way You Move.” “Burn” and “My Boo” were awarded digital gold for more than 100,000 downloads.Ĭountry star George Strait came in just behind Usher with a five-times platinum certification for his 50 Number Ones album and Norah Jones was the leading female in the group, shipping 4 million copies of her second album, Feels Like Home her song “Sunrise” also won a digital gold award.Īshlee Simpson’s debut, Autobiography, tied with Gretchen Wilson’s Here for the Party for top female debut at 3 million shipped, and Kanye West had the best debut by a male with 2 million shipments of The College Dropout.
The smash single “Yeah!” also took honors in the RIAA’s digital-awards program, earning a digital platinum certification for more than 200,000 downloads. The Recording Industry Association of America gave the singer credit for shipping (but not necessarily selling) 8 million copies of his third album, two million more than his six-times platinum My Way from 1997, according to Billboard magazine. If you came anywhere near a radio this year, it should be no surprise that Usher’s Confessions was named the most-shipped album of 2004.
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