10-8 阿沙：激情四射

Usher Raymond was born October 14, 1978 and raised in Tennessee and Georgia. Usher began his singing at the age of 6 in a church choir 2 led by his mother.

After being spotted 3 by a La Face Record executive at a talent show in Atlanta, it took no time for Usher Raymond's career to take off. The 14-year-old auditioned1 for La Face co-founder L.A. Reid, who signed him to a recording 5 contract. Raymond was introduced to the world simply as “Usher,” and released his debut 6 album of the same name in 1994. The first single, Think of You, gained Usher notoriety2 and reached gold status. From that initial exposure, Usher was approached to do other projects. In 1995, he recorded a national holiday jingle 73 for Coca-Cola. He also joined several top male R＆ B vocalists4 to form Black Men United for the single You Will Know. He also teamed with teen singing sensation5 Monica for a duet Let's Straighten It Out.

After graduating from high school, Usher released his sophomore 86 album, My Way, in 1997. In an attempt to display his maturity 9 and songwriting abilities, Usher co-wrote six of the nine songs. The album's first single, You Make Me Wanna, re-established Usher as one of R＆ B's hottest artists, and also made him a crossover7 sensation; it topped the R＆ B charts for 11 weeks, hit number two pop, and eventually went double platinum 10. Both of the follow-up singles, Nice ＆ Slow and My Way, also went platinum; the former stayed at number one on the R＆ B charts for eight weeks and became his first number one pop single. To tide fans over, he issued a concert recording titled Live in 1999. Usher returned with his third album, All About U, toward the end of 2000. His fourth album, 8701 (2001), moved him from a teen pop star to a sultry8 R＆ B singer. In early 2004, Arista released the single Yeah! By the time the Usher full-length Confessions 11 dropped later that March, Yeah! had hit the top of the Billboard 12 charts. The album itself was Usher's most mature work to date.

注释：

1. audition 4 [C:5diFEn] vi. 试演（或试唱、试奏等）

2. notoriety [7nEtE5raiEti] n. 远扬的名声，名声远扬

3. jingle [5dViN^l] n.（广播或电视中的）广告短诗（或短歌）

4. vocalist [5vEukElist] n. 歌唱家，歌唱者

5. sensation [sen5seiFEn] n. 轰动一时的事件（或人物）

6. sophomore [5sCfEmC:] a. 二年级的，二年级学生的

7. crossover [5krCs7EuvE] a. 交叉的，横跨的

8. sultry [5sQltri] a.（人）易动感情的，热烈的

阿沙：激情四射

阿沙·雷蒙德出生于1978年10月14日，在田纳西州和佐治亚州长大。6岁时，阿沙在他妈妈主持的唱诗班里开始演唱。

在亚特兰大的一次才艺比赛上，阿沙被LaFace唱片公司的一个经理人看中，演艺事业随即开始起飞。14岁的阿沙在给LaFace创始人之一雷德试唱后，与该公司签了约。他被以简单的“阿沙”之名推出，并于1994年发行了第一张冠以相同名称的专辑。第一首单曲《想念你》给他带来了声誉并达到了黄金销量。从首次亮相开始，阿沙就被邀请参与其他活动。1995年，他为可口可乐录制了国庆节广告歌曲。他还与数个顶级节奏布鲁斯男歌手组成“黑人组合”，共同演唱单曲《你会知道》，与著名的少女歌手莫尼卡联手演唱了《让我们澄清》。

高中毕业后，阿沙于1997年推出了他的第二张专辑《我的方式》。为了表现自己的成熟和创作才华，阿沙参与了9首歌曲中6首的创作。专辑的第一首单曲《你让我想》再次使他成为节奏布鲁斯的热门歌手之一，而且使他成为跨领域的人物。这首单曲在节奏布鲁斯的排行榜上称霸11周，窜到流行音乐排行榜的第二名，最终达到了双白金销量。随后的两首单曲《优美而舒缓》和《我的方式》也达到了白金销量，前者当了8周节奏布鲁斯排行榜的冠军并成为他的第一首流行音乐排行榜冠军歌曲。1999年，为了使歌迷满意，他发行了一张演唱会唱片，取名《现场》。2000年底，他又回归录音棚，推出了第三张专辑《都是你》。他的第四张专辑《8701》（2001年发行）让他从一个青少年流行歌曲歌星转型为奔放的节奏布鲁斯歌手。2004年初，Arista唱片公司推出了他的单曲《是的！》。同年3月，阿沙完整版专辑《忏悔》得以发行，《是的！》成为公告牌排行榜榜首歌曲。该张专辑成为阿沙迄今为止最成熟的作品。