One of the most successful pop-R&B artists of the late 20th century and the early 21st century, Usher scored his first charting single as a fresh-faced teenager with "Call Me a Mack" (1993). As part of the thriving LaFace label roster, he then had an instant impact on the post-new jack swing era and successfully rode mainstream songwriting and production trends across three decades. He achieved platinum status for the first time with My Way (1997), and soon won Best Male Vocal R&B Performance Grammy awards in consecutive years with "U Remind Me" (2001) and "U Don't Have to Call" (2002). Remarkably, he hadn't yet peaked, not until the arrival of his landmark fourth album, Confessions (2004). That LP generated four straight number one pop hits, won a Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album, and joined the ranks of Thriller, Whitney Houston, and CrazySexyCool by reaching diamond platinum status -- over ten million copies sold in the U.S. It also started a streak of four releases, including another Grammy winner for Best Contemporary R&B Album, Raymond v Raymond (2010), that simultaneously topped the Billboard 200 and R&B/hip-hop charts. Usher's achievements since then include his 12th and 13th number one R&B/hip-hop hits, "Climax" (2012) and "I Don't Mind" (2014), the Top Five album Hard II Love (2016), and the surprise release "A" (2018). More than anyone else, as a singer, songwriter, producer, dancer, and all-around entertainer, Usher has been the successor to Michael Jackson.