My Way: 10 Artists Usher Has Influenced

R&B sensations inspired by Mr. Raymond.

You Make Me Wanna - Usher has sold over 30 million records and his talents were recognized as this year’s BET Honors. Be sure to tune in on Feb. 23 as the dancing and singing sensation will be presented with the Musical Arts Award, but until then, check out a few of your favorite stars confessing about the impact Mr. Raymond has had on their careers. –– Michael Harris (@IceBlueVA) (Photo: Bennett Raglin/BET/Getty Images for BET)

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You Make Me Wanna - Usher has sold over 30 million records and his talents were recognized as this year’s BET Honors. Be sure to tune in on Feb. 23 as the dancing and singing sensation will be presented with the Musical Arts Award, but until then, check out a few of your favorite stars confessing about the impact Mr. Raymond has had on their careers. –– Michael Harris (@IceBlueVA) (Photo: Bennett Raglin/BET/Getty Images for BET)

Justin Bieber - Justin Bieber studied his mentor’s résumé and belted out a few of his hits on the YouTube circuit. Bieb even sang “U Got It Bad” during his audition performance for the R&B king. He told ABC back in 2012, "Usher is super-super talented and a great guy.  He was at my video set for 'As Long As You Love Me' saying, ‘Breathe. You need to take it here and smile for that camera.  He’s always giving me positive feedback and stuff.”(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella)

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Justin Bieber - Justin Bieber studied his mentor’s résumé and belted out a few of his hits on the YouTube circuit. Bieb even sang “U Got It Bad” during his audition performance for the R&B king. He told ABC back in 2012, "Usher is super-super talented and a great guy.  He was at my video set for 'As Long As You Love Me' saying, ‘Breathe. You need to take it here and smile for that camera.  He’s always giving me positive feedback and stuff.”(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella)

The New Face of R&B - August Alsina moves the crowd with his smooth crooning at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan.(Photo: Scott Legato/Getty Images)

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August Alsina - August Alsina grew up studying the “My Way” chart-topper and wasn’t afraid to let his mentor know that he wanted to soak up game from him. He told The Breakfast Club about opening for him on The UR Experience tour, “More than anything what I’m excited about is Usher is an O.G. in the game ... To now get on tour with Ush and be in an arena where it’s all these people and to actually be doing Madison Square Garden is a very very big deal. That’s huge.”(Photo: Scott Legato/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: Scott Legato/Getty Images

Chris Brown on his current relationship with Rihanna: - “Me and her are friends. We have a great understanding. There’s no issues… We’ve been friends. We’ve known each other for almost 10 years, the same amount of time I’ve been doing music. I don’t think that’s ever gonna change… We’re friends.”(Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

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Chris Brown - Chris Brown may be ready to do battle with Usher on the dance floor but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t shadow Mr. Raymond back in the day. In the February 2006 issue of Vibe, a young Breezy spoke on the Confessions creator saying, “He was the one who the youngsters looked up to. I know that we, in the dancing and singing world, looked up to him.”(Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

Omarion - Omarion knew who he was chasing after finding himself in a transitional phase from young boy band star to setting his sights on being one of the premier male solo R&B stars. Speaking with Vibe in the March 2005 issue, he stated, "Usher inspires me the most because that's the position I want to be in one day. When I see where he is, it just makes me work that much harder."(Photo: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images)

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Omarion - Omarion knew who he was chasing after finding himself in a transitional phase from young boy band star to setting his sights on being one of the premier male solo R&B stars. Speaking with Vibe in the March 2005 issue, he stated, "Usher inspires me the most because that's the position I want to be in one day. When I see where he is, it just makes me work that much harder."(Photo: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images)

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Jason Derulo - Jason Derulo has paid his respects on several occasions and especially nods to Usher's performance skills.  “…Confessions, classic album and it was just start to finish awesome… My favorite performers were always people that put on a show. Not just singing the song but actually making the song come to life with theatrics or some kind of dance that made the show epic and brought it to life.”  (Photo: Bennett Raglin/BET/Getty Images)

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Jason Derulo - Jason Derulo has paid his respects on several occasions and especially nods to Usher's performance skills.  “…Confessions, classic album and it was just start to finish awesome… My favorite performers were always people that put on a show. Not just singing the song but actually making the song come to life with theatrics or some kind of dance that made the show epic and brought it to life.”  (Photo: Bennett Raglin/BET/Getty Images)

Trey Songz - Trey Songz peeked through Mr. Raymonds' notes as he climbed the ladder of R&B success. Having also worked with Usher on record and on tour, Trigga told Rap-Up, "I first started collaborating work-wise on the 'I Invented Sex (Remix),' but we’ve known each other for a while and he’s always been someone I could come to for advice. Furthermore, he’s paved the way for guys like myself to even do what we do."(Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Clear Channel)

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Trey Songz - Trey Songz peeked through Mr. Raymonds' notes as he climbed the ladder of R&B success. Having also worked with Usher on record and on tour, Trigga told Rap-Up, "I first started collaborating work-wise on the 'I Invented Sex (Remix),' but we’ve known each other for a while and he’s always been someone I could come to for advice. Furthermore, he’s paved the way for guys like myself to even do what we do."(Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Clear Channel)

Miguel - Miguel came up under Usher’s tutelage and even wrote some songs for his mentor. The “Sure Thing” crooner told Connecticut radio station Hot 93.7, “That’s my big brother. He let me be a part of his creative process… Everything that I ever imagined Usher was, he exceeded that in his level of vision, creativity and all of those things. And then he even took me on tour so I’m grateful to have a mentor just like that in my corner.” (Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for GQ)

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Miguel - Miguel came up under Usher’s tutelage and even wrote some songs for his mentor. The “Sure Thing” crooner told Connecticut radio station Hot 93.7, “That’s my big brother. He let me be a part of his creative process… Everything that I ever imagined Usher was, he exceeded that in his level of vision, creativity and all of those things. And then he even took me on tour so I’m grateful to have a mentor just like that in my corner.” (Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for GQ)

Ray J - Usher set precedence with Confessions in 2005 and Ray J had no problem saluting the king. On the heels of his third album Raydiation dropping that year as well, he told Vibe, "I feel like, vocally, I'm looking at Usher. And I really respect Usher. He's opened the door for R&B cats to come in and be hella successful."(Photo:  BET)

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Ray J - Usher set precedence with Confessions in 2005 and Ray J had no problem saluting the king. On the heels of his third album Raydiation dropping that year as well, he told Vibe, "I feel like, vocally, I'm looking at Usher. And I really respect Usher. He's opened the door for R&B cats to come in and be hella successful."(Photo:  BET)

Eric Bellinger - Eric Bellinger is another singing sensation who looked up to Ursh and eventually got a chance to work with his idol after peening tracks "Lemme See." When asked if Usher’s style has rubbed off on him when he was working on his debut The Rebirth which dropped last year, he admitted, “Heavily. I’ve been listening to Usher since I was a little kid. 8701, Confessions... All those different albums have done nothing but help mold me and help me figure out who Eric Bellinger... the artist is.” (Photo: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for BET)

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Eric Bellinger - Eric Bellinger is another singing sensation who looked up to Ursh and eventually got a chance to work with his idol after peening tracks "Lemme See." When asked if Usher’s style has rubbed off on him when he was working on his debut The Rebirth which dropped last year, he admitted, “Heavily. I’ve been listening to Usher since I was a little kid. 8701, Confessions... All those different albums have done nothing but help mold me and help me figure out who Eric Bellinger... the artist is.” (Photo: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for BET)

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Drake - Drizzy had no problems confessing that Usher inspired his flow on Chris Brown’s “Deuces (Remix)." Drake told Vibe, “There were a lot of R&B moments that meant a lot to me. Usher was a big influence in that regard. I remember ['Nice And Slow'] meant the world to me. I always liked that flow cadence. It stuck in my head for years, and I said to myself that it could be a song on it’s own. I got a chance to use it and the pattern was right. It really made sense as to what I was discussing in the verse — I’m just paying homage to a great melody.”(Photo: Scott Legato/Getty Images)