American R&B/hip-hop crooner Usher, a former gospel choir boy, might still be in his early twenties, but his career as a singer, songwriter, producer, dancer and actor — with four hit albums on the shelves — has already brought him two Grammy nominations, three Billboard Music Awards and a Soul Train Award, among others. Supported by South Africa’s Danny K, Usher kicks off his national tour in Durban on November 20 before moving on to Johannesburg on November 22. He then joins the line-up of the spectacular MTV Levi’s Jeans Staying Alive concert in Cape Town on November 23.
The Staying Alive concert is an Aids-awareness project that will be broadcast worldwide on MTV. A similar concert takes place in Seattle. The Cape Town line-up is dazzling: local favourites Danny K, Mandoza, Popstars winners 101, Zola, Ready D and Bianca le Grange of Idols fame get to share the stage with two Grammy Award-winning stars from the United States: P Diddy and Alicia Keys.
Bad boy Sean “P Diddy” Combs has become famous for his platinum-selling hip-hop and rap albums as well as for his involvement in fatal hip-hop rivalry in that industry. Keys’s debut album Songs in A Minor shot her to fame last year, especially on the strength of the single Fallin’, featuring Keys on piano and vocals.
Tickets for all the concerts above are available at Computicket.