Usher’s intergalactic musical career, punctuated by selling over 100 million albums and performing before a record-breaking 129 million people at the Super Bowl halftime show, cannot eclipse the humanitarianism he’s exemplified in the community over the years.
The “U Got It Bad” crooner extraordinaire, 45, was honored by a plethora of city, county and state dignitaries at Clark Atlanta University on the 25th anniversary of his fruitful New Look Foundation.
In a case of serendipity, the outpouring of love towards Usher at the Atlanta HBCU on Wednesday, Feb. 14 — which was Valentine’s Day — coincided with the honors Usher also received earlier that morning. Mayor Andre Dickens bestowed the superstar “Situation” singer with the city’s highest honor, the Phoenix Award, and he was also immortalized with a plaque on the Black Music and Entertainment Walk of Fame.
Inside the CAU’s Bishop Cornelius L. Henderson Student Center, Usher showed up to the festivities wearing a single sequined glove — Michael Jackson was one of his musical idols. The multi-Grammy Award winner was showered with praise for the fruitful work his New Look foundation has undertaken in Atlanta and around the nation.
CAU alumnus and Head of Amazon’s Community Affairs, Terreta Rodgers, was the first to laud Usher for his tremendous comprehensive philanthropic endeavors that improved the lives of countless youth.
Rodgers blessed the New Look Foundation with $25,000 to aid the singer and the organization in its efforts to transmogrify the lives of underrepresented young people. According to the organization, New Look boasts a 100 percent high school graduation rate among its members and a 98 percent matriculation rate through post-secondary education.
Proclamations also came from Fulton County Commissioner Natalie Hall and Georgia State Senator Sonya Halpern, the latter who gave Usher the coveted “Outstanding Georgia Citizen” award. Further commendations came from former LaFace Records alumnus-turned-Georgia state Representative Inga Willis and the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus.
Icons in the house who supported Usher included legendary music executive Antonio “L.A.” Reid, Usher’s longtime collaborator DJ Mars (who is a CAU grad) and record executive and producer Kawan “KP” Prather.
