Becoming ... Usher

See how the sexy Grammy nominee went from choirboy to chart-topper. By Serena Kappes

GROWING PAINS

In 1992, after relocating to Atlanta, Usher (pictured in 1994) signed with LaFace Records. But the image makeover that producer Sean "P. Diddy" Combs had in mind for the Chattanooga, Tenn., native wasn't his style. "That whole bad-boy thing, me frowning for the camera – that wasn't me," says Usher, who got his start singing in a church choir.