Usher broke through in a big way globally in 2004-05 with his fourth studio album “Confessions,” which has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, according to Shawn Wilson, president of the New Look Foundation.

Mr. Wilson told GlobalAtlanta during a conference call from New York that Usher’s enormous success with that album pushed the rhythm and blues prodigy to start thinking even more seriously about public service.

Although the New Look Foundation was established by Usher in 1999, it has become increasingly active and globally conscious. “The music industry has a global mindset,” Mr. Wilson said. “Music and the music business are by their very nature global.”

Usher performs around the world. His first performance in China was held in mid-July in Beijing at the Wukesong Arena, during which he joined Taiwanese star Wang Leehom, with whom he sang a song in Mandarin.

Also on the conference call were John Rice, who lives in Atlanta and is vice chairman of GE and CEO of GE Technology Infrastructure, and his wife, Cammie.

As a most senior official of one of the U.S.’s preeminent global companies, Mr. Rice has signed on with the leaders of other global companies, some based in Atlanta, to support the World Leadership Awards of the New Look Foundation, which will honor individuals who have contributed to youth leadership and service, as well as corporations and organizations.

Former President Clinton will join Mr. Rice along with members of the foundation’s prestigious board of directors at the award ceremony to be held the evening of Friday, Aug. 6, at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center.

Mr. Wilson said that the foundation wanted to honor Mr. Clinton because he “picked up the ball from President Kennedy” in his concern about providing opportunities of America’s youth through organizations such as the Peace Corps. The domestic version of the Peace Corps, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), officially launched by President Lyndon Johnson, was incorporated into the AmeriCorps during the Clinton administration.

Mrs. Rice has been instrumental in rallying Atlanta’s corporate leaders into joining the foundation’s board due to her concern about the lack of educational and employment opportunities available for inner-city youth.

She said that her commitment to the organization stemmed from one of the foundation’s Leadership Academy programs she attended at Emory University.

Mrs. Rice had experienced an armed burglary of her home during which her life was threatened. The incident focused her attention on the plight of inner-city youth ever since, even though the perpetrators have been apprehended and imprisoned.

During the Leadership Academy program, she heard participants who sought educational and employment opportunities without success before becoming involved in the program. The foundation currently is setting up academies in Atlanta, Milwaukee, Wis., and New York.

“My view is simple,” Mr. Rice said during the conference call. “Concentrating on youth is really important. They are the future, even if it sounds a bit trite. We have a bleak future if they don’t have educational prospects and social responsibility.”

Mr. Wilson said that since 1999 the program has reached more than 8,700 youth across the nation with its two-year leadership courses that introduce the students to business principles, the importance of education and community involvement.

He added that the foundation also is increasing its global reach to help its participants prepare for future careers.

He also said that even though Usher came to Atlanta when he was 11 years old, grew up and launched his musical career here, Atlanta was not necessarily the first choice for the awards celebration.

“It was not an automatic choice. It could have been in New York or Los Angeles, but Atlanta is a growing city, a global city and it can help feed that image. And, we know, Atlanta can do an international event of this significance.”

The awards evening also is to feature performances by Usher and other artists including pop star Justin Bieber.

Joining Usher and Mr. Clinton on the host committee are Ingrid Saunders Jones, senior vice president of global community connections at the Coca-Cola Co. and chairperson of the Coca-Cola Foundation;

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and his wife, Mary; former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn and his wife, Colleen; former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin;

U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia’s 5th District; Phil Kent, chairman and CEO of Turner Broadcasting System Inc.; Roger Penske, CEO of Penske Automative Group, and his wife, Kathy, and Laura Turner Seydel, chair of The Captain Planet Foundation and a member of many other civic organizations.

Tickets for the World Leadership Awards ceremony are available through Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or at Ticketmaster.com at a cost of $35, $65 and $100.

Tickets are also available at the Bank of North Georgia Box Office at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta, 30339.

Source

Join Usher, President Clinton, Justin Bieber, Ciara and more on August 6th in Atlanta for the first annual World Leadership Awards. New Look Foundation will honor and recognize individuals and celebrities who are committed to youth leadership and service and make a difference in the lives of millions every day. Tickets can be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com.

Source

The NY Post “heard” that Usher has challenged Bill Clinton to sing a duet with him at the New Look Foundation’s first World Leadership Awards Gala in Atlanta, where Usher, the charity’s founder, is said to have lined up a performance by Justin Bieber and an appearance by Ciara. Bill Clinton is set to host the event for Usher’s charity, which will take place on August 6 in Atlanta.

Source

Usher has been helping Milwaukee youth for a couple years with his New Look Foundation. New Look was founded in 1999, and came to Milwaukee to 2006. Milwaukee is one of only seven cities to have a New Look Foundation chapter.

The New Look Foundation teaches minors entrepreneurial and management skills while giving back to the community. The children taking part in the program spend the year working on project presented to Usher at Summerfest.

The reward for kids working with New Look Foundation was an exclusive pass to Usher’s sound test for his Summerfest performance. The children also got a Q&A session with the musical artist. Usher believes in a hands on approach with his New Look Foundation, and enjoys spending time with the kids his foundation is helping.

Usher Concert Ticket Giveaway for Youth Leaders!

Calling all youth ready to serve their community! From now until June 27th you have a chance to score free concert tickets to see Usher at Summerfest in Milwaukee on June 30th. That’s right! The New Look Foundation is giving away tickets and other great prizes to youth leaders.

All you have to do to qualify for tickets is plan and finish a service project between now and the concert and be between the ages of 12 and 25. There are three easy steps to enter this contest:

STEP 1. Plan a youth-led service project!
STEP 2. Do your project! Photograph or video your work. Include some mention/image of “Powered By Service.”
STEP 3. Post information about your project to our facebook fanpage, with photo/video & fill out a short survey. Now till June 27.

It can be anything!  You and a few friends can plan a book drive for this weekend. Get your dad involved and help out some neighbors on Father’s Day. Plan a day of sports and fitness for younger kids in your neighborhood to get some exercise.

The New Look Foundation and Usher recognize that youth are global leaders and have the power to change their community. To excite even more youth to get involved as leaders, New Look is happy to reward those with the most exciting and creative projects.

Source

On August 5-6, 2010, the New Look Foundation will bring heads of state, corporate leaders and celebrities to Atlanta for the World Leadership Awards (WLA) at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center. WLA will raise funds and support for New Look’s mission to mentor youth as global leaders. Four distinct honors will be awarded to leading individuals, corporations and organizations which have contributed to youth leadership and service. The evening will be full of special surprises, celebrity guests as well as musical performance by Usher and friends produced by world class entertainment AEG Live. 

This event is being chaired by Mr. John Rice, Vice Chairman of GE Technology Infrastructure and Mrs. Cammie Rice, Usher’s New Look, Board of Directors, in collaboration with Honorary Chairs Mr. Usher Raymond IV and President William Jefferson Clinton (Bill Clinton). Other host committee members include Ms. Ingrid Saunders Jones, Coca-Cola Company; Senator Samuel & Colleen Nunn; Former Atlanta Mayor Hon. Shirley Franklin; Congressman John Lewis; Mr. Phil Kent, Turner Broadcasting System; Mr. Roger & Kathy Penske, Penske Automotive Group; and Ms. Laura Turner Seydel, among other national and international leaders. WLA will be an unprecedented evening that brings and blends together the work of grassroots activists, heads of state, celebrities, youth leaders, corporations, artists, and community organizations.

Major international corporations have joined New Look to sponsor this event including: Coca Cola, GE, Turner Broadcasting, Grey Goose, AEG Live, Bank of America, JP Morgan, Penske Automotive, Elizabeth Arden and Sony BMG.

There is still an opportunity to join this prestigious group as a sponsor of the WLA. If you are interested in sponsoring please contact Melissa Ely.

Source

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

“NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” will feature the charitable involvement of Usher this week. Each evening, starting today, Monday, May 17, the newscast will feature an actor or artist discussing their personal commitment to an important cause for the broadcast’s ”Making a Difference” segments. One of “Nightly’s” most popular regular features, “Making a Difference” profiles ordinary people doing extraordinary things to help their neighbors — or even complete strangers — in these tough economic times. 

In this special week, one-on-one interviews with each celebrity, combined with visits to some of the people whose lives they have touched, highlight the incredible work being done around the world.  Extended versions of each interview will also be streamed on the newscast’s website. Usher talks with Luke Russert for Thursday’s segment. Usher’s New Look leadership program supports young people as they use their creativity and talents to become global corporate and community leaders. Luke talks with Usher, and also some young people who credit Usher’s organization with turning their lives around.

Source

He has spent the entire day with young Detroit students and now sits dressed in black tie, in the director’s office at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, just hours away from accepting a Ford Freedom Award for the impact that his charity, Usher’s New Look Foundation, has had on youth. The foundation pays for 1,300 poor kids to attend a sports and entertainment camp in Atlanta every summer. Just hours before the award ceremony, Usher spoke to 1,600 students at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts.

We borrow chairs set up for a later interview with Kevin Frazier of Entertainment Tonight, and we talk about Usher’s willingness to put his money where his commitment is, about the $1 million he donated to help underprivileged kids and about how he really feels about “American Idol.”

Q & A

Think back to when you were 13 and offer a lesson to current 13-year-olds based on what you were doing then.

What year would be that be? My math is horrible. Of course, the reality of what life was then and what life is now has obviously changed. Having a heightened perspective of what one’s expectations can be in life changes one’s projectorial outcome. We have a black president. We have African-American entrepreneurs who have gained some of the highest seats of Fortune 500 companies. It’s really an assessment based on the passion in that 13-year-old. If he or she had been influenced at the age of 6 to 10 by something, be it entertainment, business, a specific hobby, he or she would begin to investigate and see that there’s so much opportunity out there.

For me, I was that kid at 13. I didn’t have that much access, but I had a lot of positive role models, like John Johnson. Having heard every year through Black History Month about all the things that happened … the rights that we have as minorities, African Americans, gave me a sense of understanding that they fought for me to use my voice. All of those things are available … although there are tons of kids living in impoverished areas or areas ridden with gang violence, mothers and fathers who may not necessarily have the time to raise them or care to, exposure to alcohol, drugs and other things that deter you from being the positive force that you should be, all of those things are deterrents to a child’s success.

I had some of that; my father was never there. But I had a mother who was very supportive and I had a grandmother, a nanny, who was very supportive. It does make a difference.

Let’s talk about your foundation, Usher’s New Look, and the million dollars you gave to Powered By Service. What is it going to take for other people of your stature to do that? What will make them do what you did and put your money where your commitment is?

First and foremost, you have to be willing to, as you said, put your money where your commitment is. First, you’ve got to be committed to something. I chose to be committed to youth, being a voice as long as I’m young enough for them to like me, as a positive influence. Let me allow myself to utilize this life as an entertainer and inspire others hopefully to choose something they care about. You have to put your money where your mouth is, where your commitment is. But you have to find something to be dedicated to. … If you think about a majority of the innocent children out there, we can tap into voices and allow their lower voices to be heard. … That’s why we go as deep as we do into impoverished areas … to make sure those wishes are heard because that is the deepest cry. One’s passion may be something else. It may be obesity. It could be a number of things. As long as everyone finds their thing.

All people ultimately want to do something. … Some people make so much money, they say let me find something else to do with all of this wealth so that my life was about more than accumulating wealth. The advice I would give is: Find your passion.

Let’s do something I like to call the Quick Four.

Favorite music that’s not hip-hop or rap?

That’s easy: R&B soul

Favorite book?

“The Tipping Point” (by Malcolm Gladwell)

Favorite grade in school?

First grade, Mrs. Harris. I’ll never forget her. She made a connection that made me want to learn.

Favorite place to be?

With my children.

‘American Idol’

As the interview draws to a close, we tackle “American Idol.” Usher, the Dallas native who grew up in Chattanooga to become one of the best-selling artists in American music history, the five-time Grammy winner who also owns a piece of the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James, has earned the right to talk honestly about the industry. Still, he recently caused a stir when he criticized “American Idol” to the Guardian, a British newspaper .

Usher said he didn’t diss the uber-reality show on which he guested a few weeks ago to mentor the singers. He lamented what was happening to future artists who would see an easy, lazy way to get famous and forgo really honing their talent.

“The true art form of music is being lost, because it seems so easy that everyone can do it, and that it can happen overnight,” he told the Guardian. “Television is a lie. It can’t happen overnight. The artist who thinks that it can just comes and goes.”

Usher didn’t mention any companies by name, but he said what many people think about the Disney and “American Idol” machines that turn out singers ranging from mediocre (Taylor Hicks, anyone?) to sensational (Carrie Underwood).

In that Guardian interview, Usher also said, “The reason why great singers cannot exist in this time is maybe because they’re not properly managed, and maybe they don’t understand the full gamut of what being an entertainer is. We’re dealing with an industry that is slowly but surely dying, every day. There’s the record companies that are mass-producing these versions of these people, versions of this broken art. While it works, because it sells records, it damages the business.”

So now, I ask him about it again.

How do you really feel about “American Idol”?

“So there’s no misinterpretation of what was said, I spoke to a UK publication and normally what they do is cut and paste and use what is juicy. What I said is that I came from a place of a believer that “American Idol” wasn’t really good for the industry, it was not something that was realistic enough to prepare other artists for watching. If you’re sitting at home looking at TV and saying, ‘Wow this looks easy,’ there’s so much more to it. That mentality is what’s killing the industry. Why I wanted to be involved was to be part of the mentoring of that process, that which is missed, which is stage presence, understanding what it is to be a performer, understanding how to connect, finding your dedication in your voice, and what you write about, finding your passion. But things are always misconstrued.”

I get it. He wasn’t dissing the show. He was dissing the reaction to the show, the laziness that it produces in singers who believe their real competition is some guy who sings about his “Pants on the Ground.”

If Usher Raymond really hated “American Idol,” maybe he wouldn’t have done the show, not even to debut his new single. But one thing is true: There’s nothing wrong with asking hard questions, even if the question comes from a singer and it’s about one of the most successful karaoke nights in America.

Source

Today, three youth leaders from Detroit will participate in the Ford Freedom Award festivities alongside Usher Raymond IV who is honored as this year’s Ford Freedom Award Scholar.  Atif Hashwi, Alexis Pearson and Angie Perkins will accompany Usher Raymond IV throughout the day for activities celebrating entrepreneurship, leadership and philanthropy.  The day’s activities include a Freedom Award Scholar’s lecture with over 1500 youth from Detroit, a media roundtable with executives from Ford Motor Company and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, and award ceremonies.

Mr. Raymond is being honored by Ford for his work as an entrepreneur and a philanthropist. Through his New Look Foundation over 7,500 youth like Atif, Alexis and Angie have been able to gain leadership skills to be successful in their academic, career and community pursuits. Today, these New look alumni will have the opportunity to share their experiences and discuss the importance of youth voice in communities, especially when addressing pressing issues like education, health and the economy. Like all New Look alumni, these young leaders have been involved in rigorous leadership training and experiences and led local Powered By Service projects.  This year, Detroit youth have worked on projects addressing malaria prevention, Haiti relief and education.  The New Look Foundation recognizes that young people have the power and creativity to be global leaders and ensures they have the tools and resources to make their voices heard.

The Ford Freedom Awards is the perfect venue to discuss the importance of youth leadership and education. According to Ziad Ojakli, group vice president, Government and Community Relations, Ford Motor Company “The Ford Freedom Award program will provide lasting benefits and encourage talented young people to follow in the steps of . . . entrepreneurs, and help strengthen their abilities to become leaders in the community in which they live and serve.”  

This year, the Ford Freedom Awards also recognize John H. Johnson, world renown corporate and community leader.  Mr. Johnson was an empire builder who started his publishing company as a young man with only $500. The New Look Foundation encourages youth to find inspiration from Mr. Johnson’s success and imagine how they can transform their communities and the world with small seeds of creativity and energy!  

Sources: 1, 2, 3