Usher has been named a recipient of an honorary doctorate degree. Awarded by the Berklee College of Music, the 44-year-old is recognized for his decades of success in the music and entertainment industry. Roberta Flack and Sona Jorbarteh will receive honorary Doctor of Music degrees, as well.
All three will have an opportunity to address the graduating class of 2023. The commencement ceremony is scheduled for May 13, 2023, at Boston University’s Agganis Arena. On May 12, ahead of the ceremony, a reception and concert featuring a global cast of over 200 student vocalists, instrumentalists, dancers, arrangers, and track producers from the graduating class, will perform a musical tribute to the work of each of the honorees.
Past recipients of honorary degrees from the college include Duke Ellington (the first, in 1971), Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones, Celine Dion, B.B. King, Joni Mitchell, Chaka Khan, Esperanza Spalding, Willie Nelson, Missy Elliott, Ringo Starr, Gloria Estefan, and John Legend.
The news comes as the Confessions singer prepares to enter a new era of his career. Announcing a joint record label with L.A. Reid, Usher has also teased he’s on the way “to wake up R&B” with a new album. Earlier this month the global superstar shared a rehearsal of his latest single “GLU” announcing tour dates in Paris. He first teased the track on Valentine’s Day.
“Part of the reason that I decide[d] to launch it [then] is because it’s a day of love. And what I found is, a lot of people who maybe don’t have love, and they just wanted to have self-love on that day.”
Watch the clip below.