( FF ) - Usher's father has died.
Minister Usher "Urkie" Raymond III passed away at an Atlanta hospital on Friday (18.01.08), aged just 52.
The cause of death has not been revealed.
He was a member of Greater Friendship Primitive Baptist Church.
The funeral will take place at 1pm tomorrow (23.01.08) in the chapel of Chattanooga's Taylor Funeral Home, conducted by Elder James Penny. He will be laid to rest in the Highland Memorial Gardens.
Usher III fathered R'n'B star Usher IV with Jonetta Patton in Dallas, Texas, in 1978. The couple split shortly after his birth.
Usher was brought up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he began his singing career in the church choir. The family then moved to Atlanta, Georgia, as they believed it would help further Usher's career.