Usher performs during the 2023 The Roots Picnic at The Mann on June 4, 2023 in Philadelphia.
Taylor Hill/Getty Images for Live Nation Urban
The man they call U-S-H-E-R-R-A-Y-M-O-N-D will be bringing his decades of hits to the NFL’s biggest night this February. The league revealed on Sunday (Sept. 24) that Usher would be the headliner for halftime of Super Bowl XLIII, via a star-studded announcement video that played off the phone conversation intro to his classic “Confessions” clip.
The timing is right for Usher to be receiving such a spotlight moment: After a rocky mid-to-late 2010s, the pop/R&B great has been enjoying a long-overdue comeback over this past half-decade. It began at the turn of the decade with winning cameo appearances in the film Hustlers and on Summer Walker’s hit “Come Thru,” and has continued in the 2020s with a well-received (and meme-spawning) Tiny Desk concert, a sold-out Las Vegas residency, and additional hits alongside City Girls (2022’s “Good Love”) and Summer Walker again (this year’s still-growing “Good Good,” also with 21 Savage). The announcement of Usher’s Super Bowl gig also coincided with the announcement of his forthcoming Coming Home album, to be released Feb. 12, the same day as the big game.
Perhaps Usher will seize on the opportunity to promote songs from the new LP — but more likely, he’ll use the setlist to show off his bulletproof catalog of hits, which runs from his 1997 breakout album “My Way,” peaks in the mid-2000s with the RIAA Diamond-certified blockbuster Confessions, gets a second wind with the EDM era in the early 2010s, and continues right up to this year. Here’s how we’d like to see him show off that all-time discography on the world’s largest stage.
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“Confessions Part II”
Probably the only way to start: The song (and video) that not only served as the framework for Usher’s Super Bowl performance announcement, but also the song that’s essentially turned into the centerpiece single for his entire career. Maybe he starts with the famous Part I spoken-word intro — perhaps with new Super Bowl-themed lyrics to dial down the intensity a bit — but guaranteed, once that live-wire electric guitar riff kicks in, and Usher starts with his first “These are my confessions…” that’s when the entirety of Allegiant Stadium will be fully locked in, staying that way for the remainder of the performance.
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“U Make Me Wanna”
Then, it’s back to where it all began. First, it’s just Usher in shadowy silhouette, singing the song’s opening verse a cappella: “Before anything came between us / You were like my best friend…” with orchestral stabs occasionally punctuating the words. Then the four-hit drum intro and the acoustic groove kick in, and both song and performance start in earnest, with an impossibly wide-grinning Usher performing the unforgettable “You Make Me Wanna” refrain, with millions of millennials across the country singing along at home.
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“U Don’t Have to Call”
Now that the set is really moving, time to get the party properly started with Usher’s Neptunes-produced 2002 smash “U Don’t Have to Call.” Ush shows he’s still as fleet of foot as he was decades earlier while shimmying along to the song’s knocking beat, and the crowd goes nuts from the opening “Situaaaaations will arise…” line.
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“Good Good” (with Summer Walker and 21 Savage)
Time to slow things down — and also throw a bone to some of the younger fans less familiar with these decades-old hits. The opening synths from “Good Good” emerge, along with appearances from two decidedly contemporary guest stars: Summer Walker and 21 Savage, who follow Usher’s single run through the song’s chorus with condensed versions of their own verses from the current hit.
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“Bad Girl” / “My Boo” (With Alicia Keys)
The bigger fans in the crowd roar for the opening guitar lick to Confessions deeper cut and fan favorite “Bad Girl.” But just as in Usher’s 2004 music video, the song’s mid-tempo funk quickly gives way to the sentimental crooning of “My Boo” — with Usher reminding the crowd, “There’s always that one person that will always have your heart,” as duet partner Alicia Keys takes the stage to thunderous applause. Eyes water across the country as they hit the first harmonies on the pre-chorus “….and you were my baaaabyyyyyy.”
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“U Remind Me”
The flute hook from “U Remind Me” interrupts all the teariness to remind the audience that there are still plenty of hits to get through. Usher’s 8701 lead single remains one of his most-beloved pop hits, and while Confessions is his defining album, both “Remind” and “Call” — along with a third “U” smash in “U Got It Bad,” which he might not have time to get to in full, but hopefully finds room here to sneak in a line or phrase of it somewhere — should ensure fans remember it’s far from his only blockbuster.
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“OMG” / “DJ Got Us Falling in Love” (with Pitbull) / “Without You” (with David Guetta)
One of the biggest social media debates this Sunday surrounding the news of Usher’s Super Bowl gig was over whether or not he would (or should) perform “OMG,” the will.i.am-stewarded smash that divided fans upon its 2010 release for its new dance-pop direction and, well, fairly dumb lyrics. We doubt Usher can resist bringing it out for at least one run through its stadium-ready chorus, but he should transition fairly quickly from that into fellow floor-fillers “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love” (with the always-welcome Pitbull offering some guest bars) and “Without You” (with David Guetta giddily fist-pumping behind the decks), making for a EDM-era Usher mini-medley to crank the party to a fever pitch without alienating too many of his Day Ones in the process.
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“I Need a Girl” (with Diddy)
A familiar wash of shimmering synths introduces the latest in our cavalcade of guest stars: Sean “Diddy” Combs, there to offer some thoughts on settling down via his “I Need a Girl (Part One)” verses. Usher takes us through the song’s hook, and then the two maybe perform a quick dance break to the timeless “Part Two” guitar riff before the music cuts out to thunderous applause.
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“Climax”
It wasn’t one of his biggest Hot 100 hits — peaking at just No. 17 upon its 2012 release — but can Usher really make it through his whole set without playing probably his most beloved song of the past 15 years, and maybe his most critically revered song ever? “Climax” might not be one for the most casual fans, but many will be quickly converted by Usher’s piercing falsetto, and the rising intensity of his “I just need you one more time/ I CAN’T GET WHAT WE HAD OUT MY MIND!!” wails should make for a stunning, well, climax.
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“Yeah!” (With Ludacris and Lil Jon)
But of course, “Climax” can’t be the end of it; not when we still have “Yeah!,” the biggest hit of Usher’s career and arguably the defining pop hit of the entire ’00s, to get through. Once the fire-alarm synths hit and a “YYYYYEAHHHH!!!“-ing Lil Jon storms the stage, no one at Allegiant Stadium under the age of 70 is remaining in their seats. While most of the hits Usher’s halftime set runs through just get a chorus and a verse, he does “Yeah!” all the way through — capped, of course, by Ludacris popping out to perform his all-timer of a guest verse, and outro’d by Lil Jon leading the crowd through a series of dance commands, just like at the end of the song’s then-unavoidable music video. The performance goes silent with his final “… and cut,” as the camera freezes on a smoldering Usher — who can’t help but break into another signature grin, knowing he’s just completed the mini-show of his life.