Super Bowl
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Usher is likely to use the world’s biggest stage at Super Bowl LVIII in February to promote his first major tour in nearly a decade and become the first act to launch a tour from the big game in seven years, sources tell Billboard.
Following the NFL’s announcement Sunday that the R&B icon will take over Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Feb. 11 as the game’s halftime show performer, sources say Usher’s team has been busy placing holds on arenas around the world. That same team is expected to spend the next four-and-a-half months routing, confirming and finalizing a 2024 global tour that sources expect will be ready to go on sale moments after he steps off the stage.
Over the past two years, Usher has made a home on the Las Vegas Strip with two residencies at the The Colosseum at Caesars Palace and Dolby Live at Park MGM (for Usher: The Las Vegas Residency and My Way: The Vegas Residency, respectively). Combined, his residencies have earned $83 million and sold 374,000 tickets from 79 shows, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, and Billboard estimates that his Vegas earnings should exceed $100 million by early December. That’s more than any of Usher’s prior tours, topping 2010-11’s OMG Tour, which brought in $76 million — and coincidentally lined up with the singer’s previous Super Bowl halftime appearance, when he made a cameo during The Black Eyed Peas’ 2011 set. His last major tour was 2014–15’s The UR Experience Tour.
Usher will also use the halftime show as a platform to launch a new album release. The Atlanta superstar will drop his ninth studio album and his first since 2016, called Coming Home, on the same day as the Super Bowl. Last year, more than 115 million people tuned in for the Super Bowl, according to the NFL, showing viewership of the annual championship game continues to grow even as more Americans “cut the cord” with their cable providers and seek out digital streaming alternatives. Despite the increase in eyeballs, the number of artists making tour announcements or adjustments have dropped dramatically.
It has been seven years since an artist took advantage of Super Bowl halftime show’s massive viewership to announce a new tour — the last was Lady Gaga in 2017. The reason for that is likely two-fold. First, there are more artists touring than ever before, making it difficult for artists to time their touring plans and album cycles around a February announcement date, especially when halftime performers aren’t typically announced until September. The second change was a new partnership with Jay-Z and Roc Nation in 2019 to curate and book the halftime show, which has favored collaborative spectacles over single artist promotion with performances by Shakira and Jennifer Lopez at the 2020 Super Bowl and Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Kendrick Lamar at the 2022 Super Bowl.
Looking at the last five Super Bowl halftime shows, from 2018 to 2022, only two were linked to tour announcements: In 2018, Justin Timberlake, announced additional dates for his Man of the Woods Tour including second American leg for Man of the Woods following his Super Bowl LII halftime performance at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. And, in 2021, The Weeknd announced the long-awaited rescheduled dates for his After Hours Tour along with 39 new shows in North America and Europe after his Super Bowl performance. (Eight months later, those rescheduled dates were cancelled a second time, and the tour was upgraded to stadiums for summer 2022.)
The preceding five-year period, 2017-2013, was far busier — four out of five of the halftime shows from this period were linked to major tour announcements.
The last artist to announce a tour immediately following their performance at the Super Bowl was Lady Gaga in 2017. The singer began her remarkable set by descending from the top of Houston’s NRG Stadium onto an on-field stage to perform “Just Dance,” “Bad Romance,” “Poker Face”. After her show wrapped, a post on her Twitter account teased out a world tour, and then hours later a follow-up tweet directed fans to website where fans could buy tickets. Coldplay’s halftime performance in 2016 led to two major tour announcements: one for the band’s Head Full of Dreams Tour and another for their halftime co-star Beyoncé’s Formation Tour. Beyonce also announced The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour following 2013 Super Bowl performance, while Bruno Mars announced new dates for his Moonshine Jungle Tour following his 2014 halftime show performance in 2014.
Additional reporting by Eric Frankenberg.
Next year’s Super Bowl performer has found its star in Usher, who is slated to take stage during the game’s Apple Music Halftime Show at Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11, 2024. Following the news of the announcement, the “Yeah!” singer appeared on CBS Mornings to discuss how his career has prepared him for the big […]
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Usher is on cloud 9 about performing at Super Bowl LVIII. He recently shared how he got a call from Jay-Z right after the announcement was made.
On Saturday, September 24 the National Football League made the reveal with a hilarious spoof of Usher’s “Confessions, Pt. II” video featuring Kim Kardashian. Huffington Post is reporting that the Grammy Award winner recently sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. While the two discussed several things the hottest topic was that he will be headlining one of the biggest shows of 2024. He went on to say that Jay-Z was one of the first people to hit his phone to congratulate him. “But when I got this call… he said, ‘It’s time, it’s magic time. You know, it’s time for you to have that moment.’ I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’” Usher recalled. “He’s like, ‘The Super Bowl.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, you ready? Absolutely.’”
The “I Don’t Mind” singer went on to explain that this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was destiny.
“I think that everything that led up to that moment, going to Las Vegas for my residency for the last two years, the legacy, obviously that is the music, the celebration of entertainment in that place. It’s the City of Lights. You know, it’s always been a place where entertainers go and find love and passion, connection to their fans,” Usher said.
This is not the first time Usher has graced the Super Bowl stage. Back in 2011, he joined The Black Eye Peas during their headline show. You can see Usher and Zane discussing things below.
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Photo: Candice Ward / Getty
Usher was announced as the performer for the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday, and he’s ready to give the performance of a lifetime.
Following the news of the “Yeah!” singer’s halftime show, Usher spoke with CBS Mornings on Monday (Sept. 25) and revealed that performing for the big game is something he’s hoped for since the beginning of his career.
The Grammy winner kicked off the interview by revealing the phone call he had with Jay-Z after finding out he was slated to be next year’s Super Bowl performer.
“It’s a surprise that no one in the house can know,” he shared, setting the scene. “So my kids don’t know, my mom can’t know, my brother can’t know, my family can’t know and I gotta keep this a secret. So Jay-Z calls and he’s like, ‘It’s your time. This the magic moment.’ My girlfriend is there. … I’m like, ‘It’s happening’ and she’s like ‘No way’ and he’s like ‘Way.’ The hardest part is the suspense and keeping it a surprise for that time, because my kids were like, ‘Dad, you should play the Super Bowl! There’s a petition online!’ You know what? You gotta speak these things into existence. We knew literally days before the announcement.”
Playing the Super Bowl has been a dream for Usher that he’s worked diligently to make happen. “Thirty years ago I made a commitment to offer my best, and here 30 years later, now it’s being rewarded with one of the most prestigious performances and stages anybody could ever play on,” he said.
The Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper continued, “I’m humbled by the opportunity to do that, but I’m more happy to be able to celebrate with the people I love the most and celebrate in a way that people will remember through dance, through skate, though collaborations, so it’s gonna be a night of celebration. Every aspect of what has influences me to be the artist that I am, I’m gonna try to bring that out in that moment,” noting that playing the Super Bowl “is a moment that I’ve waited my entire life for and I’m not coming to disappoint.”
While waiting for Usher to take one of the world’s biggest stages, see Billboard‘s dream setlist for his set, and vote for who you think should perform with him at the Super Bowl.
Watch Usher’s new interview in full below.
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Source: Candice Ward / Getty
For the second time, Usher will be gracing the stage at the Super Bowl halftime show, but this time he’s the headliner.
As previously reported, the NFL announced Sunday (Sept. 24) that the R&B icon, who performed during the halftime show in 2011 as a special guest of the Black Eyed Peas, will be leading the performance next year for Super Bowl LVIII in February in Las Vegas, Nevada.
On the same day his halftime show performance was announced, Usher spoke with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about the moment he got the call informing him he had been tapped for the show by none other than the “big homie” Jay-Z, whose entertainment company Roc Nation has a long-term business partnership with the NFL.
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“But when I got this call… he said, ‘It’s time, it’s magic time. You know, it’s time for you to have that moment.’ I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’” Usher recalled. “He’s like, ‘The Super Bowl.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, you ready? Absolutely.’” The Confessions singer added that being booked to headline the halftime show was “destined to happen” at some point during his three-decade-long career.
“I think that everything that led up to that moment, going to Las Vegas for my residency for the last two years, the legacy, obviously that is the music, the celebration of entertainment in that place,” Usher explained. “It’s the City of Lights. You know, it’s always been a place where entertainers go and find love and passion, connection to their fans. He also talked about how fortuitous it is “for the Super Bowl to have made its way to Las Vegas while we were in Vegas.”
Usher indicated that he would likely bring guest performers to the stage in February, but he wouldn’t say who would be joining him if anyone.
“I’ve collaborated with a lot of incredible artists throughout the years. If anything, I’d like to socially engage the world. I’d like to hear who you think would be a great guest to complement this,” Usher told Lowe.
It may or may not be a coincidence that Usher has a new album called Coming Home that is set to release on the same day as his Super Bowl performance. Either way, February 11, 2024 is going to be a hell of a day for Usher fans.
Y’all excited?
When Usher plays the Super Bowl halftime show in 2024, it will mark his first time headlining, but it won’t be his first time on the halftime stage. Back in 2011, Usher crashed the Black Eyed Peas halftime show to perform his Billboard Hot 100-topping song “OMG” alongside will.i.am, who produced the 2010 hit. For […]
09/25/2023
The veteran pop and R&B superstar was announced over the weekend as the halftime headliner for Super Bowl LVIII — here’s how we’d like to see it go.
09/25/2023
Some of today’s biggest celebrities have a confession for Usher: he’s headlining the 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show presented by Apple Music.
Following news on Sunday (Sept. 24) that the R&B icon will take the big stage at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11, 2024, Apple News dropped numerous promotional videos featuring stars like Kim Kardashian, Deion Sanders, Odell Beckham Jr. and Marshawn Lynch delivering the exciting halftime show news to a skeptical Usher via a surprise phone call.
The minute-long “Confession” clips start with Usher sitting in a recording booth fervently writing song lyrics. He’s then interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone, with each celeb hilariously telling him the news about his upcoming Super Bowl headlining performance. He doesn’t believe it at first, but eventually lets the momentous news sink in. A futuristic Usher even makes an appearance in one of the videos, telling himself, “I’m on the set shooting the promo for it right now… I need you to get ready.”
This year will mark the fifth year of the partnership between the NFL and Roc Nation to produce the Halftime Show, after a deal struck in 2019. That partnership has resulted in halftime shows by Shakira and Jennifer Lopez (2020), The Weeknd (2021), a hip-hop showcase anchored by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar (2022), and Rihanna (2023).
In addition to headlining the 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show, Usher will also be releasing his next album, Coming Home, on Feb. 11, 2024. This marks his first new album since 2016’s Hard II Love, which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. Coming Home will feature the Grammy-winning singer’s previous 2023 release “Good Good,” featuring Summer Walker and 21 Savage.
“I’m coming home, I’m back with my team,” Usher told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, noting that he’s working with Antonio “L.A.” Reid. “Even when you see the artwork, you will understand it. When you see the peach. You get it. You understand where I’m from and what we’re doing.”
Usher added, “More than anything, it’s a celebration of music. Coming home in many other ways as you get more acclimated. When I put out more records and also to put more visuals, actually begin to really understand it. But I think that it is something to be celebrated.”
Watch the “Has a Confession” Super Bowl Halftime Show promo videos below.
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Usher has big plans for 2024. In addition to headlining the 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show presented by Apple Music, the Grammy-winning R&B icon will also be releasing his next album. Coming Home, the Atlanta superstar’s ninth studio set, will arrive the same day as his Super Bowl Halftime Show on Feb. 11, 2024. This […]
Usher will headline the 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show presented by Apple Music, during the game set to take place Feb. 11, 2024.
The iconic singer from Atlanta will take the stage at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the first time the big game will take place in that city.
“It’s an honor of a lifetime to finally check a Super Bowl performance off my bucket list. I can’t wait to bring the world a show unlike anything else they’ve seen from me before,” Usher said in a statement. “Thank you to the fans and everyone who made this opportunity happen. I’ll see you real soon.”
Usher has 18 top 10 hits on the Hot 100 in his career, including nine No. 1s, with songs like “U Got It Bad,” “Yeah!” feat Lil Jon and Ludacris, “My Boo” with Alicia Keys and “OMG” feat. will.i.am., which will surely ramp up the speculation around who may come out as a special guest alongside him. He also has four No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 to his name across his career.
“Usher is an icon whose music has left an indelible mark on the cultural landscape throughout his career, we couldn’t be more excited to have him headline this year’s Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show,” said Seth Dudowsky, the head of music for the NFL, in a statement. “We look forward to working with Usher, Roc Nation and Apple Music to bring fans another Halftime Show for the history books.”
This year will mark the fifth year of the partnership between the NFL and Roc Nation to produce the Halftime Show, after a deal struck in 2019. That partnership has resulted in halftime shows by Shakira and Jennifer Lopez (2020), The Weeknd (2021), a hip-hop showcase anchored by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar (2022), and Rihanna (2023).
“Usher is the ultimate artist and showman. Ever since his debut at the age of 15, he’s been charting his own unique course. Beyond his flawless singing and exceptional choreography, Usher bares his soul,” JAY-Z said in a statement. “His remarkable journey has propelled him to one of the grandest stages in the world. I can’t wait to see the magic.”
This will also mark the second year that the halftime show will be presented by Apple Music, after a decade of Pepsi sponsorship. The Rihanna performance in 2023 — during which the superstar revealed she was pregnant with her second child with A$AP Rocky — was the most-watched halftime show of all time.
“The Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show is one of the most highly anticipated music events of the year and we’re excited to bring this legendary show to fans all over the world in Spatial Audio, along with tons of exclusive videos, interviews, playlists and so much more across Apple Music,” Apple’s vp of Apple Music, Apple TV+, sports and Beats Oliver Schusser said in a statement. “We are so proud of what we were able to accomplish together with the NFL and Roc Nation last year and now with the insanely talented Usher set to take the stage we’re looking forward to another incredible Halftime Show from one of the world’s all-time greatest performers.”
The show will be produced by DPS, with executive producers Roc Nation and Jesse Collins, and will be directed by Hamish Hamilton.