Super Bowl
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Streams and sales of Usher’s sizable catalog of music rose amid and following his performance at the halftime show of Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11.
From Feb. 11-12, consumption of Usher’s music totaled 35.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams, up 46% from 24.6 million between Feb. 9-10, according to initial reports to Luminate.
Additionally, his music accumulated 27,000 downloads Feb. 11-12, a 210% jump after accruing 9,000 Feb. 9-10.
The gains come despite higher-than-usual totals for the singer on streaming services thanks not just to buzz around his performance, but also the premiere of Coming Home, Usher’s ninth studio album, which was released on Feb. 9. Comparing the two-day period of Feb. 11-12 to the Sunday-Monday stretch of a week before (Feb. 4-5), the percentage gain is even higher – 299%, up to 35.9 million from 9 million. Download-wise, it’s a leap of 1,685% from 2,000 downloads to 27,000.
Leading the way is “Yeah!,” featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, which accumulated 4.8 million official on-demand U.S. streams Feb. 11-12. That’s up 105% from Feb. 9-10, when the song earned 2.3 million streams.
Some of Usher’s biggest gainers were, like “Yeah!,” performed during the halftime show. The same can be said for “My Boo,” Usher’s duet with Alicia Keys (who made a cameo during the medley). The tune vaults 158% to 3 million streams Feb. 11-12, up from 1.2 million the previous two days.
“Love in This Club” (which features Jeezy) follows with 2.4 million streams Feb. 11-12, a 147% boost from 961,000, and then comes “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love” (featuring Pitbull) via 2.1 million streams, up 83% from 1.2 million.
Sales-wise, “Yeah!” also paces the pack, racking up 7,000 downloads Feb. 11-12. In the previous frame of Feb. 9-10, it earned 1,000 downloads, giving the song a 424% leap.
“U Got It Bad” boasts the next highest sales count at 3,000 Feb. 11-12, a 349% jump from 1,000 Feb 9-10.
The full breadth of Usher’s catalog gains will be noted on the Billboard charts dated Feb. 24, which cover streams, sales and airplay accrued during the Feb. 9-15 tracking week.
Usher ended Super Bowl weekend with a bang — or wedding bells, rather. The “U Got It Bad” singer took to Instagram on Wednesday (Feb. 14) to share a series of photos from his Las Vegas wedding to his longtime girlfriend Jennifer Goicoechea on Feb. 11, just hours after the star took the stage at Super […]
Underestimate The DunKings … at your peril! Jennifer Lopez may have drowned husband Ben Affleck‘s pop-star dreams in Dunkin’s 2024 Super Bowl ad, but the Oscar-winning actor is following his heart. The DunKings boy band — comprised of Affleck and fellow Boston boys Matt Damon and Tom Brady — dropped their track “Don’t Dunk Away […]
On the latest episode of New Heights, the NFL’s favorite brothers Jason and Travis Kelce debriefed their raucous Super Bowl weekend in Las Vegas, from hanging out with Taylor Swift at Allegiant Stadium Sunday (Feb. 11) to going all out at that night’s afterparty to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory.
“I feel like I just got in a trainwreck, man,” Travis confessed on the Wednesday (Feb. 14) episode. “That was a physical game, man.”
“That was a physical post game too,” quipped Jason, seemingly nodding to his little brother’s PDA moments with Swift on the afterparty dance floor.
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“All right now,” Travis replied with a knowing smile.
The pop star was on hand Sunday to cheer on Travis as he helped lead the Chiefs to victory against the San Francsico 49ers, securing the team its second Super Bowl win in two years. Swift and Jason watched the game from a private suite with Blake Lively, Lana Del Rey, Miles Teller and more famous friends, and at one point, the “Anti-Hero” singer was featured on the jumbotron chugging her drink – about which Travis called Swift a “pro” on New Heights.
After the game, Travis, Jason and Swift stepped out at a club in Las Vegas to celebrate with the younger Kelce’s teammates. Many viral videos emerged from the party, including clips of the Philadelphia Eagles center dancing in a red and yellow wrestling mask and the 14-time Grammy winner singing along to her own songs with Travis.
Jason also opened up about meeting two very different music icons at Swift’s introduction: Sir Paul McCartney and Ice Spice. “All of a sudden I hear Taylor behind me like, ‘Jason, turn around!’” the older Kelce recalled. “I look around, and Paul McCartney is standing right there. I’m like, ‘What the heck is this?’”
“Also got to meet Ice Spice, she was very nice,” he continued, with Travis adding that the “Munch” rapper is “awesome for showing up and showing support like that.”
Watch the latest episode of New Heights above.
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The performance of “Lift Every Voice And Sing” at the Super Bowl got Rudy Giuliani and Megan Kelly mad enough to whine about it publicly.
The 58th Super Bowl was held Sunday (Feb. 11), at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, and carried all of the majesty people come to expect from the event. But the performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by Andra Day before the game roiled the sensibilities of two major right-wingers: Rudy Giuliani and Megan Kelly. Both were displeased at the inclusion of the song, which has come to be known as the Black National Anthem.
The topic came up on the former mayor of New York City’s WABC radio show, prompted by his co-host Maria Ryan’s diatribe: “They’re going to do what’s called a Black National Anthem, and then America’s National Anthem,” she began. “Please stop dividing us. We can’t allow this. If you want to sing another song, that’s fine. I don’t care about that at all, but to call it Black National Anthem is dividing us. We’re all American citizens.”
The disgraced former lawyer for Donald Trump concurred. “This country is made up of people that come from places that have other national anthems, and it’s pretty damn insulting,” Giuliani added. “The people that are being persecuted the most right now in the country are the Jews, not the Blacks. Where’s the sympathy for the Jewish people?”
Kelly aired her grievance with the 1900 composed song by James Weldon Johnson in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “The so-called Black National Anthem does not belong at the Super Bowl. We already have a National Anthem and it includes EVERYONE,” she wrote. The former Fox News host has popped up infrequently over the past few years since losing her daytime talk show, infamously declaring that Santa Claus and Jesus are white.
Other X users were quick to blast her for the bigoted post, including author John Pavlovitz who wrote, “It’s good you’re too stupid to hide your racism.” A former congressional candidate, Christopher Hale also highlighted the irony of right-wingers’ despising the song, noting that it is a hymn: “It’s remarkable that there is right-wing backlash [about] the Black national anthem. The entire song is about honoring God,” he wrote on X.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce‘s already iconic post-Super Bowl kiss has been analyzed from all angles — but now, thanks to the NFL, fans are getting to hear exactly what the couple said to each other minutes after the Kansas City Chiefs triumphed over the San Francsico 49ers Sunday (Feb. 11). In an emotional TikTok […]
Music’s Biggest Night may have been a week prior, but Super Bowl Sunday still put plenty of pop superstars on prominent display — most notably, veteran pop&B icons Usher and Beyoncé.
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Usher of course performed as the halftime headliner at Super Bowl XLVIII, running through 15 minutes of his biggest hits with assists from guest-star collaborators like Lil Jon, Alicia Keys and will.i.am. And Beyoncé not only starred in a Super Bowl ad punning off her reputation for “breaking the internet,” she went on to basically do just that once again, with the announcement of her much-anticipated Act II sequel album to 2022’s Renaissance, and the release of two country-flavored advance cuts, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages.” (And then, of course, there was also that Chiefs fan and part-time singer-songwriter who the CBS broadcast kept cutting to throughout the game…)
What will the gig mean for Usher’s catalog? And how big do we expect these new Beyoncé songs to get? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
1. Usher played a pretty hit-filled halftime show — which of his songs do you think will most be helped, either in terms of short-term spikes or long-term legacy, by its inclusion in his setlist?
Stephen Daw: While I’m certain that “Yeah!” will see plenty of well-deserved upticks after Ludacris and Lil John joined Usher for his show-stopping closer, their inclusion in the show was practically a foregone conclusion. But bringing up Alicia Keys for a genuinely great rendition of “My Boo” 20 years after its release felt like the kind of delightful, head-turning surprise we expect to see from a halftime show. Both Alicia and Usher sounded great on the track 20 years later (despite the internet harping on one pre-duet vocal crack), and the on-stage chemistry appeared just as potent as it was back in 2004. Sure, “My Boo” is already one of Usher’s most well-documented hits, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the classic duet saw a cultural resurgence thanks to this phenomenal revisit.
Kyle Denis: I think “Yeah!” will be helped the most. It’s Usher’s most widely known song and it got a serious showcase during halftime, complete with special guess Lil Jon and Ludacris. In terms of musical moments that will live beyond Sunday night, “Yeah!” leads the pack. It also helps that “Yeah!” was one of the few songs in Usher’s set that didn’t fall victim to a two-line snippet before moving onto the next track. Nonetheless, “My Boo,” could see a substantial jump in traction following the endless barrage of Alicia Keys-focused viral memes.
Jason Lipshutz: Like the rest of his Confessions singles, “My Boo” was a smash upon its release in 2004 — the Alicia Keys duet spent 6 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 — but hasn’t remained a signature Usher single over the past two decades, and was a more unexpected centerpiece of the Super Bowl halftime show than uptempo smashes like “Yeah!” and “OMG.” Because of that tender stadium harmonizing because Ursh and his surprise guest, however, I’d guess “My Boo” picks up some new listeners, as well as some “Oh yeah, I forgot how great that song is!” streams, and receives a significant spike.
Taylor Mims: If an Usher halftime show was geared toward any specific demographic it was millennials and nostalgia hit hard on “Yeah!” There is not a single person who went to a middle school or high school dance in 2004 or later and didn’t hear “Yeah!” at least a few times per night. Hearing that song again brings back a ton of memories and millennials will be flocking to Spotify or Apple Music to bask in those forgotten times.
Andrew Unterberger: “Yeah!” definitely seems to be the biggest short-term beneficiary — gonna be real fun to (likely) see that classic back on the Billboard Hot 100 20 years after topping it for 12 weeks — but to me, the biggest winner from Usher’s set was “OMG.” The 2010 Hot 100 No. 1 remains an extremely contentious song within his discography, with many fans deriding it as a regrettable EDM-era throwaway and other fans telling those fans to hush and just fist-pump along with the hook. Usher’s decision to include “OMG” within his inner-circle setlist — the only song of his from the last 15 years to earn that distinction — is a major win for fans in the latter category.
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2. Despite releasing his new Coming Home album just two days earlier, Usher didn’t play a single song from the album during his show — not even his recent Hot 100 top 40 hit “Good Good.” Were you surprised by the snub, and do you think it’s going to have any particular impact on the album’s commercial fortunes?
Stephen Daw: I don’t think it was too shocking that nothing off of Coming Home made it onto the stage on Sunday. Historically speaking, the Super Bowl halftime show is a place to celebrate a career’s-worth of accomplishments, not necessarily to promote new work. While a quick, 30-second nod to “Good Good” could have given the song a brief bump, I don’t think the lack of Coming Home numbers will have too much of a negative effect on the album’s numbers — a rising tide lifts all boats, and I suspect that the influx of listeners going back through Usher’s catalogue will only benefit his latest LP.
Kyle Denis: I was less surprised that Usher ignored Coming Home and more surprised that he flat-out ignored the last decade of his recording career. Surely, we could have fit a tease of “Climax” or a “Good Kisser” drum break or a snippet of “I Don’t Mind” somewhere in the show! In terms of the commercial fortunes of Coming Home, it’s a bit hard to say. Playing a new track from the LP would have certainly helped; it’s hard to imagine the average viewer watching the halftime show and understanding that Usher has a new 20-track album out right now. Between the absence of Coming Home during his set and the lack of a commercial for neither his forthcoming tour nor the album itself, it does feel like the ball was dropped in terms of prioritizing the promotion of the record.
With all that said, I don’t think Coming Home was ever going to pull astronomical numbers — but I can almost guarantee that the final tally would have been higher with a bit more concerted focus on the album during the halftime performance. Between the success of “Good Good” and his fast-selling tour, Coming Home is already shaping up to be Usher’s biggest commercial win – in terms of full-length projects – since 2012’s Looking for Myself.
Jason Lipshutz: Considering that his Super Bowl performance included a slower R&B medley in between pop smashes, I was surprised that he couldn’t sneak “Good Good” in between songs like “Burn,” “Nice & Slow” and “U Got It Bad.” Obviously the old-school fans loved seeing stars like Alicia Keys, Lil Jon and Ludacris come out during the halftime show, but having Summer Walker and 21 Savage arrive on the Super Bowl stage would have thrilled a whole new generation of Usher fans — while also demonstrating the breadth of Usher’s decades-long run as a crossover hit machine.
Taylor Mims: It is surprising. For promotion alone, it seems like it would have been a smart move to sneak even a few moments of some new material in. But Usher decided to do a retrospective of his long and accomplished career and who can blame him. When you’ve only got 12 minutes to remind the world about your 30 years of success, there have to be some concessions.
Andrew Unterberger: I was a little surprised: Coming Home is a real moment for Usher, his first album as the lone lead artist in nearly a decade, released just two days before the Super Bowl and already boasting his biggest hit in a decade. I don’t think it’ll necessarily hurt the album that much, and honestly, it’s unlikely the album would be boosted by a token song or two as much as 2004 blockbuster Confessions will be with its seven (!!) separate songs featured in Ush’s set. But it’s a little unfortunate that an artist who’s continued to release great music for the whole back half of his 30-year recording career would present himself pretty much solely as a catalog artist — again, “OMG” was the oldest song he performed, and that song is 14 years old at this point.
3. Beyoncé grabbed some of the night’s headlines for herself with the announcement of her upcoming Act II album and the release of two new songs, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages.” Do either of them sound like “Break My Soul”/”Cuff It”-sized hits to you, or do you think folks will need some time to come around to her (mostly) new country-influenced sound?
Stephen Daw: Emotional Ballad Beyoncé Singing Ridiculous Vocal Runs Because She Can™ is my personal favorite Beyoncé variant, so I’ve naturally found myself listening (and re-listening) to “16 Carriages” more out of the two. But if we’re looking for a hit, then I’m going all-in on “Texas Hold ‘Em.” The vibe is immaculate and smartly straddles the line of a country hit and a Beyoncé banger. It doesn’t feel like she’s pandering to a specific audience (looking at you, Ben Shapiro), but instead feels like a natural evolution on the sound she introduced with “Daddy Lessons” on Lemonade. I don’t know that either of these will reach the heights of a breakthrough like “Break My Soul,” but I think a top 20 placement is absolutely in the cards for “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
Kyle Denis: Folks will probably need a bit of time, because the overarching sound of both singles stands worlds away from the glitzy bombast of Renaissance. There’s some potential for “Texas Hold ‘Em” to morph into a line dance anthem that evokes the dance trend that helped “Cuff It” take off, but I’m more interested to see if “16 Carriages” can get Queen Bey her first hit ballad in quite some time.
Jason Lipshutz: “Texas Hold ‘Em” sounds like a hit to me, full of big hooks, back-and-forth whoops and a captivating Beyoncé vocal take that sneaks up on you instead of bowls you over. There’s an air of inclusivity to this country boogie, as if Bey is beckoning the listener to an unfamiliar party; maybe it won’t be as commercially resonant as “Break My Soul” or “Cuff It,” but “Texas Hold ‘Em” sounds like a pristine table-setter for this Beyoncé era, and I’m hoping it crosses over to country, pop and Queen Bey fans alike.
Taylor Mims: “Texas Hold ‘Em” is a winner and if anyone can make pop radio come around to country, it will be Beyoncé. That stomping beat will get enough Beyoncé fans on board with the country route and then some folks might be a bit warry of the banjo, but she’ll wrangle them in eventually. If the rumors are true that Beyoncé is on a mission to reclaim genres created by Black people, I think people will be open to her taking country back to its roots and give it all a listen.
Andrew Unterberger: The Super Bowl boost and general headline-making moment of their release will certainly help their first-week performance — though unfortunately, they’ll be hurt by their Sunday night release, meaning they’ll have just four full days’ worth of chart stats to count towards their first frame. Beyond that, it’s a little harder to predict: Radio will likely be slower to fully embrace this sonic left-turn than it was the top 40-accessible “Break My Soul,” and streaming momentum will depend on one of the songs catching heat on TikTok and other social media platforms. So far, so good: “Texas Hold ‘Em” in particular is off to a fast start, holding the No. 2 spot on both Spotify’s and Apple Music’s daily charts and topping iTunes. I’d ultimately bet that the era’s most pronounced chart impact will have to wait for the full album’s release in late March, though.
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4. All eyes will certainly be on the country world following the release of these songs and the full Act II to see what their response will be to her efforts. How much, if at all, do you think Nashville and the country machine will embrace this version of Beyoncé?
Stephen Daw: Country music’s track record when it comes to Beyoncé specifically is mixed; while 2016’s “Daddy Lessons” earned her some country radio play and a significant amount of support from A-listers in the genre, the Recording Academy’s genre committee famously denied the star any consideration for country-related awards at the 2016 Grammys. It’s hard to predict whether or not the country industry will bring Beyoncé into the fold here — but quite frankly, they’d be stupid not to! What better way to celebrate the format’s rise to cultural dominance than by showcasing how one of the biggest artists on the planet is putting out good country music? Not platforming “Texas Hold Em” or “16 Carriages” on country radio is just leaving money on the table.
Kyle Denis: Based on the writing and production credits on the two new tracks, it looks like Beyoncé has intentionally side-stepped the contemporary Nashville machine for her new country album. And that would make sense, considering she’s trying to pay homage to the Black roots of the genre. I wouldn’t be surprised if the track’s music videos (should we get any) get some spins on CMT, and I also wouldn’t be surprised to see country megastars across racial lines embracing Queen Bey. In terms of the country radio institution, however, it would truly be a watershed moment in music if Beyoncé was able to get legitimate country radio hits with original country songs crafted outside of the purview of Nashville.
Jason Lipshutz: I’d suspect that different factions of the country music industry embrace this Beyoncé era to varying degrees: while streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music have already slotted in “Texas Hold Em” atop their primary country playlists, country radio moves more slowly and is generally more traditional in their programming, so that will be a tougher nut to crack. We’re likely in for a few months of some country listeners being frequently exposed to new Beyoncé, and others fairly unaware of her new project; such dissonance will produce warranted hand-wringing, but that’s just the reality of the different speeds and approaches of Nashville’s biggest platforms.
Taylor Mims: As a community, the modern country genre has historically been very skeptical of Black artists and many artists of color have said they are treated like outsiders who need to prove their sincerity to “three chords and the truth.” But Beyoncé does not need the genre gatekeepers’ approval. She does not need their airplay or an invite to perform at a country awards show. If they don’t welcome her, it will highlight the rampant discrimination in the genre. If they do welcome her, a Black woman will be the center of attention in the genre for possibly the first time. Either way, Queen Bey wins.
Andrew Unterberger: I think they’ll embrace her in ways that don’t require a great deal of prolonged commitment. For instance, I bet country award shows will recruit her heavily: She’ll be great for ratings, and even the controversy her appearance will inevitably generate will be good for putting the show on folks’ radars. But will she become a major presence on country radio? Will the genre’s conservative-minded ruling class openly welcome her as a peer? Will her success lead to greater opportunities for other Black artists, and artists crossing over from outside genres? That all seems a little less likely to me.
5. Of course, there was another longtime pop star besides Ush and Bey who dominated headlines on Super Bowl Sunday. Since she’s now the only one of the three who hasn’t, give your prediction: Will Taylor Swift ever headline Super Bowl halftime?
Stephen Daw: Yes, Taylor Swift will absolutely do the Super Bowl halftime show someday, but I don’t think that day will come any time soon. The pop superstar is at an all-time zenith in her professional career, with signs only pointing further up for her future. Putting aside all the records she broke in her own career, Taylor brought in a ridiculous amount of revenue and attention to the NFL itself, and she did it without once performing at a game. Simply put, the league needs her more than she needs them — so she might as well keep waiting until she’s ready to bring out the big guns for her much-anticipated halftime performance.
Kyle Denis: She’ll do it. If she doesn’t, it’ll be to make a point that she’s bigger than the whole thing – but is anyone really bigger than the Super Bowl? I expect Tay to take the halftime stage before the decade closes, probably around 2026 or 2027, by which point her re-recording endeavor should finally be over. A Super Bowl halftime show would be a picture-perfect way to celebrate Taylor Swift finally owning all her work.
Jason Lipshutz: I think she will, although I’d guess it’s still a few years away, after her six-album re-recording project is completed (so she can play Taylor’s Versions of all of her hits) and the Eras Tour is long in the rearview (so that the halftime show doesn’t feel like a rehash of a mega-tour and its accompanying concert documentary). I’d imagine that Taylor Swift has an open invitation from the NFL to take their biggest stage, though, so whenever she wants to take over halftime, she will.
Taylor Mims: Not anytime soon. Would the NFL love to have Taylor Swift perform at halftime? Most certainly. Could Taylor Swift pull off an epic halftime show? Without a doubt. But Super Bowl halftime performers do not get paid to perform and often use the 15 minutes or less to promote something. Taylor Swift gets promotion for free every single day and she does not need help selling tickets or albums. Also, imagine Swifties trying to get their hands on the already uber-coveted Super Bowl tickets. The mayhem!
Andrew Unterberger: My reflexive response was “no,” as Taylor Swift hasn’t performed at an award show or televised live event in years. After all, why should she? Her own tour is arguably a hotter ticket than any other institution’s most popular or prestigious events right now anyway. But I do think Swift cares about history, and the fact of the matter is that most of the greatest stars of modern pop history — from Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna to Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and now Usher — have a Super Bowl halftime performance on their resumé.
So if and when her own live schedule becomes a little less hectic, and maybe after she’s spent a little less time reflecting on her past than she has over these past few years of album re-recordings and Eras revisitings — let’s say around the turn of the next decade — I imagine she’ll probably want to put a checkmark next to this all-timer qualification. By that point, it’ll probably be one of only a precious few she has left.
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Source: Michael Owens / Getty / Super Bowl LVIII / Patrick Mahomes
So, despite all the people claiming they were not going to watch this year’s Super Bowl LVIII for many reasons *coughs* Taylor Swift, it turns out this year’s edition of the big game was the most watched ever.
ESPN reports a record number of eyes were in front of their television screens to see the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers, Usher’s brilliant Apple Music Halftime show, and less than a minute of Taylor Swift.
Per ESPN:
According to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, the Kansas City Chiefs’ 25-22 overtime victory versus the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday averaged 123.4 million viewers across television and streaming platforms. That shattered last year’s mark of 115.1 million for Kansas City’s last-play victory over the Philadelphia Eagles with a 7% increase.
Nielsen also says a record 202.4 million people looked at some part of the game across all networks at one point, which was a 10% jump over the previous year’s 183.6 million.
It also eclipses the 2016 Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers on CBS, which had 112.34 million viewers.
It was only the second Super Bowl to go into overtime and the second straight event to average over 100 million viewers.
Possible Reasons For This Year’s Super Bowl’s Ratings Success
On top of the thrilling game that saw the Chiefs need overtime to send the San Franciso 49ers back to the bay without the Lombardi trophy, again, there was also the added hoopla of Taylor Swift being in the building and, of course, highly anticipated halftime performance from Usher.
Leading up to the game, the extreme MAGA crowd somehow managed to link Taylor Swift, President Joe Biden, and Super Bowl LVIII in some ridiculous conspiracy theory.
Following the game’s result, President Biden even mocked them, using the infamous “Dark Brandon” meme with the caption, “Just like we drew it up.”
We will be tuned in again next year.
Brittany Mahomes is spreading the Kansas City Chiefs love. Shortly after the team won Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas Sunday (Feb. 11), the retired women’s soccer player – who is married to quarterback Patrick Mahomes – attended a post-game afterparty, where she convinced Post Malone to trade in his Dallas Cowboys […]
It looks like Shaquille O’Neal had a good time at the 2024 Super Bowl on Sunday (Feb. 11). The next day, the 51-year-old former basketball star shared a photo on Instagram from his weekend at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, where he met up with Taylor Swift and his new crush, Ice Spice.
In the picture, the seven-foot sports analyst and DJ looms tall over Swift and the 24-year-old “Munch” rapper, posing with his hands around both women’s shoulders. Ice flashes a peace sign, while producer RiotUSA looks away from the camera on the 34-year-old “Anti-Hero” singer’s other side.
“and @icespice is so dam fine,” Shaq captioned the post. “thanks @taylorswift.”
The “Karma” collaborators attended Super Bowl LVIII to root on Swift’s boyfriend, tight end Travis Kelce, who helped lead the Kansas City Chiefs to victory against the San Francisco 49ers. The two musicians were also joined by Blake Lively, Lana Del Rey, Miles Teller and Keleigh Sperry at the game, as well as Kelce’s family.
Afterward, Ice shared her own photos on Instagram with Swift and Shaq, along with a snap of her and the “Shake it Off” singer’s posse cheering for the Chiefs in the stands. She simply captioned the post, “W.”
Fans tuning into the Super Bowl got to see Ice during the live broadcast as well as during the commercial break. The Bronx native starred in an ad for PepsiCo, in which she rejects her fictious ex-boyfriend’s attempt at getting back together in favor of a new beau: Starry soda.
“I just need something refreshing, more crisp! I’m with Starry now,” she said in the 30-second clip.
A week prior, Ice and Swift both attended the Grammys, where the former was nominated for best new artist (which went to Victoria Monet), and the latter took home album of the year and pop vocal album for Midnights. On March 6, the “Deli” artist will be honored with the Hitmaker Award at the 2024 Billboard Women in Music Awards.