Usher’s road to the Super Bowl: How the ‘R&B heartthrob’ evolved over a 30-year career

cnn
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Usher was 15 years old when he released his first album in 1994.

Now, some 30 years later, the R&B singer perform at his first Super Bowl halftime show. In that time, she has sold more than 80 million records worldwide and won eight Grammy Awards.

Some were surprised by the announcement that Usher would be directing this year’s show, but those who have chronicled Usher’s evolution feel it was a long time coming.

“It’s one of the greatest displays of showmanship we’ve ever seen,” Nicolas-Tyrell Scott, a London-based music critic, told CNN. “Should it have happened years earlier? Yes. But is it still happening? Yes. So, it means that it is a certain category of artist. “It’s a gold standard.”

Ask any kid who grew up in the 2000s to remember a song they heard on repeat during their childhood, and there’s a good chance you’ll hear the name Usher.

Over the past three decades, his music has proven to be a constant on the US Billboard Hot 100. His R&B tunes, pop remixes, and collaborations with other artists have kept him part of the conversation and the music scene in ways few artists enjoy.

It’s easy to forget that Usher didn’t enjoy immediate success.

His debut album, “Usher,” released in 1994, barely attracted any media attention.

In 1997, the situation began to change.

Their second album, “My Way,” featuring “You Make Me Wanna,” peaked at No. 2 on the charts and stayed there for 47 weeks.

Usher perfected his craft with his 2001 album, “8701,” with “U Got It Bad,” which spent six weeks at the top of the US Billboard charts. He also won his first Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for the song “U Remind Me” from the same album.

Usher’s 2004 album “Confessions” was his masterpiece, taking home dozens of awards and marking the release of what, to this day, remains his most popular song: “Yeah!” a collaboration with Lil Jon and Ludacris.

As R&B began to evolve and audiences began to move away from the genre in favor of other musical styles, Usher adapted and collaborated with Nicki Minaj on the song “Lil Freak”, released on the album “Raymond v. Raymond ” from 2010.

That project included another highly-played pop tune, “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love Again,” and the single “OMG,” which Usher collaborated on with will.i.am.

“He actually fused R&B and pop during this era,” Scott said. But, the critic says, R&B always remains at the center of Usher’s work.

“Usher has always been R&B. In reality, there has not been any project that strays from that terrain in terms of the heart of the project.”

Remaining a staple in an ever-changing music culture isn’t simple, and Scott says it’s a testament to Usher’s work ethic and creativity that he’s found ways to stay relevant among a new generation of listeners. , from YouTube to TikTok, to Las Vegas. residence and performance in NPR Tiny Desk Series.

“He’s the heartthrob of R&B,” Scott said.

Usher will have those who came before him in mind when he takes the stage on Sunday, telling Good Morning America, “I think about all the R&B artists I’m carrying right now.”

In fact, he leans on the giants of R&B. But for the giant of this generation, there is no more appropriate place than one of the biggest stages in existence.