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Usher performs on stage during Apple Music’s Super Bowl LVIII halftime show at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Jamie Squire/Getty Images
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Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Usher performs on stage during Apple Music’s Super Bowl LVIII halftime show at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Jamie Squire/Getty Images
By attending the Super Bowl halftime show, Usher really had nothing to prove: In a career spanning three decades, he has managed to cultivate a significant amount of goodwill and, in recent years, a resurgence of cultural relevance, thanks to great success adult and sexy residency in Las Vegas. (And a very viral lo-fi moment.)
But getting to headline the event can be like earning an EGOT for any pop superstar, and on Sunday night, Usher addressed it as a hard-earned cornerstone of his legacy.
“They said I wouldn’t make it, they said I wouldn’t be here today, but I am,” he uttered at the beginning of his exuberant presentation, before shouting at his mother. For anyone who’s been a fan of his since the days of “My Way” and “U Make Me Wanna,” it was hard not to feel happy about this moment.
Usher performs during the Super Bowl LVIII Apple Music Halftime Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images
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TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images
Usher performs during the Super Bowl LVIII Apple Music Halftime Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images
The U-rated performance (according to Apple Music) was undoubtedly chaotic and rushed for most of its duration. The opening track, “Caught Up,” found him echoing the flashy vibes of Las Vegas, with an (over)abundance of performers in the background: feathered ladies, acrobats, stilt walkers, etc. Usher stood out, if only for the brilliance of his all-white, sparkly outfit, but the camera editing was a whirlwind and seemed to take focus away from the star outside the door. (The vocal and sound mix left a lot to be desired here, too.)
What followed was essentially a montage of their immersive catalog that sometimes went by too quickly: a single line of “Superstar” here, a very brief sample of “Nice and Slow” there. The medley was at its best as he gave us a little time to revel in his smooth, swaggering choreography and sit with a song for a moment, like he did with his classic ballad “U Got It Bad.” . (This was the moment he took off his shirt, the vocals got a chance to shine, and he brought HER out to destroy the guitar solo. Magic.)
Usher and Alicia Keys perform “My Boo” during Super Bowl LVIII.
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Usher and Alicia Keys perform “My Boo” during Super Bowl LVIII.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images
As previously reported, some of Usher’s notable collaborators were also present to show their bona fides. Alicia Keys, performing a bit of her solo hit “If I Ai n’t Got You” and her duet “My Boo”; Jermaine Dupri for “Confessions (Part II)”; Will.I.Am for “OMG”; Lil Jon and Ludacris for “Yeah”, the obvious choice for the final song.
While the show was all over the place, Usher’s final point still stands: the man has a lot of hits, and is no real rival for the current title of King of R&B. (As most of us can agree, the less said about his EDM era, the better.) It wasn’t his best performance, but it was still fun and a testament to his star power. When “Yeah” brought the show to a thrilling conclusion, Usher and co. by then he had transformed the aesthetic theme to that of a dazzling football match, with costumes resembling football teams, dancers hanging from poles, a marching band and the choir jumping up and down, puffing out their chests like if they had just won the trophy. .
“I brought the world to the A,” he sang several times, referencing the city where he spent many of his formative years as a teenager. Indeed.
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