Usher takes over the Tremendous Bowl halftime stage with an extended set for his 3 many years of hits. What he is mentioned about his upcoming efficiency.

Usher will take the sector for the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11, marking the primary time the R&B famous person will headline one of many world’s greatest levels.

Anticipation for the occasion has been constructing ever because the eight-time Grammy winner was introduced in September — with good motive. The 45-year-old singer, who self-released his first album in nearly eight years, Coming House, on Feb. 9, has hinted at major (A-list) surprises, a longer-than-usual performance and a set listing representing 30 years of career-spanning hits. He would possibly even roller skate.

The entertainer may also be the primary impartial artist to steer the halftime present after he left his longtime document label, RCA.

“I’m so prepared for it to occur,” Usher told Billboard in January. “I simply need to sing louder than I’ve ever sang; dance tougher than I’ve ever danced. I need to rejoice the 30 years of this profession the place I’m very lucky to have made songs and moments with folks that they are going to keep in mind ceaselessly.”

Fundamental stage

Touchdown the once-in-a-lifetime alternative is just not misplaced on Usher.

“To have R&B have the primary stage on the Tremendous Bowl is a significant factor for me,” the “Confessions” crooner advised Good Morning America on Feb. 2. “I take into consideration what our nation has represented for a Black artist having to, in some unspecified time in the future, undergo kitchens to even be capable to carry out for an viewers. They needed to depart again by way of that very same door [and] worry for his or her lives as they went to the subsequent state to do the identical factor.

“So, I’m coming by way of the entrance door with this one,” Usher mentioned. “I take into consideration the entire R&B performers who I carry on this second.”

His set is anticipated to be quarter-hour lengthy, as a substitute of the standard 13 minutes. Securing further time was “an enormous strategic factor that occurred between me and my company,” Usher advised Entertainment Weekly.

He’s additionally approaching the efficiency like an extension of his profitable Vegas residency, Usher: My Means, which resulted in December after 100 reveals. “I get to lastly rejoice within the perception that I may come to Las Vegas and do one thing that was magical,” he advised the outlet.

His well-received residency marked a turning level for Usher, who at one level thought of leaving music and transitioning into appearing full time.

“[I] had the hope that I may arouse folks sufficient to return to Las Vegas and rejoice with me. And [My Way] became, not solely essentially the most profitable moments of Las Vegas historical past, however one of the crucial profitable moments of in my life,” he shared with the Hollywood Reporter.

Like earlier halftime performers, Usher received’t receives a commission for the high-profile gig, although the performer’s manufacturing and journey bills are coated by the NFL, a league spokesperson confirmed to Forbes in 2016.

Has Usher carried out on the Tremendous Bowl earlier than?

When the Black Eyed Peas headlined the Tremendous Bowl XLV halftime present in 2011, Usher appeared onstage as a particular visitor with will.i.am. His entrance halfway by way of the set was nothing in need of epic.

Dressed head-to-toe in all white, Usher descended from the rooftop of Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, becoming a member of will.i.am for a futuristic efficiency of “OMG,” their 2010 chart-topping hit. Usher’s two-minute cameo showcased his tightly choreographed dance strikes, easy vocals and a scene-stealing second the place he leapt over the Black Eyed Peas frontman and landed in a break up.

The halftime present that 12 months was broadly panned, however the Associated Press praised Usher’s portion of the efficiency, suggesting he “ought to have been the headliner.”

At a Tremendous Bowl press convention in Las Vegas on Feb. 8, the “U Bought It Unhealthy” singer admitted there was a snag to his entrance.

“Oddly sufficient, there was a second that solely I feel I keep in mind,” he mentioned. “My hand obtained caught within the wire that was holding me 30 ft within the air and I nearly missed my first mark.”

Nonetheless, he credited his temporary however memorable expertise in 2011 because the stepping stone towards realizing his headlining dream.

“It made me actually captivated with ultimately getting this second that I’m on the brink of have,” he explained.

Set listing, visitor listing

Predicting what songs will make it into the spectacle stays a guessing sport. It is arduous to think about a set with out some mixture of Usher’s previous hits like “Yeah!,” “Confessions Half II,” “U Remind Me,” “U Bought It Unhealthy,” “Burn,” “Caught Up,” “My Means,” “My Boo” and “You Make Me Wanna….”

Usher acknowledged the issue he had encapsulating his three-decade-long profession right into a tightly packed Tremendous Bowl halftime set, all however confirming he received’t be onstage alone.

“I feel I made it simple for myself once I determined to have featured artists on songs that grew to become hit data. … I’ve undoubtedly gone by way of lots of concepts of who I may have undergo this second with me,” he teased on the press convention.

A seven-minute Hangover-impressed brief movie Apple launched on Feb. 8 options Usher’s “Yeah!” collaborators Ludacris and Lil Jon, together with Taraji P. Henson, Anderson .Paak, Blue Man Group, J Balvin, Wesley Snipes, Criss Angel and Apple CEO Tim Cook dinner. Soundtracked by 14 of Usher’s hit songs, the brief could supply the one official setlist clues.

Songs previous and new

There’s a strong probability a brand new tune may slip in. Usher alluded to a set listing that celebrates his previous, current and “the place we’re heading sooner or later,” he mentioned on the press convention.

Along with his newest album, Coming House, launched two days earlier than his halftime present efficiency, it may work in his favor to incorporate one thing new — reminiscent of “Spoil,” his present single that includes Nigerian singer-producer Pheelz, or “Good Good” with 21 Savage and Summer season Walker.

The singer posted the 20-song album monitor listing in January, revealing further collaborations with H.E.R., Burna Boy, Latto, The-Dream and his duet remix of BTS member Jungkook’s single, “Standing Subsequent to You.” (Jungkook is out of the query as a possible in-person visitor on the massive sport; he’s currently fulfilling mandatory military service.)

After the massive sport

On Might 4, Usher will headline the Lovers & Associates Competition in Las Vegas, the place he’s poised to carry out his career-defining album, Confessions, in celebration of its twentieth anniversary.

Then, from Aug. 20 by way of Oct. 31, he’ll hit the street on a 41-night North American arena tour, “Previous Current Future,” which opens in Washington, D.C., and can hit 17 main cities earlier than wrapping up in Chicago.

It should mark his first correct live performance tour since “The UR Expertise,” which traveled to 50 cities in North America and Europe over a five-month span in 2014 and 2015.

Super Bowl LVII kicks off Sunday, Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m. ET on CBS and can stream on Paramount+.