On Feb. 11, 2024, Usher performed at halftime for the Super Bowl LVIII. This year the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime they faced off at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The show was exhilarating with many moments that fans rave about, and yes Usher took off his shirt, but Justin Bieber stayed in the stands.
Usher has a couple of tough acts to follow. Last year Rihana had a stellar performance and the year before, 2022, was an unforgettable rap performance featuring Snoop Dog, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar.
This isn’t Usher’s first time performing at the Superbowl, he performed alongside Black Eyed Peas in 2011.
He opened his performance with the 2004 hit, “Caught Up,” this is when Usher mimicked the style of Vegas. He brought out dancers with over-the-top outfits, ranging from wearing a bodysuit with a large feather hat on top, to wearing a black outfit with lots of silver sparkles. As the camera pans to Usher it is seen that performers are being held up by each other. Then the camera pans to Usher, where he is wearing a cream outfit with a long white cape and silver sparkly gloves. As Usher starts to sing his opening song, acrobats behind him appear and a large marching band joins him in his performance. Then, there are segments from “U Don’t Have to Call,” “Superstar,” and “Love in This Club.”
“If I Ain’t Got You,” introduced the first guest appearance from Alicia Keys. Alicia was seen on a red piano and in a red glitter bodysuit, then, they sang “My Boo” together, where Usher first showed off some of his glitchy, like, dance moves, and Keys and Usher got rather close and touchy. Usher then played “Confessions Part II,” “Nice and Slow,” and “Burn.” Throughout these songs Usher tried to get the crowd to sing along with him but, at least while aired, the crowd couldn’t be heard singing at all rather almost seemed quiet, but that didn’t last long because Usher then started to play some of his most popular songs.
Keys wasn’t the only guest at the performance. During Usher’s performance of “ U Got it Bad,” H.E.R. came out with a guitar solo. This is where the turning point happened in the performance: the guitar solo got the crowd loud again and was the perfect segway to the end of his performance. Usher rolled out and around the stage on roller skates in a blue and black two-piece shimmery set, when performing the 2010 hit, “OMG.” When closing out the show, Lil John played “Turn Down For What” before joining Usher and Ludacris for a thrilling performance of “Yeah! ”
There have been mixed emotions about Usher’s performance. Sophie Banda, a PEACE junior says, “I thought it would have definitely been better, there was more potential. [Usher] did fine but he should have performed different songs.”
