Usher to headline Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show: 'It’s an honor of a lifetime'
We don't know who will be playing in Super Bowl LVIII, but we know who we'll be watching at halftime.
Apple Music announced Sunday that R&B singer, dancer, and songwriter Usher will be headlining the Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show on Feb. 11, 2024 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
USHER. LAS VEGAS. APPLE MUSIC HALFTIME SHOW. #SBLVIII
See you on February 11 on @NFLonCBS! 🔥@Usher@deionsanders@applemusic@rocnationpic.twitter.com/25irV9fDH1— NFL (@NFL) September 24, 2023
“It’s an honor of a lifetime to finally check a Super Bowl performance off my bucket list. I can’t wait to bring the world a show unlike anything else they’ve seen from me before,” Usher said via Variety. “Thank you to the fans and everyone who made this opportunity happen. I’ll see you real soon.”
There had been rumors over the past few weeks that Apple was planning a massive 1990s boyband blowout as the halftime show, headlined by *NSYNC and possibly the Backstreet Boys. That ended up being more wishful thinking than anything, likely fueled by the reunion of *NSYNC at the recent MTV Video Music Awards.
However, there is still a decidedly late-1990s bent to this halftime show. Usher gained popularity in 1997 when he released the album "My Way," and has been cranking out chart-topping jams ever since. Most Millennials remember hearing "You Make Me Wanna..." and "Nice & Slow" on the radio, or watching the videos for those songs on MTV's "Total Request Live" after school every day. Many remember seeing Usher as one of Freddie Prinze Jr.'s friends in the seminal 1990s film "She's All That."
Usher, a 30-year veteran of the music industry, is known as a 1990s artist to some, but he's gone far beyond that. Songs "Confessions" and "Confessions Part II," released in 2004, were modern R&B masterpieces, and singles like "Burn" and "Yeah!" with Lil Jon cemented his place in pop culture forever.
Usher's Super Bowl Halftime Show follows 2023's Emmy-nominated blockbuster performance from Rihanna, who walked on stage with her pregnant belly and announced with no words that she and A$AP Rocky were expecting their second child. The 2022 show was a lineup of hip hop legends, with Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Dr. Dre, Eminem, and Kendrick Lamar headlining. The Weeknd performed at the mid-pandemic Super Bowl in 2021, and Jennifer Lopez and Shakira kicked off the decade by co-headlining the 2020 halftime show.
