Usher found fitting a successful three decades of music into a super-short Super Bowl halftime show a challenge, but the multiple Grammy winner decided to concentrate on past hits, moments from his popular Las Vegas residency and possibly draw from his new album.
“I was very mindful of my past, celebrating my present, which is here in Las Vegas, and thinking about where we’re heading in the future,” the singer said when he addressed the media Thursday in advance of Sunday’s Super Bowl, which will be held at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, with the San Francisco 49ers facing off against the Kansas City Chiefs. He will release his ninth studio album “Coming Home” on Friday.
Usher said he’s been asking himself, “What songs do people know me for, what songs have been a celebration of all of the journey?”
The R&B singer thought about adding the roller skating element from his residency into his halftime performance, but he gave no other specific clues on where that process led him, and what his take on the global spectacle will look like.
“For everybody who heard about my show in Las Vegas, you’ll now get a chance to see some of what I did here but you’ll get the best of it,” he said. “
Usher did not drop names of who might be joining him on stage, but he offered some vague hints. He confirmed that he won’t be alone at Allegiant Stadium. In previous years, most Super Bowl performers have included guest stars — except for Rihanna, who was a solo act last year.
The singer suggested it would be people he’s collaborated with before.
“I think I made it easy for myself when I decided to have featured artists on songs that became hit records. That gave me the greatest inspiration,” he said. “I have definitely gone through a lot of ideas of who I would have go through this moment with me.”
That hardly narrows it down, however, given all the folks he’s collaborated with, from Beyoncé to Monica…
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