LAS VEGAS — Peace Up! A-Town Down! Usher Raymond IV told a group of reporters at today’s Super Bowl LVIII Apple Music Halftime Show press conference his show will be an event! It will be a party! And, the spirit of Atlanta will be boldly displayed.
“It will definitely be an event,” Usher said to Nadeska Alexis of Apple Music. “There are special guests. And I’ve considered new songs. But you know, it’s 12 to 15 minutes. So it’s really hard to determine what moment matters more than others, especially with a new song. But there’s the dance, the wardrobe, the lighting, how long you stay in a song, the fact that the audience may sing along … It’s a lot. So I’m trying my hardest not to overthink it.”
Last year, Rihanna discussed how difficult it was for her to fit her discography into a 12-15 minute performance at Super Bowl LVII in Arizona. It is a dilemma a lot of fans recognize. There are wagers being placed on which song Usher will open with. He says it will be a celebration for the longtime fans and for the new ones too.
“You know this when these fantasy lists that have been going out,” Usher explains. “And people are trying to figure out what song I’m going to perform first, middle and last. Who’s going to come on the stage with me. What I did is I was very mindful of my past, celebrating my present, which is here in Las Vegas, and thinking about where we’re headed in the future.”
He did admit some of his collaborators will appear during the Super Bowl LVIII Apple Music Halftime Show. It’s safe to believe he will perform ‘Lovers & Friends’ and ‘Yeah.’
Usher sold out one hundred shows during his residency in Las Vegas. He said he used that opportunity to take chances on stage, like skating and repelling from ceilings. He was happy with the results. But a residency is one thing. Performing in front of 65,000 people and for a worldwide television audience of almost 80 million people might bring an additional layer of pressure for Usher, right?
“The fact that I said I believed it and to see that out is something that the nine year old who believed in me deserves because I didn’t have any of this,” explains Usher. “All I had was my vision. All I had was the idea that someday I would have fans. All I had was the idea that someday I’d find a record all I had was the idea and the vision that eventually the audience would show up. You know those kids who like take a mic and hand in the singing and like believe in themselves and they look in the mirror and sing into an audience that’s not there. I’m that kid at nine years old that had this dream that this moment and many of the moments that I’ve had in my career would would come through.”
Today LiveNation announced seventeen new dates have been added in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago. The 2024 North America tour, USHER: Past Present Future has unbelievable enthusiasm and demand. According to the release, there is a chance of more dates being added to the tour. Usher is grateful to God because he successfully brought ‘a great deal of Atlanta and the melting pot that it is musically culturally to Las Vegas.’
“And I’m so happy that God and universe has kind of led me to this moment what it means the people that and how they believe in themselves,” said Usher. “That’s up to them. But me, really a product of my belief. I’m a product of believing that I could come to this city. And I could do something amazing, and it’s happened. And I’m done here. I’m going to continue to keep going past present future summer tour.”
The world will find out Sunday evening the axiom most people residing in the 404 area code knows to be true: Atlanta Influences Everything.
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