The king of R&B? It relies upon who you ask.
Kevin Winter/Getty Photographs for iHeartRadio
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Kevin Winter/Getty Photographs for iHeartRadio
The king of R&B? It relies upon who you ask.
Kevin Winter/Getty Photographs for iHeartRadio
Within the immortalized-by-meme phrases of Usher: Watch this.
Who’s he?
- The 44-year-old singer-songwriter has been making chart-topping hits for practically 30 years, and has simply been introduced because the headline act on the Tremendous Bowl halftime present in Las Vegas subsequent yr.
- It is one other achievement for the star who has bought greater than 80 million information worldwide and received 8 Grammys.
- In fact, this is not his first time on the Tremendous Bowl stage — he carried out alongside the Black Eyed Peas and Slash again in 2011.
- With a catalog stuffed with bangers, Usher has been known as the “King of R&B” (although, when requested if he noticed himself as such in an interview with The Shade Room, he deferred, saying, “I can not reply that. I am a king of one thing, no less than my sons.”)
What is the large deal?
- Being requested to carry out on the Tremendous Bowl has come to be seen as the final word type of mainstream validation and acceptance. “If nothing else, it is a huge, huge piece of validation for Usher himself,” says NPR Music’s Stephen Thompson.
- In 2022, Usher carried out a medley of hits as a part of NPR’s Tiny Desk Live performance collection. That video has greater than 18 million views on YouTube and a second from his efficiency, by which he motioned his open fingers over his eyes whereas he whispered “watch this,” turned a viral meme.
- He’ll have some large footwear to fill: Rihanna’s 2023 Tremendous Bowl halftime present pulled in additional than 120 million viewers. “He completely has the catalog,” Thompson says. “I completely assume he is as much as the job of placing on a extremely good present that individuals discuss. Whether or not it units information, clearly, stays to be seen.”
Usher: Tiny Desk Live performance
YouTube
Who had been the final decade of half-time performers?
- 2023: Rihanna
- 2022: Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar
- 2021: The Weeknd
- 2020: Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, with Dangerous Bunny, J Balvin and Emme Muniz
- 2019: Maroon 5, Massive Boi and Travis Scott
- 2018: Justin Timberlake
- 2017: Woman Gaga
- 2016: Coldplay, Beyonce, Bruno Mars
- 2015: Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott
- 2014: Bruno Mars, Crimson Sizzling Chili Peppers
- 2013: Beyoncé
Rihanna performs in the course of the Tremendous Bowl LVII halftime Present.
Gregory Shamus/Getty Photographs
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Gregory Shamus/Getty Photographs
Need extra on the NFL? Hearken to the Think about This episode on how sports activities betting and the NFL are worthwhile companions.
What are folks saying?
- In a press release, Usher stated: “It is an honor of a lifetime to lastly examine a Tremendous Bowl efficiency off my bucket checklist. I can not wait to deliver the world a present in contrast to the rest they’ve seen from me earlier than.”
- Oliver Schusser, Apple’s Vice President of Apple Music, Apple TV+, Sports activities, and Beats, additionally bigged up the reserving, saying: “We’re so happy with what we had been capable of accomplish along with the NFL and Roc Nation final yr and now with the insanely gifted Usher set to take the stage we’re wanting ahead to a different unbelievable Halftime Present from one of many world’s all-time best performers.”
- Of Usher’s long-standing relevance within the music trade, Thompson stated: “A part of it’s simply songcraft. A part of it’s the high quality of that voice … He is been capable of type of transfer together with traits whereas additionally staying type of timeless, and I believe he has been very good about seizing alternatives once they’ve introduced themselves … [For example] he’s dropping his subsequent album the day of his Tremendous Bowl halftime efficiency.”
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