[ad_1]
The king of R&B? It relies upon who you ask.
Kevin Winter/Getty Pictures for iHeartRadio
disguise caption
toggle caption
Kevin Winter/Getty Pictures for iHeartRadio
The king of R&B? It relies upon who you ask.
Kevin Winter/Getty Pictures 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 almost 30 years, and has simply been introduced because the headline act on the Tremendous Bowl halftime present in Las Vegas subsequent 12 months.
- It is one other achievement for the star who has offered greater than 80 million information worldwide and gained 8 Grammys.
- 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 huge 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 sequence. That video has greater than 18 million views on YouTube and a second from his efficiency, through which he motioned his open fingers over his eyes whereas he whispered “watch this,” grew to become a viral meme.
- He’ll have some huge 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 very good present that folks 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 Unhealthy Bunny, J Balvin and Emme Muniz
- 2019: Maroon 5, Large Boi and Travis Scott
- 2018: Justin Timberlake
- 2017: Girl Gaga
- 2016: Coldplay, Beyonce, Bruno Mars
- 2015: Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott
- 2014: Bruno Mars, Purple Sizzling Chili Peppers
- 2013: Beyoncé
Rihanna performs throughout the Tremendous Bowl LVII halftime Present.
Gregory Shamus/Getty Pictures
disguise caption
toggle caption
Gregory Shamus/Getty Pictures
Need extra on the NFL? Hearken to the Contemplate This episode on how sports activities betting and the NFL are worthwhile companions.
What are individuals saying?
- In a press release, Usher stated: “It is an honor of a lifetime to lastly verify a Tremendous Bowl efficiency off my bucket record. 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 in a position to accomplish along with the NFL and Roc Nation final 12 months and now with the insanely proficient Usher set to take the stage we’re trying ahead to a different unimaginable Halftime Present from one of many world’s all-time biggest 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 in a position to form of transfer together with tendencies whereas additionally staying form of timeless, and I feel he has been very sensible about seizing alternatives after they’ve introduced themselves … [For example] he’s dropping his subsequent album the day of his Tremendous Bowl halftime efficiency.”
Be taught extra:
[ad_2]