Usher brought out Alicia Keys during his Super Bowl Halftime Show performance tonight (February 11) in Las Vegas.
The 58th Super Bowl is taking place at the Allegiant Stadium tonight, with the San Francisco 49ers facing off against defending champions the Kansas City Chiefs.
Keys appeared early on in the performance, taking to the stage first seated behind a red grand piano as a large piece of red fabric billowed behind her. She began by performing a clip of her own song ‘If I Ain’t Got You’ before Usher joined her to deliver a rendition of their 2004 collaboration ‘My Boo’.
Throughout the set, Usher pulled largely from his album ‘Confessions’, which was also released in 2004 and from which ‘My Boo’ was taken. The performance began with ‘Caught Up’ from that album and included the likes of ‘Superstar’, ‘Confessions Pt. II’ and ‘Burn’.
Incredible @AliciaKeys @Usher #AppleMusicHalftime pic.twitter.com/d5bw4tnikH
— NFL (@NFL) February 12, 2024
MY BOO! @AliciaKeys @Usher #AppleMusicHalftime pic.twitter.com/DtjPVsxnPn
— NFL (@NFL) February 12, 2024
The halftime show started with the field taken over by backing dancers and performers dressed in glitzy, Vegas-worthy costumes before Usher appeared in white on a stage in the middle of them.
After being joined by Keys, Usher welcomed more guests throughout the set. H.E.R. joined him on guitar during ‘U Got It Bad’, while will.i.am appeared during ‘OMG’. The latter also saw Usher recreate a roller-skating performance from his Las Vegas residency.
Following that track, Lil Jon appeared in the on-field crowd for a snippet of his song ‘Turn Down For What’ before joining the headliner and Ludacris for ‘Yeah!’. That track closed out the performance, with Usher leading the stadium in a chant of the song’s title.
TURN DOWN FOR WHAT!!!! @liljon #AppleMusicHalftime pic.twitter.com/P8UCxZWD5n
— NFL (@NFL) February 12, 2024
Iconic! #AppleMusicHalftime @Usher pic.twitter.com/Qspo6avVGh
— NFL (@NFL) February 12, 2024
Despite releasing a brand new album, ‘Coming Home’, last week (February 9), Usher did not air any tracks from it, as it was widely speculated he would. A much-rumoured appearance from Justin Bieber also did not materialise, despite the star being spotted in Las Vegas ahead of the game.
Usher’s full Super Bowl 2024 setlist was as follows:
‘Caught Up’
‘U Don’t Have To Call’
‘Love In This Club’
‘If I Ain’t Got You’
‘My Boo’
‘Confessions’ / ‘Confessions Pt. II’
‘Think Of You’
‘Burn’
‘U Got It Bad’
‘OMG’
‘Turn Down For What’
‘Yeah!’
Prior to the Super Bowl halftime performance, Usher said he would honour Black musical legacy at the event. “I think about what our country has represented for Black artists, having to, at some point, go through kitchens to even be able to perform for an audience,” he told Good Morning America. “They had to leave back through that same door, you know, fearing for their lives as they went to the next state to do the same thing.
“So I’m coming through the front door with this one. I think about all the R&B performers who are carrying this moment.”
He also teased that his appearance would feature some skating, “killer choreography,” and a “major costume change”.
Earlier in the night, Post Malone kicked off the festivities, delivering a special acoustic performance before the game began.
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