Usher Just Joined a Small Group of Super Bowl Halftime Performer Record-Holders

Has Usher performed at the Super Bowl before?

Yes! Usher performed at the Super Bowl with the Black Eyed Peas as a special guest of will.i.am. He performed the hit 2011 hit “OMG” with the Grammy award-winning producer. Slash also performed with Fergie during the show.

Usher’s second appearance at the Super Bowl marks him as part of a small group of performers that have performed at the Super Bowl more than once like Mary J. Blige, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, Nelly, Bruno Mars, and Beyoncé.

Who will be Usher’s Special Guests at the Super Bowl?

What’s a Super Bowl halftime show without the special guests? Usher talked to Apple Radio’s Zane Lowe about his upcoming performance and if he’s going to have any special guests.  “Well, one thing I can say is I’ve, you know, collaborated with a lot of incredible artists throughout the years,” the “Confessions” singer said. “If anything, I like the socially engaged the world, you know what I’m saying?”

In conjunction with the Super Bowl, Usher will be releasing his ninth studio album Coming Home on the same day of the performance. “I’m coming home, I’m back with my team,” Usher told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, adding that he’s working with Antonio “L.A.” Reid. “Even when you see the artwork, you will understand it. When you see the peach. You get it. You understand where I’m from and what we’re doing.”

He continued, “More than anything, it’s a celebration of music. Coming home in many other ways as you get more acclimated. When I put out more records and also to put more visuals, actually begin to really understand it. But I think that it is something to be celebrated.”

On the legacy of the Super Bowl, he told the DJ, “I mean, you think about all the people who have played it and just the idea of how Jay-Z and Roc Nation have really brought a mindfulness to our culture. You know, 30 years of a career deserves this kind of moment. But to have curators like them, like Jay-Z, like Des and like Roc Nation to come in and and manage to make certain that the entire world understands our culture, understands where we come from, understands the feeling and celebrates entertainment in the way that that they do. I mean, it’s just it just feels like it was, you know, I guess if you try to create a playbook in your mind, like 30 years after you start, you potentially play the Super Bowl. Some people wait an entire lifetime, you know what I’m saying? But I don’t feel like this is my lifetime. I feel like I’m only kind of starting to really, really get comfortable.”

He also talked about watching the show growing up and becoming inspired. “I think being able to see performances from artists like Michael, eventually Prince and then even, more modern day artist and, and to be perfectly honest, to see artists that, you know, even started before, started after I did get it, I was like, man, at some point I need to get a call with what’s going on now. But I’m really happy that I’m joining that short list of legacy artists from my genre who deserve this moment. And I’m really happy that Jay-Z and also to Roc Nation, you know, really put thought into making certain that they could bring to the world this kind of experience. It is definitely going to be a moment to remember.”