Usher will take to the most-watched music stage of the year with a highly anticipated performance this Sunday during the Super Bowl.
The 45-year-old performer promises to deliver a career-spanning show that will be two minutes longer than the usual 13-minute performance in previous years. “I can’t explain why, but it’s a fun thing for me to be able to do and make,” he said this week. “This is a major strategic event between me and my agency.”
The singer still calls finding a way to compress his entire career into such a short period of time “difficult.” In 1994, at the age of 16, Usher released his first album. He has since sold more than 80 million records worldwide, including hits such as “U Make Me Wanna,” “Good Kisser” and “Love in This Club.”
Usher confirmed that, per tradition, there will be some surprise guests, telling Entertainment Tonight that it would be “stupid” not to invite his collaborators Lil Jon and Ludacris to the stage.
He also revealed that he had been taking advice from former halftime performer Katy Perry and said it was “a moment I’ve been preparing for for the last 30 years” and that it was “absolutely going to be a huge event”.
Last year, Rihanna performed alongside the stars in what became the most-watched halftime show of all time, watched by 121 million viewers.
His performance will take place during halftime of this year’s big game between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs in Las Vegas. It will mark the first time the city has hosted a Super Bowl. Arthur recently completed an 18-month residency in Vegas.
Chiefs player Travis Kelce also made headlines for his highly publicized relationship with Taylor Swift, who watched many of his games last season.
There has been speculation over the past week that Swift, who won the Grammy for Album of the Year last weekend, would also be participating in this Sunday’s competition.
The singer is currently in Japan on her record-breaking Eras tour, which ends on Saturday.this Statement from the Japanese Embassy in Washington On February 2, she assured fans that she still had enough time to “easily” compete.
“We didn’t know if she was going to come until that day,” Kelce’s mother, Donna, said earlier this week. Travis also said of Swift’s attendance: “She’s definitely the number one fan right now. I love that she can Going into every game, we’ll see.”
Usher said in November that he would try to get Swift to be a part of his show if she were around. “I mean, she was probably one of the people I serenaded,” he said. “Or, she might be a special guest.”
A recent study showed that Americans’ interest in the Super Bowl is up 169% from last year.
“I think it’s great that she’s a part of it,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said this week. “Obviously, it created a buzz. It created another group of young fans, especially young women, who were interested in understanding why she was going to this fight, why she was interested in this fight. Except that [her relationship with] Travis, she’s a football fan and I think it’ll be great for us. “
Major new movie trailers will also be released this Sunday, including the premiere trailers for Deadpool 3 and Twister. Celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ben Affleck will also appear in major ads this year. Experts say a 30-second ad will cost about $7 million this year.
