Preparing to perform the highly-anticipated halftime show this Sunday (Feb. 11) at Super Bowl LVII in Las Vegas, Usher reveals that he almost left music after he couldn’t capture the same success he achieved with his diamond-selling album, Confessions.
In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Usher admits he almost left the music industry before accepting his Las Vegas residency. Speaking on leaving, he told the press the following:
“I hadn’t had a successful record as successful as [2004’s] Confessions, and there was this analyzing [thought], like, ‘Man, should I continue to do this, or should I pivot and become an actor? No, I want to do what I really love. I went to Las Vegas with no promise in a time when the world was not going anywhere because we were in a pandemic, and [I] had the hope that I could arouse people enough to come to Las Vegas and celebrate with me,” he explains. “And it turned into, not only the most successful moments of Las Vegas history, but one of the most successful moments in my life.”
Usher credits the Vegas residency with rediscovering himself and his love for music. He believes that the incredible moments he created with the residencies led to the upcoming Super Bowl performance.
He continued: “And then to play the Super Bowl, that right there is a virtuous story of belief in self, man. I’m a 45-year-old artist who has found my way into an incredible moment as a result of belief in myself and the fact that I didn’t let anything deter it, no matter what it looked like, no matter what the comparison to previous albums were. I didn’t care about none of that. I was like, ‘I believe in making quality and quality performance matters. I want to go to Las Vegas where I can spread my wings and be creative and do things the way I want to do them; not just wait for a successful album in hopes that I’m going to be able to put together a tour and travel the world.’” Adding, “the crescendo of that is the fucking Super Bowl. Man, I’m so happy and blessed.”
Furthermore, Usher tells THR that he feels great about achieving a mountain of success early in his career, which has led to his headline appearance at the halftime show.
“God allows things to happen in the time that they’re intended,” he explained. “The industries, the places that we see and we hold so dear like the Grammys and being recognized by the Academies and being recognized in these major places, I think that they’re changing. I think that they’re becoming more clear and keyed into culture in a different way. And that’s good. Should I have performed earlier at the Super Bowl based off of the hit records that I had? I don’t think it’s about a hit-record moment. I think it’s a celebration of a career. Everybody that has had that moment, they’ve had a career that spanned, and they reached a place where the world needed to see and celebrate it and recognize that person.”
Usher’s Super Bowl performance will be a part of the first Super Bowl televised by the Spanish-language television network, Univision.
Usher plans to perform a halftime show of his hits worldwide, paying homage to the performers who came before him.
“You look at Shakira and Jennifer Lopez and the fact that they’re celebrating their culture. You know what I’m saying? This year, Univision, this will be their first time ever televising the Super Bowl, so it’s growing, but it’s recognizing the culture of the world and not just the circle that it has for Sunday and in football. That Halftime performance has spanned far beyond the reach of just America.”
It was announced on Monday (Feb. 5) that Usher is the new face of Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS menswear. Usher’s upcoming album can be heard exclusively on the brand’s website this weekend through a campaign featuring the singer in the brand’s underwear.
Usher’s new album, Coming Home, will be released on Feb.11 on all streaming platforms after the Super Bowl halftime show. Usher announced his upcoming world tour in support of the upcoming album last weekend.
Tickets for Usher’s Past, Present, and Future tour are available now.
Ebro in the Morning discussed Usher’s upcoming halftime show last month. Check out the whole conversation and other trending topics, below.