Earlier today (Feb. 7), Entertainment Weekly published an interview with Usher, who provided details on his upcoming Super Bowl halftime show. In the feature, he revealed that was able to score 15 minutes for his performance after only being allowed 13.
“I can’t explain why, but it’s a funny thing that I was able to do and craft,” the R&B star told the publication. “That was a huge strategic thing that happened between me and my agency.”
Usher also revealed that he took some notes from Rihanna‘s halftime show, which took place during Super Bowl LVII in 2023. “Rihanna’s [show] was fire because of the choreography and the way they did something that felt like a concert,” he explained. “It actually was a great deal of inspiration [for] how I began to think of my show. If you ever came to my residency, it was all about being immersed — being immersed in an experience that is all of these things that wouldn’t necessarily go together.”
For Usher, his Super Bowl LVIII set will have special meaning because of its Las Vegas setting, the city where the Atlanta star began the first of his critically acclaimed residencies in 2021.
“I went to Las Vegas with only the belief that people would come because nobody was going anywhere,” he recalls of his shows. “You have to understand how much of an unwavering belief a person had to have to put together a show after a year of nobody going anywhere and everybody being afraid to be outside for fear of catching COVID or endangering themselves and their families. So the fact that I did that was just truly a matter of belief, and that belief was all positive. So that moment, that night, I get to finally celebrate in the belief that I could come to Las Vegas and do something that was magical.”