(Las Vegas) R&B star Usher, who will perform the always spectacular and highly anticipated Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday, promised Thursday that other stars would take the stage with him, but he kept it going the suspense over their name.
The 45-year-old singer, who has won eight Grammys, will perform in front of 65,000 spectators and tens of millions of television viewers Sunday in Las Vegas during the NFL finale between the Kansas City Chiefs and the 49ers from San Francisco, for this traditional concert seen as one of the musical events of the year in the United States.
“There are playlists going around, people trying to find out which song I was going to perform first and last, who was going to come on stage with me,” Usher laughed during a press conference.
“I had a lot of ideas about who I would like to see share this moment with me, and I think the people I’m going to share it with have earned it for what they’ve done in their careers, whether we collaborated together or whether they had their moments,” he added, obviously wanting to prolong the suspense.
The list of those with whom Usher has worked is long, from Beyoncé to Jay-Z, including Alicia Keys, rappers Lil Jon and Ludacris. And there’s also the absolute pop star of the moment, Taylor Swift, who everyone is wondering if she will come to cheer on her boyfriend and Kansas City Chiefs player, Travis Kelce.
“I’ve been very attentive to my past, to celebrating my present, which is here in Las Vegas [où il a achevé une résidence en décembre] and the direction we are taking for the future,” commented Usher, famous for his hits You remind me, Yeahor My Boo with Alicia Keys.
Before him, huge stars performed at the Super Bowl, such as Michael Jackson, Prince, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney.
The event also caused a scandal in 2004 when Janet Jackson, in a duet with Justin Timberlake, unintentionally revealed a breast on stage in front of tens of millions of American households.