Who might be the special guests Usher is teasing for his Super Bowl Halftime Show?

Fresh off of his Las Vegas residency, Usher is ready to take on the Super Bowl Halftime Show

Who might be the special guests Usher is teasing for his Super Bowl Halftime Show?
Usher Photo: Scott Legato

The Super Bowl is coming up on Sunday, February 11, and for those who don’t care about football, that means the Super Bowl Halftime Show is coming up. This year the baton has passed to Usher, an R&B superstar and consummate showman who is fresh off of a popular Las Vegas residency (“My Way”). Ahead of the show, the singer has announced a new album, Coming Home, as well as the “Past Present Future” arena tour. But right now, his full-time job is to tease his halftime show, which “will definitely be an event,” as he told Billboard.

Given his catalog of hits, “it’s really hard to determine what moment matters more than others,” he said, musing over “the dance, the wardrobe, the lighting, how long you stay in a song, the fact that the audience may sing along… It’s a lot.” He did divulge that there will be special guests. As to who those guests may be, Usher remains tight-lipped. Could it be BTS’ Jungkook, with whom he collaborated on “Standing Next To You”? Lil Jon and Ludacris, for their smash hit “Yeah”? Will.i.am, returning the favor for Usher’s appearance at the 2011 halftime show? Alicia Keys for “My Boo”? Keke Palmer, just to rub salt in her ex’s wound? The list of potential collaborators is endless!

Luckily, Usher will get a little more time than the average Super Bowl performer; he told Entertainment Weekly that he had managed to secure a full 15 minutes for his set (a bump from the usual 13). “I can’t explain why, but it’s a funny thing that I was able to do and craft,” he told the outlet. “That was a huge strategic thing that happened between me and my agency.”

“I’m trying my hardest not to overthink it, but it’s literally 12 to 15 minutes if I can manage to impress the entire world—over 30 years of a career within 15 minutes. It’s a lot. I’m definitely happy that I’m coming off a successful residency and kind of in the rhythm of it overall,” he told Billboard, adding that he got some advice from former halftime performer Katy Perry. “This is a moment I’ve prepared for for 30 years.”

 
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