For some, Sunday night’s Super Bowl LVIII was a night of competition between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. For others, it was a night of romance for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. But for music fans, it was a night of R&B excellence courtesy of User’s half-time performance. That is, unless you’re a Justin Bieber fan.
During the half-time show in Las Vegas Usher performed on stage (watch the video here) with the help of fellow artists will.i.am, Alicia Keys, H.E.R., Lil Jon, and Ludacris. The show came after Usher joked to viewers that his performance might provoke ‘singing, dancing, sweating, gyrating, and possible relationship issues’.
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Usher, dressed in an all-white look, appeared on stage at the Allegiant Stadium and began singing ‘Caught Up’, before a brass band spelled out his name on the grounds, and he zoomed around the place on roller skates. Yes, really.
During the 13-minute performance, fans were delighted to see his first guest Alicia Keys appear on stage in an all-red sparkly look behind a piano and sing ‘If I Ain’t Got You’, before the duo performed their duet ‘My Boo’.
However, numerous fans of Justin Bieber – who was seen sitting in the audience with his wife and newly-dyed brunette Hailey Bieber – were surprised not to see the ‘Baby’ singer on stage with his fellow musical artists.
Like Usher, who was signed aged just 13, Justin Bieber has long been seen as a mentee to the half-time performer, and the pair even collaborated on the likes of their 2010 hit ‘Somebody To Love’ together.
While there were rumours that Bieber may perform with Usher (according to TMZ: 'Usher reached out to Bieber about performing'), several reports indicate that Bieber is preparing for the release of a new album and is focusing on new music.
A half-time appearance from Bieber would've been his second performance of 2024. He last performed a more intimate show at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada following the NHL All-Star player draft on February 1. The performance came after canceled the rest of his Justice World Tour dates at the end of last February.
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Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
