Usher’s Super Bowl Show Was a Performance, Not a Test of a “Curse”

A Super Bowl halftime show can turn a concert into a national conversation in a few minutes. Usher's February 2024 booking invited the usual questions: which hits would make the cut, who might join him and how the set would compare with past shows.

There wasn't an established curse to test. There was a major televised performance by an artist with a long catalog, a Las Vegas audience and limited time to fit the songs together. Looking back, the actual show is more useful than the prediction.

The 2024 headlining appearance

February 11, 2024, was Usher’s turn to headline. The Chiefs and the 49ers were playing Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in the Las Vegas area, and he had the halftime slot.

It wasn’t his first Super Bowl appearance. Back in 2011, he had performed with the Black Eyed Peas as a guest. This time the set was his.

The length of that set matters when considering what the show asks of a performer. Years of recordings have to become a few minutes of live television. Fans may be waiting for one particular song; someone else may barely know the catalogue. There is no way to play everything.

The performance replaced the speculation

The show included familiar hits, guest appearances and a roller-skating sequence. Alicia Keys, H.E.R., will.i.am, Lil Jon and Ludacris were among the collaborators involved.

Viewers could disagree about favorite moments, pacing or what should have made the set. Those are responses to a performance. They don't demonstrate a supernatural pattern, and they don't predict the rest of a musician's career.

For fans, the surprise was in how familiar material fitted together. Hearing a few bars could bring back a particular album or time in their lives, even as the performance moved quickly toward the next song.

The album belonged to the same week

Coming Home arrived on February 9, 2024, before the game. The draft had suggested a release on Super Bowl day, another detail that needed updating once the dates were known.

The album and halftime appearance gave fans two related things to discuss, but they weren't the same project. A short set built for television can't represent every track on a new record or every phase of a decades-long career.

Keep criticism separate from a career verdict

Comparing halftime shows can be entertaining. Calling each response a make-or-break moment is less helpful, especially when the examples involve different artists, circumstances and standards.

Usher's set can be watched and judged as a particular show on a particular night. That leaves room for enthusiasm, complaints and replaying a favorite section without turning an internet label into an explanation of what happened.