100 Artists To See Before You Die: Usher

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When you go by just one name, you know you’re an icon. Usher is one of the small percentage of artists who enjoy this privilege – and he’s been doing it for three decades, having dominated the R&B charts back when the likes of Drake and Adele were merely dreaming of superstardom.

The man born Usher Raymond IV is blessed with record sales in excess of 150million, as well as eight Grammys and the certain knowledge that he’s influenced a generation of musicians from Justin Bieber to Zayn Malik. This year, he’s clocked out as the second highest-selling Black artist in the world, according to data from viagogo – and has racked up as many page views as the population of Greece and New Zealand.

All of this, of course, is because he’s blessed with killer dance moves, a golden voice and an indelible knack for an R&B hook. That’s why, having ruled the roost in the early ‘00s, he’s still at the top of his game, having been hand-picked for this year’s coveted Super Bowl halftime show. Usher doesn’t miss.

What to expect

Glitzy costumes! An army of backing dancers! Seriously slinky moves! Usher is the kind of guy who likes to perform with a headset mic, all the better to woo you with his eye-popping ability to glide around the stage. He makes it look effortless, but few can spend two hours – and sometimes more! – constantly throwing shapes even as they land every note with absolute precision. You’ll either be swooning or simply in awe of his stamina.

His best moments

The BET Awards 2002

Usher was still relishing the first act of his career when he performed the Billboard Hot 100 Number One ‘U Remind Me’ at the BET Awards in Los Angeles in 2002. Although his star was in ascendance, he shimmied out into the audience, took a seat and crooned to then-girlfriend Chilli of TLC (who donned a cowboy hat and looked delighted to have lassoed him). Inevitably, he was back in 2024 to collect the ceremony’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Madison Square Gardens, New York, 2010

Sometimes people talk about Usher as if he peaked in the mid-to-late-‘00s, but this stop on his box office-shattering OMG Tour put paid (literally) to that notion. The place was jam-packed and pandemonium ensued when he performed the titular hit – it seemed like every last person in the 20,000-capacity venue was on their feet as he channelled Michael Jackson in a white jacket and wide-brimmed hat. Think again, haters!

Super Bowl LVIII halftime show

This was a huge deal for Usher, who cooked up a whole new album, ‘Coming Home’ – his first in six years – especially for the occasion. Roc Nation produced the last five Super Bowl half-time shows and, somewhat surreally, head honcho Jay-Z personally selected each star performer. Usher more than rose to the occasion with a sensational medley of hits, a marching band and Alicia Keys at a massive red piano, fulfilling Jay’s promise that it was “magic time”.

His biggest bangers

‘You Make Me Wanna’ (1997)

The first track on his second album, the pointedly titled ‘My Way’, introduced Usher as we know him now. ‘You Make Me Wanna’ is sexy and smooth, but also deeply emotional, with the main man admitting his vulnerability in a way that was refreshing at the time and still tugs at the heartstrings. “I never meant to hurt her / But I gotta let her go,” the sensitive lothario confessed. A new era dawned.

‘Yeah!’ (feat. Lil Jon and Ludacris) (2004)

This crunk classic pops with Ludacris’ acrobatic flow and Lil Jon’s more laconic delivery, but it’s Usher who threads the whole thing together with his velvety vocal. When it dominated the charts worldwide, ‘Yeah!’ became a celebration of Southern hip-hop and all that it had achieved in the preceding years. For all that, though, it’s Usher’s song, his hook still ringing down the years like the trilling phone sounds effect that punctuates the beat.

‘Love In This Club’ (feat. Young Jeezy) (2008)

‘Confessions’, the 2004 album that spawned ‘Yeah!’, shifted more than a million copies in its first week alone. Usher faced enormous pressure to produce a fitting follow-up, and it speaks to his longevity that ‘Here I Stand’ boasted ‘Love In This Club’, one of his best-known songs. But what’s it about? “I will definitely say that I’ve had a moment or two in a stall,” the ever-demure star revealed to Entertainment Weekly in 2013.

Setlist Study

Yes, the shows are long, but Usher evidently likes to give fans bang for their buck, as it were. And what a lot of hits he has to pack in. ‘You Make Me Wanna’ often gets an airing, as does ‘Coming Home’ lead single ‘Good Good’, an aching slow jam that features 21 Savage and Summer Walker. Along the way, you can expect a smattering of ‘Confessions’ smashes and the party-starting ‘DJ Got Us Falling In Love’. By the end of the night, there’ll only be one name on everybody’s lips.

Where to see him next

MARCH 2025
20 – The O2, London

APRIL 2025
1 – The O2, London
2 – The O2, London
5 – The O2, London
6 – The O2, London
8 – The O2, London
9 – The O2, London
11 – The O2, London

MAY 2025
6 – The O2, London
7– The O2, London

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