LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 08: Singer Usher attends The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards at the STAPLES Center on February 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
*Usher’s halftime performance at the upcoming Super Bowl in February may not net him a big paycheck, but the singer could still get major change from just putting in the work.
Usher will perform a free show during the Super Bowl. Although he will not be paid, the 45-year-old entertainer could still be rewarded in many ways.
As past Super Bowl performers know, the NFL is famously known for not paying the top-tier talent that takes the stage at halftime. In exchange for the exposure, performers reap the benefits via fans who stream and download their music in crazy numbers or buy physical copies of their CDs and vinyl LP before and after the big game, according to DailyMail.com.
Need proof? Look at 2020 Super Bowl headliners Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. The show-stopping pair did major business with notable streaming increases on Spotify. After their performance, streams of Lopez’s music increased 335 percent while Shakira’s music jumped 230 percent in streams, Spotify noted. In addition, downloads for Lopez and Shakira saw respective increases. Billboard reports songs they performed at the halftime show were downloaded 16,000 times on Super Bowl Sunday, compared to just over 1,000 downloads from the previous day.
The streaming and downloading effect was also felt by halftime show special guests Bad Bunny and J Balvin as well as Demi Lovato, who sang the Star-Spangled Banner before the start of the game. According to Spotify, all three artists experienced double-digit increases in streaming.
So yeah, Usher stands to be in a great position to take the stage at the Super Bowl. The potential revenue from physical sales of his music, coupled with streaming and downloads will be priceless.
On a personal note, Usher may harbor motivation to more than deliver on his performance. The singer was not the NFL’s first choice. Those considered before Usher included Harry Styles and Taylor Swift.
Citing an NFL source it spoke to in late September, Daily Mail revealed that Swift was approached about headlining the halftime show ‘a handful of times.’ The “Cruel Summer” hitmaker ultimately turned down the opportunity because she was too “busy.”
With Styles, another source shared that he was considered as a possible headliner for a show that could include a highly anticipated reunion with his popular group One Direction. Although it is unclear if the offer had enough for Styles, the reality was that he joined Swift in turning the NFL down.
Now that Usher has the halftime slot, all eyes will be on him to make his part of the Super Bowl a moment to remember. He may not have been the NFL’s first choice, but a source close to the “U Remind Me” vocalist shared with Daily Mail that Usher has plans to ‘prove all the haters wrong’ by putting on the ‘best performance ever.’
‘Usher knows he wasn’t the first choice, but he is here to prove that he is the right choice,’ the source said. “He has been able to reinvent himself and prove to people that he is an amazing performer with his recent residency in Vegas. He knows he has a tremendous catalog, and his halftime show is going to be one of the best.
“He has no problem proving himself and if people think he is going to be bad, he is looking forward to proving wrong all the haters,’ the insider continued, adding, “This opportunity is incredible, and Usher is looking forward to making it very memorable. It might seem that his back is against the wall and people aren’t that excited, but he is all about proving everyone wrong.”
To see if Usher delivers on bringing a superior performance, check out the Super Bowl halftime show when it airs live with the big game on February 11, 2024.
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