by Jeroslyn JoVonn
February 16, 2024
Usher “turned the world to the A” at Super Bowl LVIII. So it’s only right Atlanta returned the favor by giving him the city’s highest honor.
Usher “turned the world to the A” at Super Bowl LVIII. So it’s only right Atlanta returned the favor by giving him the city’s highest honor.
On Feb. 14, Usher was in Atlanta for a special ceremony. He was granted the Phoenix Award, a coveted honor recognizing an individual or group for their outstanding service to the city, WSB-TV reports. The ceremony was held at the Black Entertainment & Music Walk of Fame and Amazon Music outside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where Usher was among the inaugural class of inductees in 2021.
It was a special moment for Usher as he officially unveiled his spot on the Walk of Fame while receiving the city’s highest honor just days after headlining the Super Bowl halftime show and marrying Jennifer Goicoechea, who was there to support him.
“I’m hoping the rest of the world is feeling the love that has come from this city. Atlanta is a city of belief. Atlanta is a city that allowed me to be that Phoenix to rise,” he said at the ceremony.
“It is a city that has allowed me to have the tenacity to go out and share this culture that I found when I was here. The culture that informed who and what I am as an entertainment.”
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, media mogul L.A. Reid, former Ambassador Andrew Young, and other dignitaries were in attendance. Dickens noted Usher’s roots in his birthplace of Chattanooga, Tennessee, but says Atlanta was the city that adopted the superstar as its own.
“The whole world got to see that Usher brought the world to the A,” Dickens said.
“I will always represent the A,” Usher said.
While closing out his high-energy, star-studded halftime show on Sunday night, Usher told the crowd that he “turned the world to the A.”
In the days leading up to his performance, Usher dropped hints about how the city of Atlanta would significantly influence the aesthetics of the Super Bowl halftime show.
“That was the influence that Atlanta has had on me,” Usher shared during a press conference, as captured by the Chicago Defender. “So much so that I collected everything that I experienced and I’ve benefited from in Atlanta. And I brought that culture to Las Vegas. And now to the rest of the world with the Super Bowl Halftime Show.”
