Usher just delivered an absolutely iconic Super Bowl halftime show performance, with guest appearances from Alicia Keys, Ludacris, H.E.R., Lil John, Jermaine Dupri, and will.i.am. But one Usher collaborator who didn’t make an appearance? Justin Bieber, who was at the Super Bowl to support his longtime friend—prompting fan speculation that he’d appear onstage.
TBD the exact reason Justin didn’t show up (sources have yet to weigh in), but according to TMZ, Usher had been in “direct talks” with him about making an appearance, and “there were no handlers involved on either side.”
Justin’s decision not to perform (TMZ said Usher “definitely” wanted Bieber to join him) could have something to do with the fact that he hasn’t been performing as much after being diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome—although he did recently perform at NHL All-Star Weekend in Toronto.
Meanwhile, Usher told Good Morning America ahead of his show that performing is “a major thing for me,” adding, “I think about what our country has kind of represented for Black artists, you know, having to at some point go through kitchens to even be able to perform for an audience, but they had to leave back through that same door, fear for their lives as they went to the next state to do the same thing. So I’m coming through the front door with this one.”
He added that he was thinking about “all of the R&B performers who I carry in this moment” and said, “I didn’t start where I am now, and I didn’t get there by myself. So, everybody that has been a part of it, I’m carrying them with me. All of my fans, my loved ones, the people who may have felt like they have been forgotten, they haven’t. I’m carrying you right with me when I walk on that stage that night.”
