Usher Hints at Special Guests for Super Bowl Halftime Performance (Exclusive)

“Good Good” Singer Usher is having a moment with his Las Vegas show, his upcoming Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show, and now he is raising awareness for Type 1 diabetes.

“Extra’s” Mona Kosar Abdi spoke with Usher, who acknowledged how big it is going to be to headlining the Super Bowl Halftime Show on February 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

He emphasized, “It doesn’t get any bigger.”

As for getting the call, Usher said, “When I got the call, I was like, ‘Man, I’ve been working really hard my entire career. The preparation didn’t start within the last two years of performing in Las Vegas. It really started 30 years ago, and my commitment to it and the journey that Ive taken musically is why I think I’m given that moment.’”

Usher got a congratulatory call from Jay-Z, who said, “It’s your magic moment. This is it. This is your Michael moment.’”

Usher admitted, “I was like, ‘That’s a lot of pressure, bro.’ But so many incredible artists that I respect played that stage, whether it was Beyoncé, Prince, you know even recent performances from, you know, artists. It’s like, ‘Wow, it’s the most compact 13 minutes of your life.’”

Usher didn’t reveal too much about what we’re going to see in those 13 minutes.

He hinted, “You’re going to get hit records… I do want to play the songs that people obviously recognize and the ones that I celebrate, I’ve been able to laugh, I have been able to cry, I have been vulnerable, I’ve been telling and honest… I found really great ways to help us communicate better through my music and that celebration is inside this curation.”

It looks like Usher will be joined onstage by someone special. He said, “I’ve also collaborated with a lot of people in the process, so… there’s a celebration there.”

Without saying more, he quipped, “I just gave it all to you. You gotta decode it.”

Some of Usher’s collaborations include “OMG” with Will.i.am., “My Boo” with Alicia Keys, and “Somebody to Love” with Justin Bieber.

When Mona asked him to blink twice if she named a correct person, he commented, “I’ve spent a lot of time in Vegas, so I’ve worked on my poker face.”

Usher had to keep his big Super Bowl show a secret for weeks before it was announced!

He noted, “My family didn’t know. My sons did not know. I tried to tell my daughter. She just ran off. She didn’t care. I was like, ‘I got to tell you a secret.’”

Believe it or not, Usher did share his secret with Anna Wintour.

He explained, “I called her and I said, ‘Hey, I gotta tell you something,’ and I shared it with her early. And the first thing she says, ‘Well, what are you wearing?’”

Usher is “still working on those details,” adding, “If you’ve had the opportunity to come see my show, you understand it’s really a celebration of our culture, a celebration of what we’ve come from, a celebration of the places I’ve come from… I’m going to pull all of those things and then some into this performance.”

During his Las Vegas residency, Usher has performed in front of celebs like Doja Cat, Kim Kardashian, and Jennifer Lopez.

He said, “I get the pleasure of, you know, every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday doing shows to entertain an audience that came some flew from across, you know, across the pond to come and see me perform here and there in Las Vegas. It’s an honor… It’s a pleasure to have a catalog and also to have fans that are excited and I get a chance to entertain them.”

Before Usher’s showstopping 13-minute performance at the Super Bowl, he’s teaming with Sanofi to create the 1 pledge movement for Type 1 diabetes early detection.

It is a campaign close to his heart since his son Usher Raymond V has diabetes. Of the moment he learned of the diagnosis, Usher said, “I was shell-shocked. I didn’t really understand it because my child was the first in our family to be T1D…

“It’s a journey that is something that I don’t take lightly for parents who I know will have to kind of live with this, but this is an opportunity for them to be prepared.”