As 2024 arrives, will the music just be about Taylor Swift?
The answer is: no.
R&B superstar Usher is Coming Home on February 11th. That’s Super Bowl Sunday, and Usher will be making a gigantic comeback playing the halftime show at Las Vegas’s Allegiant Stadium.
He’s also dropping a new album called “Coming Home,” which will be released by a new record company and entertainment force called gamma. The guy behind gamma is Larry Jackson, who’s been a force at Apple Music after getting his start with Clive Davis at J Records 20 years ago.
Not so coincidentally, Apple is the sponsor of the half time show — produced by Jay Z’s Roc Nation — and an investor in gamma.
Another significant player in the Apple launch is Todd Boehly, whose Eldridge Industries has a hand, seemingly, in everything right now including owning The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard, the Golden Globes, Dick Clark Productions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and even the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
“Coming Home” is set up to succeed like crazy. It’s overseen by Usher’s (and Jackson’s) old pal, L.A. Reid. You can already hear some of it on on YouTube already. From the sound of it, “Coming Home” is Usher’s strongest album in decades his last album (which came out way back in 2018).
Among the potential hits is a song called “Believe,” which feels like it will be the centerpiece of the Super Bowl show along with “Risk it All” — his sexy new song with HER Music from “The Color Purple,” “Good Good” with 21 Savage and Summer Walker, and “Boyfriend.” They’ll be mixed in with Usher’s mega hits like “Yeah!,” “Love in this Club,” and his “U” songs: “U Remind Me,” “U Got it Bad,” and “U Don’t Have to Call.”
By the time the Super Bowl show is over– and before the final touchdown — watch for “Coming Home” and all these tracks to zoom to the top of iTunes with a major push, as well as Apple Music and Spotify.
According to Billboard, gamma comes armed with $1 billion to do business on all entertainment fronts. Usher’s massive kickoff will just be the beginning. This group was serious about Usher, too. Apparently, they bought out the last album he owed on a contract at RCA Records.
Usher puts on an incredible show, too. I’ve seen him several times over the years, including once he when he took over the off Broadway show, “Fuerza Bruta” at the tiny Daryl Roth Theater back in 2007 and mesmerized the audience close up.
So hold on. Usher is going to “usher in” 2024 big time!
