Monday, June 22, 2026

Jay Z Selects Usher, Who Hasn’t Had a Hit in 20 Years, to Play Super Bowl Halftime Show

Share

★ Make Showbiz411 your Preferred Source on Google

It looks like Jay Z had some trouble getting anyone to play the Super Bowl.

The result is Usher, a lovely guy and a great performer but one who hasn’t had a hit in 20 years.

If Usher is just by himself, this is going to be problematic to say the least.

Jay Z couldn’t get a contemporary artist to perform at the biggest sporting event of the year: no Harry Styles, no Beyonce (she just did it), Taylor Swift, Miley, Adele, and so on. He also won’t go near a popular rock band like Maroon 5, or any country artist. What a mess.

I actually thought Jay Z could persuade Justin Timberlake and NSync to reunite for the show. And what about Diddy and all of his Off the Grid gang?

There’s a lot of pressure on Usher to pull this off with aplomb. I’m sure he can do it, but let’s hope he features some young people.

Donate to Showbiz411.com

Showbiz411 is now in its 13th year of providing breaking and exclusive entertainment news. This is an independent site, unlike the many Hollywood trades that are owned by one company. To continue providing news that takes a fresh look at what's going on in movies, music, theater, etc, advertising is our basis. Reader donations would be greatly appreciated, too. They are just another facet of keeping fact based journalism alive.
Thank you


Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

Read more

In Other News