Usher shapes up for sweet Super Bowl gig
Usher is ushering in the new year with a sugar-free detox as he gears up for the biggest performance of his career at next month’s Super Bowl half-time show. The megastar has given up sugar and alcohol to be on top form – and we’re told that straight afterwards, he plans to announce a huge arena tour to promote new album Coming Home, which drops days earlier. A source says: “The Super Bowl has always been on Usher’s bucket list and he wants to be in the best shape to give the performance of his life to the 100 million-plus people watching. “He has quit all sugar and alcohol and is rehearsing endlessly.” The R&B star follows in the footsteps of Rihanna, whose dazzling set last February also served as an opportunity to announce her second pregnancy. Usher was one of the biggest stars of the late 1990s and 2000s, with multi-platinum hits including You Make Me Wanna…, Pop Ya Collar, Yeah!, Burn and Confessions Part II. He performed at the Super Bowl in 2011, as a special guest of the lead act, Black Eyed Peas. But this will be the first time he has headlined the half-time show. Usher is expected to release Coming Home two days before the Super Bowl. It is the follow-up to 2016’s Hard II Love, which earned him his sixth successive top 10 spot in the US and UK album charts. Speaking last year, the Texas-born singer – who has recorded duets with Alicia Keys, Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber – hinted that he may invite special guests to share the Super Bowl stage with him. But he kept coy about naming names, and said: “Well, one thing I can say is I’ve collaborated with a lot of incredible artists throughout the years.”