Music

Bringing out special guests during the Super Bowl halftime show has become a thing in recent years — except for Rihanna, unless you want to count the baby in her belly at the time as a “guest.” This year’s Super Bowl halftime performer, Usher, was even a guest back in 2011.

After several years of classic rock artists, 2011 marked the year pop music returned to the Super Bowl, with Black Eyed Peas playing halftime. Usher was a guest during the show, performing “OMG” after making his entrance from the ceiling on a wire, which he says could have ended in disaster. 

At a press conference February 8 in Vegas, Usher recalled, “My hand got caught in the wire that was holding me, like, 30 feet in the air. And I almost missed my first mark. I was like, ‘Oh my God, don’t let this malfunction cause me to miss something!'”

But Usher said he also recalled “how amazing it felt to be in front of that many people and feel the energy — so much so that it made me really passionate about eventually getting this moment.”

The idea of having big-name stars perform during halftime only dates back to 1991, when New Kids on the Block did it. Before that, marching bands, older stars like Chubby Checker or the vocal troupe Up with People were the norm.

But what changed the game was Michael Jackson‘s 1993 performance, featuring an inflatable globe and a choir of over 3,000 local children. Thanks to Michael, the ratings increased between halves during the game. From then on, stars and spectacle were the rule.

Here’s a look back at who’s done the halftime show since 1991:

1991 — New Kids on the Block
1992 — Gloria Estefan
1993 — Michael Jackson, performing with 3,500 children
1994 — Country stars Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, Wynonna Judd and Naomi Judd
1995 — Patti LaBelle, Miami Sound Machine and Tony Bennett
1996 — Diana Ross
1997 — ZZ Top, James Brown, the Blues Brothers featuring Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman and James Belushi
1998 — Boyz II Men, Smokey Robinson, Martha Reeves, the Temptations, Queen Latifah
1999 — Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
2000 — Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton
2001 — Aerosmith, *NSYNC, Britney Spears, Nelly, Mary J. Blige
2002 — U2
2003 — Shania Twain, No Doubt, Sting
2004 — Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Nelly, Kid Rock, P. Diddy
2005 — Paul McCartney
2006 — The Rolling Stones
2007 — Prince
2008 — Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
2009 — Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
2010 — The Who
2011 — Black Eyed Peas
2012 — Madonna
2013 — Beyoncé (and Destiny’s Child, briefly)
2014 — Bruno Mars feat. Red Hot Chili Peppers
2015 — Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott
2016 — Coldplay, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars
2017 — Lady Gaga
2018 — Justin Timberlake
2019 — Maroon 5, Travis Scott, Big Boi
2020 — Jennifer Lopez and Shakira
2021 — The Weeknd
2022 — Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige and Snoop Dogg with 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak
2023 — Rihanna
2024 — Usher

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The Black Keys will be performing during the NASCAR Chicago Street Race Weekend, taking place July 6-7.

The lineup also includes EDM duo The Chainsmokers, and country artists Keith Urban and Lauren Alaina. The performances will take place in Chicago’s Grant Park, the same site as Lollapalooza.

For more info, visit NASCARChicago.com.

The Black Keys, meanwhile, are gearing up to release a new album, Ohio Players, on April 5. It includes the lead single “Beautiful People (Stay High).”

In other musicians-at-sporting-events news, Machine Gun Kelly will be playing the NBA on TNT American Express Roadshow on February 15 as part of 2024 NBA All-Star festivities in Indianapolis, while The Gaslight Anthem has joined the lineup for the NHL Stadium Series game on February 17 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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Rihanna‘s performance at the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show is now memorialized forever at Madame Tussauds in Orlando. The new wax figure was unveiled on Thursday. It features Rihanna dressed in the bold red bodysuit and breastplate that she wore during the most-viewed halftime performance ever, where she revealed she was pregnant with her second child.

Miley Cyrus is living with her boyfriend, Maxx Morando, a source revealed to People. “She is very happy with him,” the source said. “Miley has changed a lot in the past couple of years. She seems more calm and harmonious. Everyone loves Maxx. He’s a great guy. She is very happy with him. He’s private and doesn’t like being in the press. It’s been good for her.”

Billie Eilish and Finneas will be honored at Variety‘s 10th annual Artisans Awards. The ceremony celebrates those responsible for the visual magic in the biggest films of last year. The sibling duo are being honored for their song “What Was I Made For?” from Barbie.

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Do you think Jack Harlow takes his Dunkin’ coffee with vanilla, baby? The rapper appears alongside Ben Affleck in a new teaser for the coffee chain that dropped on Thursday, ahead of Super Bowl Sunday. It’s the second part in the new series of ads starring Affleck, where the actor contemplates a music career. Jack gives him some advice after Affleck admits to hearing a voice inside his head telling him not to follow a musical path. “That might be what you need to hear,” Jack tells him.

Rihanna‘s performance at the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show is now memorialized forever at Madame Tussauds in Orlando. The new wax figure was unveiled on Thursday. It features Rihanna dressed in the bold red bodysuit and breastplate that she wore during the most-viewed halftime performance ever, where she revealed she was pregnant with her second child.

Miley Cyrus is living with her boyfriend, Maxx Morando, a source revealed to People. “She is very happy with him,” the source said. “Miley has changed a lot in the past couple of years. She seems more calm and harmonious. Everyone loves Maxx. He’s a great guy. She is very happy with him. He’s private and doesn’t like being in the press. It’s been good for her.”

Billie Eilish and Finneas will be honored at Variety‘s 10th annual Artisans Awards. The ceremony celebrates those responsible for the visual magic in the biggest films of last year. The sibling duo are being recognized for their song “What Was I Made For?” from Barbie.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Declyn “Dex” Lauper, the rapper son of music legend Cyndi Lauper, was arrested for gun possession Wednesday night after police responded to a shooting in Harlem.

The 24-year-old victim was shot in the leg on West 112th Street around 7:15 p.m., police said.

Police officers looking for evidence located the 26-year-old rapper in possession of a loaded gun nearby.

Dex was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

He was not charged in the shooting. The investigation is ongoing.

The shooting victim, Omar Lewis, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon. He is in stable condition at Mount Sinai Morningside.

This isn’t the first time Dex has run afoul of the law. He was arrested in July 2022 after police found him driving a stolen Mercedes Benz. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to community service and one year of probation, according to the New York Post.

The son of the “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” singer has followed in his mother’s musical footsteps. Dex teamed up with popular rapper G-Eazy for the song “K I D S” in 2019.

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She’s not talking “Nonsense” about this.

Sabrina Carpenter has confirmed she is working on a new album. In conversation with Maya Hawke for Interview, Sabrina opened up about her songwriting process before she revealed that she is currently working on her next project.

“I feel a lot freer and more excited about what I’m making now because I’ve realized that genre isn’t necessarily the most important thing,” Sabrina said. “It’s about honesty and authenticity and whatever you gravitate towards. There were a lot of genres in my last album, and I like to think I’ll continue that throughout writing music.”

Maya told Sabrina that her three younger sisters are obsessed with her and that they wanted Maya to ask if anything new was on the way.

“Are you working on another album?” Maya asked.

“I am,” Sabrina said, before Maya followed up with, “That’s very exciting for me and all of them.”

Sabrina also said she had to listen to her gut in order to write her fifth studio album, Emails I Can’t Send, which was released in 2022.

“You have to allow yourself to get to that point where you’re even able to do that, and until I made this album, I wasn’t at that place where I felt I could,” Sabrina said. “The other day, this guy was like, ‘Life is so long. You just have to follow the things that make you feel something, whether that’s good or bad.’ And I was like, ‘Wow, I always hear life is short.’ But it made me really excited about the fact that I’m going to find my way through.”

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Get ready to be “livin’ on a prayer” when you hit Nashville’s Lower Broadway soon.

Jon Bon Jovi has teamed with BPH Hospitality set to open his bar, JBJ’s Nashville, in the spring. It’ll be located at 405 Broadway, the former home of Merchant’s restaurant.

“We’re looking forward to having a place in Nashville that we call home,” Jon shares in a statement. “When Big Plan Holdings and the team of Josh and Tara Joseph asked us if we were interested, it wasn’t because we were just another rock band, it was because we are a band with deep roots in Nashville.”

“We have had wonderful times in Nashville recording several albums and working with some of the finest people in all the music business,” he adds. “I can’t wait to toast all of Broadway and get to know our neighbors!”

This is not Jon’s foray into the country music scene. In 2006, he earned a #1 hit on country radio with his Jennifer Nettles-assisted duet, “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.” In 2007, he collaborated with Leann Rimes on “Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore” from his album Lost Highway. 

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While trying to decide which of his many iconic hits he’ll try to jam into his halftime at the Super Bowl Sunday, Usher‘s criteria can be summed up in one word: celebration.

“What I did is, I was very mindful of my past, celebrating my present, which is here in Las Vegas, and thinking about where we’re headed in the future,” Usher said at a press conference in Las Vegas Thursday. “[W]hat songs do I feel people know me for? What songs have been a celebration of all of the journey, of what life and love and emotion has been offered in my music?'”

Usher has done 100 shows in Vegas over two residencies. He said he’ll incorporate elements of those residency shows into his production.

“You’ll now get a chance to see some of what I did here,” he said. “But you’re going to get the best of it because it’s before 60,000 people … and hopefully another 180 million people for the world to see.”

The show, presented by Apple Music, has been described as 30 years in the making; Usher said his belief in himself has motivated him to reach this point.

“All I had was my vision. All I had was the idea that someday I would have fans,” he said. “You know those kids who, like, take a mic in hand and they’re singing and they’re believing in themselves, or they look in the mirror and they’re singing to an audience that’s not there?”

“I’m that kid, at 9 years old, that had this dream, that this moment — and many of the moments that I’ve had in my career — would come true.”

Also at the press conference, Post Malone spoke about how it’s going to feel to sing “America the Beautiful” at the pregame show.

“Nerve-racking,” he said. “I’m very nervous. But excited … it’s just fun and super epic to be able to go out there and sing a song so many beautiful artists have sang before and on this stage. I’m just going to do my best, and give it what I got.”

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