Usher’s halftime performance had fans screaming, “Louder, louder, louder, louder,” for all the wrong reasons.
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Fans were furious after sound quality issues surfaced during the Grammy winner’s long-awaited halftime performance at Sunday’s (Feb. 11) Super Bowl matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Kanas City Chiefs.
“I know they not having sound issues with this usher concert,” one fan wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Show Must Go On
The R&B singer eventually ditched his mic altogether during the performance, during which he performed hits such as “Burn,” “Confessions,” and “Caught Up.”
“USHER! (this rocks…except for the sound issues,” another fan wrote.
Deja Vu?
This wasn’t the first year Super Bowl viewers noted glitches in the audio system. Fans complained in 2018 that Justin Timberlake’s vocals disappeared beneath the backup vocals and instrumental audio.
Three years later, similar issues surfaced during The Weeknd’s 2021 halftime show. One Twitter user groused, “The Weeknd decided to give the best performance he’s ever given and the Super Bowl sound team were like ‘What if we make it so no one can hear him?'”
Justin Bieber Was a No-Show
The audio hiccup wasn’t the only disappointment Usher fans faced tonight. Rumors circulated last week that Usher had reached out directly to protégé Justin Bieber about the “Baby” singer making an appearance during halftime.
Sadly, those rumors turned out to be just that. Bieber was spotted in the audience with wife Hailey, fueling talk that he would take the stage at halftime. But halftime came and went without the “STAY” artist.
Usher was joined onstage by Alicia Keys, dazzling in a red bodysuit. He chimed in on a rendition of her song “If I Ain’t Got You” before the duo teamed up for a sensual performance of their 2004 hit “My Boo.”
Later, Lil’ Jon popped up with his smash “Turn Down For What” before Ludacris arrived to complete the trio responsible for 2004’s inescapable banger “Yeah!”
Image via CBS/Paramount+ Stream
