Usher will sing at the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday, but he will not be compensated owing to a long-standing rule.
The R&B artist will perform for 15 minutes during halftime between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Following in the footsteps of artists such as Michael Jackson, Prince, Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Eminem, and many more, Usher will rip through his numerous songs.
However, similar to 2023’s top performer Rihanna, the 45-year-old will not receive payment even though the Super Bowl is one of the richest sporting events in the world.
An NFL official stated that no artist has ever received anything for the Super Bowl.
“We do not pay the artists,” the spokesperson told Forbes in 2016.
“We cover expenses and production costs.”
The NFL did, however, once request that celebrities like Katy Perry, Coldplay, and Rihanna pay for the opportunity to perform. In the end, the latter did perform, but they declined to pay out of principle.
The Super Bowl halftime performance draws hundreds of millions of viewers, so the exposure is enormous.
Following her engagement in 2017, Lady Gaga’s album sales soared by 1,000%, and Jennifer Lopez gained over two million new social media fans after collaborating with Shakira, whose 2020 Spotify streams spiked by 230%.
Following his 2022 performance, Dr. Dre saw a 183 percent increase in record sales and a 105 percent increase in on-demand streams. A budget has been set aside, and The Weekend contributed $7 million of his personal funds a couple of years ago, according to Billboard.
Just two days before his performance, Usher will be releasing a new album, and later this year, he will go on a massive tour.
