In A Perfect World, This Would Be Usher’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Setlist

Usher is the kinda brother who’s been doing it his way, getting his way for years—in his career. 

After 30 years, eight Grammys, a Diamond-certified magnum opus, an unparalleled three-year Las Vegas residency, the “King of R&B” joins the big game as the headliner of the Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show.

On Sunday, Feb. 11, a nine-figure audience will tune in for Usher as he aims to bring “real R&B” to the world’s biggest stage—not just R&B music, but “R&B performance, R&B connection, R&B spirit,”— two days after the debut of his highly-anticipated new album, Coming Home.

Of course, it’s a near-impossible task to condense his incomparable discography, and roughly three-hour residency into a 15-minute set. We know this and don’t mind doing the leg work of piecing together the perfect Super Bowl Halftime Show setlist.

Here’s how we imagine it all going down:

“Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home)”

Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia

After the start of the halftime show is announced, cameras cut to a blacked-out stadium. Viewers wait in (breathless, obviously) anticipation, and then we hear Usher sing a cappella, “I just wanna get your attention.” There’s a brief pause for dramatic effect. After he continues singing, “I really wanna be all up in your head,” the backtrack comes in with “turn the lights on,” stadium lights flash, and suddenly it turns into a party—similar to how he opened his Sin City residency. With Coming Home as his album title, fulfilling this dream of his by declaring, “Daddy’s home,” would be perfect.

“U Don’t Have To Call”

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After those first 70 seconds—when the “ayeeeee” comes in—he slides across the floor into place before he serenades his female fans with the infamous opening line from 2001’s “U Don’t Have To Call”: “Yo, after tonight/ Don’t leave your girl around me…” Much like his Las Vegas residency, there’s an added layer of horns synced with blaring lights. Usher and his dancers fall into their hypnotizing choreography while he sings about being smart about “situations” as they “arise” before emphasizing the word “celebration.” He rhetorically asks, “Cele-what?!” Then, follows that with an echo: ”Cele, cele, celebraaationnn.” Similar to the music video, he stands in a makeshift closet to get un-ready. 

We did say that we thought this through.

“Pop Ya Collar”

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As he wipes the camera lens like a mock mirror as seen in the “U Don’t Have To Call” video, the shot zooms in on Usher nodding affirmingly, singing, “IiiiiiIIIIIiiiiii.” He sinks into the bridge of “Pop Ya Collar”—“Iiiiiiii break my neck for the things I get…” amidst a quick change. Without breaking his stride or missing a note, he winks and switches into his second look with the camera remaining above his Adonis belt—as to not violate FCC regulations. 

“Bad Girl”

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The moment he sings “show it” from the end of that bridge, the opening guitar from “Bad Girl” comes in. The camera follows his gaze over his left shoulder and pans to a platform as his first guest, Beyoncé, appears. The two icons share sneaky glances at each other as though they’re finally revealing a secret they’ve been holding onto for far too long.

Within the nostalgic moment, he dances circles around her before they and the rest of his dancers fall into a choreographed routine during the first chorus. 

“Love In This Club, Pt. II”

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Usher pulls Bey in for a tighter embrace as the song fades out and a spotlight shines on them. He goes into a Confessions-esque monologue, allowing her to interrupt with their duet, “Love In This Club, Pt. II.” These two immediately dive into the first verse, but Bey will slip out during the pre-chorus as Usher sings, “Cause you could be anywhere you wanted/ But you decided to be here with me/ No coincidence, it was meant to be.” 

“Good Kisser”

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When he gets to the top of the chorus with “Ladies, can I put this love up on you one time?,” the lights switch to a red hue as a female dancer entices him with a playful, silent skit. The drums kick in from “Good Kisser” and Usher focuses his attention on her as he sings the hook. This sultry moment leads to the crooner finally losing his shirt— no Usher show is complete if he doesn’t end up half naked at some point.

“You Make Me Wanna”

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She guides him to a seat and subtly leaves the stage as the lights flash on beat to the intro of the “You Make Me Wanna” instrumental. Usher and his dancers recreate the sequence from the 1997 visual, but in a seated routine.

“Nice & Slow”

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The bpm slows down; the lights settle on a cooler tone as Usher glides into “Nice & Slow.” He adjusts the lyrics a bit, singing, “It’s seven o’ clock on the dot/I’m in Las Vegas, at the Super Bowl…” Or something along those lines. In his suave, cooler-than-the-other-side-of-the-pillow demeanor, he serenades the crowd. However, he skips one verse, jumping to the end of the chorus, “I just wanna take it nice and slow,” and cuts to “so call out my name” as we scream: “U-S, H-E-R, R-A, Y-M, O-N-D.”

“Lovers & Friends”

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A seamless cross-fade flows from that abrupt applause into “Lovers & Friends.” The serenade continues as the lights get brighter on a close-up shot of Usher singing, “Baby, how you doin’?” He concludes his verse; Lil Jon surprises the audience with his part and their joint outro. 

“Yeah!”

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In a dramatic fashion, Usher asks, “You wanna do it again?” To which Lil Jon screams, “Yeah!” Ludacris pops up during the bold transition and amps up viewers. The stage is now a skating rink that mirrors Cascade in Atlanta. Usher wraps up the chorus before literally drifting into a skating moment backed by an instrumental.

“Don’t Waste My Time”

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The instrumental calms the atmosphere down. Usher goes straight to the bridge as he and dancer Ashley Imani skate in choreographed synchronicity with him singing, “My mind was changed, I’m glad you made it…” Despite the focus being on them in the center, his other dancers whirl around—paired up— as the stage turns into the video set of “My Way.”

“My Way (Ryan James Carr Remake)”

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Once Usher ends the chorus: “Don’t waste my time.” Jermaine Dupri surprises the crowd as the final guest of the evening with his opening speech: “Yo!/ It’s rare that you find people like us/ See, it’s rare that you find people like us/ ‘Cause all y’all other— Out there doing what I’m doing/ Or tryna do what I’m doing/ But you can’t ’cause I do what I do my way/ (My way, way, way)/ What about you? Huh? Huh? Come on…” as Usher sings the 2022 remake of “My Way.” At the 36-second mark, there’s a chime and at that exact moment, he needs to break the fourth wall and smile directly into the camera.

This sonic commemoration would fully cement him “coming home.” Usher, who is now back in sneakers with a handheld mic, daps up his brother/collaborator as he makes his way over to a mic stand and concludes the chorus.

“Superstar”

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It should come as no surprise that “Superstar” culminates Usher‘s Super Bowl Halftime Show setlist. Usher stands at the mic with a spotlight on him as the crowd erupts, and he sings to us—first verse, chorus, bridge. Glistening in sweat, shirtless, and smiling, this is the moment we see in our dreams as he accepts his roaring applause, dedicates this to us, the fans—his superstars for all time—and concludes the show. Usher bows. Fade to black. MC Lyte narrates, “The National Football League thanks you for watching the Super Bowl Halftime Show.”

The end.