I saw Usher reopen the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on July 16, 2021, the first show in the hallowed Las Vegas Strip venue and first new headlining residency launched after the entertainment closures of the pandemic.
Then I saw the superstar showman again at Dolby Live on March 2, taking in the Silk Sonic residency show with longtime musical collaborator Jermaine Dupri. It wasn’t his first time in that space, as he had previously popped onstage with Bruno Mars and unintentionally teased plans to move the Usher show to the Park MGM theater. The new version of the residency opens July 15 with many more dates running through October.
But this conversation with Usher starts with the last place I saw him—on TV, sitting on a sofa next to one of his idols during some of the most poignant scenes of A&E’s Biography: Bobby Brown. Usher revealed for the first time during the four-part series that he was first “discovered” by one of Brown’s bodyguards in the early 1990s, and also expressed his appreciation to Brown for his impact.
“A lot of people don’t understand how much of an influence he has been on R&B artists and also to hip-hop artists,” Usher tells me. “It’s funny how significant his participation and the people around him has something to do with my career in so many ways.”
During his first Vegas residency at Caesars, Usher paid homage by replicating the “Gumby” haircut Brown made famous in the video for 1988 smash “Every Little Step.” It seemed like a small and stylish gesture, but it’s emblematic of vast layers of thoughtful details Usher incorporated into that show and every show, an elite level of artistry that sometimes goes unnoticed by all but dedicated fans and followers.
If you’ve seen Brown’s documentary, and maybe Usher’s residency, more similarities between the two become clear.
“It’s unfortunate how artists can manage to have a world of experience and then it becomes more about what their life’s drama is, more than their life’s passion and music,” Usher says, and while he’s talking about Bobby Brown, it’s clear he’s dealt with similar attention. If Brown is seeing some renewed appreciation through TV and films about his life and group New Edition, perhaps the Vegas residency can similarly shine a brighter light on the true and deep musical contributions of the now 43-year-old Usher Raymond IV.
“The romance of the moment is always something to savor, but it’s out of sight, out of mind in this industry, and in the world, to be honest,” Usher says. “If you’re not making music, people tend to pay attention to other aspects of who you are. … I’m an artist that goes everywhere, who has traveled the world, who still puts out music, an artist who develops artists, an artist who’s an entrepreneur. And I really look at Vegas as my opportunity to incubate a lot of different things, not just music.
“But right now, it’s about entertainment and giving people something they can remember.”
You have spent more time in Las Vegas than a lot of other headliners. Was it important to immerse yourself in the environment and connect to the industry here?
I don’t know if it was fortunate or unfortunate when Bruno [Mars] hinted [in December] that I’d be back this year [at Park MGM]. I didn’t plan on that night being the grand unveiling. But this city allows us to have that playful camaraderie where we support each other, and I expect Bruno and Silk Sonic to come to my show as well. After that night, we had this impromptu moment where we went to Delilah [at Wynn] and played with the band. I guess the band had been breaking down but left their equipment, so we ran up there and had a little moment. It wasn’t an actual performance, but that’s the type of sh** that you only heard about what the cats did back in the day. I’m hoping this is the grounds for that type of stuff to happen.
R&B is having a moment in Vegas these days, with Silk Sonic and you, and you just did the Lovers & Friends festival on the Strip, too. Is that something you are thinking about, how to leave your mark that way?
Oh no baby, I already left it. The moment I decided to arrive, that was the beginning of the story to be told, the incubating grounds for me to play in all the spaces I know I can. Bringing Lovers & Friends was a deliberate choice. I didn’t just participate as an artist, I’m a part of the festival. So we went to the [Las Vegas Festival] Grounds and had a major success and we’d love to come back again and again and again. We curated a very specific experience … and set the tempo of what it is to be an R&B artist. I wanted to give them the stage.
What it was like last year launching not only your first Vegas residency, but being the first big show to get onstage after COVID dealing with all the various challenges of the times?
Now that I’ve had a year to reflect and understand how hard it was to navigate that moment and make it look like it was easy, I really have my team to thank, and fans for purchasing early and holding on. I just wanted to show up for them. There were times when it felt like it was going to fall apart. We had people falling out from COVID, restrictions with distancing, and we had to figure out how to get people safely into a space and not compromise or jeopardize anybody. We managed to figure it out. The show must go on. Whatever it cost us, we did it. And it wasn’t necessarily about making money, it was about that spirit that would reignite the energy in this city. If I’m supposed to be the first, I’m going to step up to the plate and do what the hell I’ve got to do in order to make sure and let it be known that we’re open for business. I was really afraid, and so many artists after got the chance to see how hard it is to do this in this city. It wasn’t easy to do anywhere. But it was really difficult to put that show together and then hold it together. It’s not just about night one. But it really felt like this was what was necessary in this time.
Whose idea was it to move to Park MGM, your team or the Live Nation team?
I think it was a little bit of [both]. I love the venue, I love the energy and I love the accommodations. It just felt like a natural transition. After considering the type of creative [content] I wanted for this next show, it would be the perfect house to give me that opportunity to shock people in the same way I did at the Colosseum.
How is this year’s show going to be different?
I don’t want to give it all away, but I’ve been experimenting with some things onstage. I always said if I go to Las Vegas, I would want to play it my way, and maybe there’s some Frank Sinatra somewhere deep in there. I think I got some things off my first time, but this time? I really get to do it my way. That’s why I named it My Way. There’s a sophistication and elegance that comes from looking at guys like Gene Kelly and Bob Fosse, and being able to play in Chicago [on Broadway] when I did that, those are things I want to bring to my audience. When I’m traveling around the world with a huge production, I don’t get the chance to set things up the way I want, but here, I can set the stage, I can do all the things I want to do whether it’s skating onstage or other theatrical moments and storytelling I want to go through. It’s the way I experience life. On a random Saturday I’m kicking it with my celebrity friends, so why not bring them onstage and allow them to have these moments because we’re still in the flow. That’s what I saw in those pictures of the Rat Pack back in the day, that’s the goal where we want to be, just a super flow.
How long do you want to keep this Vegas show going?
It’s my city, baby. This is my city. How long am I going to continue? As long as the arms are open to me, I will be here. I’m going to continue to bring things and experiment and have fun in this city. … And you get the best of me. When you come to my experience, I want you to remember. Let it be known there was thought going into this, that you’re not just listening to the music and waiting for the next album. You know Usher is always going to give your money’s worth. I always say, under-promise and over-deliver.
USHER: MY WAY July 15, 16, 20, 22, 23, 27, 29 & 30, 9 p.m., $72-$917+. Dolby Live, ticketmaster.com.
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