If the goal of the Super Bowl Halftime Show is to bring together audiences from every generation, then Usher’s 2024 performance nailed it in spades. Because the Usher halftime show was tailor-made for the millennials and Gen Xers! The crooner’s stacked medley of hits quite literally was the soundtrack of our youth. And yeah (ahem), we deserve this one.
The youths might’ve needed some reminding that Usher has been delivering jam after jam since 1994 (!), but the rest of us did not, and boy, did he deliver. Not only was he given an extra few minutes to perform some of his biggest hits, but he was also joined onstage by a slew of surprise guests—H.E.R., Alicia Keys, Lil Jon, Ludacris, the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am, and Jermaine Dupri—making it a dream moment for everyone out there who was grinding awkwardly to “Yeah!” at school dances and sweet sixteens before taking jello shots to the sounds of “Turn Down for What” a decade later.
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In case you need a refresher on the entire decade-spanning setlist, here you go:
“Caught Up”
“U Don’t Have to Call”
“Superstar”
“Love in this Club”
“If I Ain’t Got You,” sung by Alicia Keys
“My Boo,” sung by Alicia Keys and Usher
“Confessions Part II”
“Nice & Slow”
“Burn”
“Bad Girl”
“U Got It Bad”
“OMG”
“Turn Down for What,” sung by Lil Jon
“Yeah,” sung by Lil Jon, Ludacris, will.i.am and Usher
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Even though Usher’s target audience now prefers a matinee movie and an approximate 9:30 p.m. bedtime (just me?), we turned up, turned out, and turned down for this Halftime Show. I mean, we haven’t even mentioned the rollerskates.
Every millennial getting flashbacks to every bad decision they made while taking shots to Usher songs in their 20s. pic.twitter.com/I2eFH50E4t
— theScore Bet (@theScoreBet) February 12, 2024
40 year old moms when usher took off his shirt pic.twitter.com/iwCOCbu3s9
— asc
(@ascinhiding) February 12, 2024
Every millennial watching this Usher halftime show like pic.twitter.com/ANjhp8qk6L
— kyla (@kylaer_) February 12, 2024
As expected, the reactions were flawless, especially for the millennial and Gen X parent cohort. You know, the ones who wanna make love in this club, but not really, because ick.
“Nickelodeon explaining the Usher halftime show: ‘This is the song that your mom was dancing to when she met your dad,’” wrote one person on X (formerly known as Twitter). “My 8yo saw the way I was looking at Usher and goes ‘mom I think you love that guy more than your own children,’” wrote another.
Others lamented about the loss of their youth as Usher continues to remain a literal ageless vampire who looks copy pasted straight out of 2004. One person joked on X: “usher’s 45 and confidently taking off his shirt and roller skating in front of millions, i loved that halftime show but am concerned he set the bar too high for millennial men. we can’t do these things usher, we have acid reflux.” Another pondered: “I’ve never known every song lyric of a halftime performance 
am I an usher fan or am I just a geriatric millennial who grew up with usher?” Joked yet another: “He’s called Usher because he’s helping usher us millennials to old age.” Another joke that will make you feel ancient? “Millennials, if you want to watch that Usher performance again I got you. I’m seeding it on Kazaa.”
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And everyone else simply thirsted after him. (An understandable reaction!) “This is so important to me as someone who had the shirtless centerfold of Usher from Teen People magazine taped to the ceiling over her bottom bunk at summer camp,” tweeted one millennial. “2023 Super Bowl: Rihanna is pregnant,” tweeted one user above a photo of Rihanna from last year’s show. Beside her, a picture of shirtless Usher with the caption “2024 Super Bowl: We’re all pregnant.”
