Twenty years after the release of Usher’s Grammy-winning album, “Confessions,” the singer and songwriter is still dominating the R&B scene. His upcoming “Usher: Past Present and Future” shows in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Oakland and Detroit are already sold out. Fans in Paris, London, Berlin and Amsterdam have bought all the tickets to his 2025 shows.
It’s no surprise then why the King of R&B, who has sold more than 100 million records, is still relevant in the industry. “I think I have reached the age where I’m now okay with accepting the work that I have done. Most of my life has been built in getting to the next job, getting to the next focus, getting to the next thing to really zero in on. But I have now reached a place where I’m actually okay celebrating some of the things that I’ve done – they’re pretty miraculous…winning these Grammys–that’s pretty good,” he said in a radio interview in May 2024.
And his legacy is felt even in music royalties. A Royalty Exchange listing was recently sold for $87,388, which is almost eight times its value in the last 12 months!
Super Bowl Halftime Show
In February of 2024, two days after the debut of his new album, “Coming Home,” Usher performed at the Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show to the delight of fans around the world. Speaking to CBS after the show, he revealed that he kept his performance a secret from his kids to surprise them during the event. "As of August, I knew. And I had to keep it a secret up until the grand unveiling for the world. And I couldn't let my kids know. So, like, any kind of documents I'm receiving, you know, we had, like, a code word that we would only talk on the telephone to let it be known that we were discussing [our code word] 'Utah,' you know? You don't get a chance to surprise your kids that often anymore. It's like, there's no fantasy moments" he said.
What keeps him grounded all this time is his appreciation for how far he has come in the industry. He added, "You know, everybody says they want to win a Grammy, or they want to win an Oscar, or a Tony, or an Emmy. A Super Bowl is something that everybody wants to play. And here it is. It happened. I mean the history of African Americans who had to perform here and couldn't go through the actual casinos…now, to be here, the residency, it's like, man. What a whirlwind."
Usher began the show with his 2004 hit "Caught Up," then followed it up with "U Don't Have To Call," "Lovers And Friends" and " Love In This Club." Alicia Keys played her song "If I Ain't Got You," before Usher joined her to sing "My Boo."
One of the most memorable highlights was when Grammy-nominated H.E.R., appeared behind Usher and struck the opening chords of "Bad Girl" before Black Eyed Peas rapper will.i.am joined them for the hit "OMG” – all while Usher was gliding across the stage in roller skates.
And what an impact it has done to the artist indeed.
Spotify revealed that his overall streams increased 550% in the United States alone following his Super Bowl performance.
“Bad Girl”
“Bad Girl” is known for its upbeat tempo and smooth delivery that capture the allure of a woman who is seen as a "bad girl" in a positive, empowering light. Usher sang about being captivated by a woman who is confident, adventurous, and unapologetically embraces her sexuality. He portrays her as a thrilling and irresistible presence, with the song celebrating her bold and daring personality.
Speaking about the history of the song, Jimmy Jam, producer of “Confessions,” told Billboard, “‘Bad Girl’ initially came from another writing team. It was a song that Usher had and struggled with finishing it up. It was a thing where they were like, ‘Man this is a good idea but we can’t quite finish it and bring it home.’ Terry and the Avila brothers worked off to get that song where it is, from where it began, which was a basically guitar lick idea to a fully realized song.” ‘Bad Girl’ was a song where you’d go to any club at any time and it was played as if it was a single. That happens cause of the strength of a really great album.”
In a 2024 article by BET, “Bad Girl” was regarded as one of the staples in Usher’s live shows. It can be recalled that in the early 2000s, the song was performed by the artist while Beyoncé was dancing on stage. And in his 2023 Las Vegas residency, fans couldn't help but talk about the artist’s performance of the song with actress and singer Teyana Taylor who appeared in a catsuit. She captioned in her IG post: “To be able to grace the stage with not only someone I consider family but one of the goats was definitely one for the books!!!!”
During the Super Bowl performance, The New York Times specifically mentioned Usher’s performance of the song with H.E.R. and a video appearance of none other than Beyoncé.
Royalty Earnings Performance
A Royalty Exchange asset that features Usher’s “Bad Girl,” was one of the most popular sales on the website this year. Prior to this, the listing was first sold in February 2023 for $46,500. After two months, it was purchased for $64,888.
The investor who sold the catalog on June 2 made a 44.1% ROI in just 1.13 years of holding the catalog. They received $11,948 from royalties, and $81,795 in the sale proceeds on their original $64,888 purchase.
In 2023, the listing earned a total of $11,559, up by 164% from its value three years prior at just $4,379.
Live Performance is the highest source of earnings for this listing with $5,755 in the last 12 months. This is followed by Streaming with $3,287.
The song has been streamed over a total of 104 million times on Spotify.
Interested in Investing?
Check out this listing on Royalty Exchange today to view more details about it.
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