Don’t Call Usher’s New Album A Comeback

Ahead of his performance in the Super Bowl Halftime Show, the singer released his ninth studio album, “Coming Home.”

Usher is having one hell of a week.

He broke the internet with those photos from his Skims Men collab, announced a 24-city tour on Tuesday, graced the cover of Billboard on Wednesday and will be releasing his ninth studio album on Friday. And in the midst of it all, he’s preparing for the Super Bowl Halftime Show this Sunday.

“My headspace is in the clouds, man. I feel like this has been an amazing two years of my life. One hundred shows sold out in Las Vegas, and then 101 is at the Allegiant Stadium,” he told HuffPost over Zoom, referring to the big game. “Man, you can’t ask for a better kind of wrap-up of this year or the last year than that.”

Usher’s 30-year career has been leading up to this moment, but it’s the seeds he’s planted these past couple of years with his twice-extended Vegas residency that have borne significant fruit for the eight-time Grammy winner.

Calling it a comeback doesn’t feel right. Years after his massive success with “Confessions” — the last male R&B album to go diamond, by the way — Usher’s later projects didn’t get the same fanfare as earlier ones. But be clear: Usher never lost it. The rise of streaming and the music industry’s (and fans’) propensity to lock artists into a specific era in their careers always encourage evolution.