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Singer and songwriter Usher is set to release his ninth studio album Coming Home on February 9, 2024. Coming Home is his first new solo album since 2016's Hard II Love, which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. The upcoming album will be released two days before the singer, whose real name is Usher Raymond IV, headlines the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
According to a listing on Apple Music, Coming Home will boast a collection of 20 tracks. It will also have hit singles like Good Good, Risk It All and the Standing Next to You remix.
While a lot of fans have speculated that the upcoming album will be a sequel to his 2004 album Confessions, the singer refuted the claims in a February 2023 GQ interview. He had teased his ninth studio album in 2019 and the album's potential title was Confessions 2.
While this had his fans excited, according to his interview with GQ, the more he worked on the album, the less he felt interested in making a sequel to Confessions. Noting that he had hit a "creative wall," Usher said that he couldn't be who he was and didn't want to be that person.
"I want to be better than what I was. That might be a problem." The singer told the publication.
While Coming Home isn't a sequel to Confessions, it is the singer's album after a very long time and that has fans excited as they await to see him at the 2024 Super Bowl.
Everything we know about Usher's upcoming album Coming Home
Usher's ninth studio album Coming Home, is set to be released on February 9, 2024. As mentioned earlier, this is the No Limit singer's first album since 2016. With nearly a month remaining for the album's release, Usher and his team are treating fans with behind-the-scene tweets, new singles, and posts from the album.
Good Good, a track from the album featuring Summer Walker and 21 Savage was released in August 2023. The song performed incredibly well as it peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. It marked Usher's first Billboard Top 200 for both charts since 2022 when Good Love debuted at No. 70 on the Billboard Hot 100.
When fans saw all the posts, they were delighted and showed support for the singer and his music by quoting lines from his song Good Good.
Another song set to be included in the Coming Home tracklist is the remixed version of South Korean singer Jung Kook's hit Standing Next to You. Usher has a smooth verse and an elevated performance which blends well with Jungkook's harmonies, which pleased fans. The song's release was accompanied by a music video, which released on December 1, 2023. Since then, it has racked up over 70 million views on YouTube.
Adding to the hype of Coming Home, Usher unveiled a third single from the album titled Risk It All, featuring H.E.R., on December 7, 2023. He followed up with a music video released three weeks later. The song appears as a soundtrack in "The Color Purple" embodying narratives of love and survival. The music video accentuates the theme by having both singers perform a modern dance choreography, set to the somber ballad.
The album is available for pre-order on Apple Music and iTunes Store, through which fans can pre-purchase the project to support the release of Coming Home.
The album will also arrive with physical copies which can be purchased on Usher’s online store. It can be purchased in standard CD and digital album formats, as well as double vinyl. The vinyl is priced at $32.99 and is available in a transparent hue on the star's official website.
Retailers, including Urban Outfitters, Amazon Music, Rough Trade, and Record Store Day, will offer vinyl options in various hues, each sold at a different price.
Usher's official website gives fans options to purchase Coming Home merch and album box sets. The box sets come in two variants: one bundles a hoodie and vinyl, while the other bundles a CD and t-shirt. While the first is priced at $90, the latter costs $50. Fans are also given the option to purchase the hoodie and t-shirt separately, for $60 and $30 respectively.
Coming Home was initially slated to be released on February 11, 2024, the same day he headlines the 2024 Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show. The album will now be released on February 9, 2024, two days before his major performance.
As mentioned earlier, Coming Home will include the smash hit Good Good produced by Mel & Mus. The song topped many radio formats like urban, and R&B, as well as Billboard charts, including the Adult R&B Airplay chart
The Summer Walker and 21 Savage collaboration has now spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Adult R&B Airplay chart. It has become Usher's second longest-running chart-topper, behind Here I Stand. The R&B star will host his release of Coming Home in collaboration with Larry Jackson's Gamma and L.A. Reid.
With three released singles from the upcoming album already pulling in major chart numbers, Usher is ready to deliver Coming Home to a very eager audience.
Usher's upcoming Superbowl performance comes after Rihanna's 2023 performance
The Grammy-winning R&B icon is set to perform at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024, marking the first time LA has hosted the big game.
The new year marks the fifth year of the partnership deal between the NFL and Roc Nation to produce the Halftime Show. The deal was struck between the two in 2019.
This partnership has resulted in halftime show performances from Shakira and Jennifer Lopez in 2020, and The Weeknd in 2021. It also included a hip-hop collective headlined by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar in 2022. In 2023, Rihanna headlined the show.
The 2024 show will be directed by Hamish Hamilton and produced by DPS and executive producers Roc Nation and Jesse Collins. The NFL, Apple Music, and Roc Nation announced the news on Sunday, September 24, 2023.
Jay-Z, founder of Roc Nation, supported the announcement stating Usher was the "ultimate artist and showman" who charted "his own unique course" since his debut when he was 15.
"Beyond his flawless singing and exceptional choreography, Usher bares his soul. His remarkable journey has propelled him to one of the grandest stages in the world. I can’t wait to see the magic." Jay-Z noted.
Seth Dudowsky, NFL Head of Music, also shared a positive take on the announcement calling Usher an icon. He added that the latter had left an "indelible mark" on the cultural landscape since he began his career.
"We couldn’t be more excited to have him headline this year’s Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show." Dudowsky added.
After the news of Usher headlining 2024's Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show was made public, the singer saw down with Apple Music 1's Zane Lowe. They discussed exclusive details about his upcoming performance and the new album.
Noting that it would be a "moment to remember," Usher explained what the performance at the 2024 Superbowl meant to him.
“This is the most grand stage to ever play on. Those 13 minutes mean everything. It’s been on my bucket list for a long time.” The singer added.
When Lowe asked what the album meant to him, the singer said it was a "long letter" to the legacy of his career.
"I've been coming home in a lot of different ways. The choice of music and reconnection to some of the people that I've worked with, from my past, and always wanted to work with." He told Lowe.
Usher dove deeper into the meaning of the album by defining his interpretation of what Coming Home, as an album, means to him.
"In a sense, I'm coming home because I'm in that comfortable space. When you're at home, you feel comfortable. When you're at home, you feel connected and inspired." He added.
Lowe pushed the interview deeper, questioning Usher on the level of honesty to expect from his upcoming record, comparing it to Confessions. Usher said that there was a lot of honesty in the album claiming that he wasn't going to lie to the interviewer.
"I'll leave it to the people who listen. If any indication of what we've done in the past, me and L.A., is a representation of what you should expect, then there you have it. But what you do know is we are coming together and I'm coming home. I'm back home with my team." He went on to say.
He closed out the discussion of his album stating when he put out more records and visuals, viewers will "begin to really understand it." He went on to say that the album was "something to be celebrated."
To Lowe's question on what the secret to Usher's success was, the star added:
"The secret to it? I don't know. I think I've just been happy. In my worst moments. I think that I've been grateful, to be fortunate enough, to just stay passionate. I think that's it.”
The singer closed out his statement noting that there was something about the journey that was about "never arriving."
"Its just really been about the journey. The journey is the destination. So for me, I guess that kept my energy up. It kept me excited about it." Usher added.
The singer's interview with Zane Lowe was well received with the star diving into his emotional state on being the Superbowl 2024 headliner.
Usher: Recapping the singer's rise to global stardom.
The singer's career trajectory has been quite strong since the release of his 1994 self-titled debut. During his 30-year career, the singer amassed 18 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Of those 18 hits, he has nine No. 1’s, with songs like Yeah! (featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris), My Boo (with Alicia Keys), OMG (featuring Will.i.am) and U Got It Bad,
Throughout that career, four of his albums have hit No. 1 on Billboard's 200 albums chart.
