Photo by Kevin Mazur and by Ezra Shaw/Getty
Lil Jon has confirmed that Justin Bieber was initially approached to perform alongside Usher at his Super Bowl Halftime Show performance.
But the Biebs appeared to have changed his mind at the last minute.
For those who don’t know, Usher played a HUGE role in the success of Bieber’s early career. In 2008, Usher helped Justin secure his first record deal with Def Jam and his RBMG label at just 13 years old.
But the relationship is understood to be deeper than just business. Usher has also been a mentor figure in Bieber’s life since he stepped foot in the music industry.
So when the time came to flex his three-decade-long catalog at the Super Bowl, the singer tapped his mentee. But in an interview with TMZ Live on Wednesday (February 14), Lil Jon revealed that Justin “wasn’t really ready” to perform with Usher.
Jon continued by asserting that Bieber had said he was “thinking about” the idea. But it became apparent he had made his decision when he didn’t show up to rehearsals.
“I don’t know if he was ready to have that undertaking,” the producer said.
“We wanted to put Justin in the show, so we had the idea of doing a version of the show with Justin in it.” He added, “But I think Justin just wasn’t really ready. That’s a lot of rehearsal, a lot of responsibility, a lot of time, and a lot of eyeballs. I don’t know if he was ready to do all of that, you know?”
Watch Lil Jon’s comments below.
While Bieber didn’t perform with Usher, he showed his support by attending the game at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
His wife, Hailey Bieber, joined him as they sat alongside the Kardashians in their own seating box, per the Daily Mail.
Then, on Monday (February 12), the ‘Peaches’ hitmaker congratulated Usher, taking to Instagram to shower him with praise for his Super Bowl performance.
He shared a photo of Usher and added the caption:
“LOVE YOU MY BROTHER. NO ONE CAN SING AND DANCE THE WAY YOU DO. LOVE YOU FROM THE DEPTHS OF MY HEART. BROUGHT THE “A” TO THE WORLD, ONLY YOU BABYYYYYY.”
Roomies, would y’all have enjoyed seeing Justin join Usher on stage?
