Usher Talks Studying Music’s Legends and the Power of R&B

Usher is reflecting on legacy and lineage. The superstar sat down for the 2025 Billboard Live Music Summit on Monday, Nov. 3, and reflected on his touring career. While looking back at his decades onstage, he shared that he wants the audience to have a memorable experience every time they see him perform. 

“I want to impress them,” Usher explained. “I would like to be as theatrical and use my imagination as much as I possibly can to lift the song higher than what it was when I delivered it as a piece of intellectual property.”

Like many artists, Usher began his career as an opener; for Diddy‘s 1997 No Way Out Tour, Mary J. Blige‘s 1997-98 Share My World Tour and Janet Jackson‘s 1998-99 The Velvet Rope Tour. He now says it was the best training for becoming a headliner himself. 

“I had another notch on my belt in terms of what I was capable of being able to handle, so that when I went to try to headline my own tours, we knew that we had the ability to hold a crowd,” he explained.

Usher told the audience that Diddy told Usher he wanted him to come out during his headlining set, as Usher’s “You Make Me Wanna” was becoming a smash hit. But Usher recalled declining. 

“‘Nah, I’m cool,’” he remembered saying. “‘I’m gonna stay right where I’m at because I wanna earn my keep. I’m here for a reason. I want to someday be where you are.’”

Also in his talk, Usher acknowledged that studying legends helped shape him into the artist he is. 

“I’m an artist who was inspired by the legends. If I study the legends, then hopefully one day, I will be one,” he said, adding that he would cover songs by Bobby Brown, Babyface and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis because he didn’t have enough of his own hits at the time. 

He also hinted at a new project while advocating for the viability of R&B.

“I’m in the midst of working on something that may shine a light on a very specific period of my life and around performance. Just stay tuned. There is true value in live,” he said. 

He argued that there’s also true value in R&B. 

“I want people to continue to celebrate the music and legacy that is the foundation that I am. It comes from soul music, it comes from the South. It comes from a very wide collective of being exposed to many different artists from many different genres, but most importantly, R&B.”