NEWS

WIRES

OTHER

USHER Gives Surprise Performance at Super Bowl Halftime and Announces Second Leg of "OMG Tour"

The second North American leg, presented by AEG Live's Concerts West and Atlanta Worldwide Touring, will feature special guest Akon and includes concerts in Atlantic City, NJ; Chicago, IL; Cleveland, OH; Columbia, SC; Columbus, OH; Detroit, MI; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Los Angeles, CA; Minneapolis, MN; Omaha, NE; Orlando, FL; Pittsburgh, PA; Portland, OR; Sacramento, CA; San Jose, CA; Toronto, ON; Uniondale, NY; Vancouver, BC and more. Stay tuned for full tour itinerary to be announced this week. Visit Usherworld.com for more information.

Usher will resume his worldwide tour on February 15^th in Paris, followed by three nights at London's O2 Arena and shows throughout Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Since the launch of the "OMG Tour," Usher's signature brand of hit-filled R&B-infused pop has received rave reviews from fans and critics alike. Daily Variety stated that "he is a consummate professional, showing full mastery of both voice and body." Detroit News described the singer as "a born entertainer whose effortless moves on the stage never ceased to amaze," while the Chicago Tribune raved that "turning the arena into his own house of Usher, the singer celebrated his R&B dominance of the last 15 years." Newark's The Star-Ledger commented that "Usher, who seems to have spent most of his life at the top of the Billboard charts, danced straight through an explosive headline show," and the Washington Post reported that "he glided across the stage gracefully for nearly two hours of choreographed dance routines. He elicited constant shrieks and squeals from fans who packed every seat in the arena."

Grammy nominated international pop star AKON first rose to prominence in 2004 with his smash debut album Trouble. Since then he has sold over 10 million albums worldwide and has become one of the industry's most sought after songwriter/producer collaborating with megastars such as Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, R. Kelly, Gwen Stefani and Eminem. He is the first solo artist to hold both the number one and two spots simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100 charts-an achievement he attained twice. In 2007 alone, Akon won the American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R Male Artist; three World Music Awards in the categories of Best Selling R Male Artist, Best Selling African Artist and Best Selling Internet Artist; as well as the Billboard Music Award for Artist of the Year. Akon's global appeal continues to flourish and transcend cultural and geographical boundaries. His highly anticipated Stadium LP has been previewed with its first single "Angel", which debuted during his performance at Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and is set for early summer release.

The "OMG Tour" comes hot on the heels of Usher's pop chart smash, "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love," from his recent release Versus, an extension of his platinum sixth studio album, Raymond V. Raymond. The record debuted at No.1 on the Pop and R&B albums charts, and spawned five hit singles including "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)," "Lil Freak" featuring Nicki Minaj, "There Goes My Baby" and "OMG" featuring will.i.am. Usher will preview his upcoming tour dates with a performance at the 53^rd Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 13^th, 2011. For updated tour information and news, visit Usherworld.com and www.myspace.com/Usher.

For AEG Live:
Scoop Marketing
Eve Samuels, 213-639-6166
esamuels@solters.com
or
For Usher:
Jive Label Group
Wendy Washington, 212-833-6886
Wendy.washington@sonymusic.com
or
For Akon:
EJ Media Group
Jaime Cassavechia, 212-518-4771 ext. 108
jaime@ejmediagroup.com
or
For Akon:
Universal Motown
Phylicia Fant, 212-841-8640
phylicia.fant@umusic.com