As you’ll probably know, it’s been a while since we’ve seen Justin take to the stage after he was forced to step back from performing in 2022 due to health concerns.
In June 2022, he was diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which caused temporary paralysis in half of his face. As a result, he had to cancel the remainder of his Justice world tour, telling fans: “I wish this wasn’t the case but obviously my body is telling me I gotta slow down.”
Since then, he appears to have done just that. His public appearances have been very low-key, and he’s performed live very few times since — most recently during a surprise appearance alongside Don Toliver at Rolling Loud festival in March 2023.
And now, nearly three years since the release of his last solo album, it seems Justin might finally be teasing his long-awaited comeback.
On Jan. 7, the singer kicked off 2024 with a carousel of images on Instagram, starting off with a photo of himself sitting in front of what appears to be a makeshift studio setup with a guitar and keyboard.
“Excited for this next year,” he wrote in the caption. “New beginnings.”
And if that wasn’t enough to excite fans, he has continued to hint that new music — or even a performance — could be on the horizon.
Last week, the soon-to-be-30-year-old shared a batch of pictures of himself singing into a microphone and seemingly rehearsing with a band. Notably, he captioned the post with a cryptic shushing emoji.
A day later, he came back with another series of images that were seemingly taken in the same location, but on a different occasion. Like the first batch of photos, the post showed him singing with his band with large speakers, indicating that he might be rehearsing for a performance.
Inevitably, it wasn’t long before the comments section started filling up with excited chatter from fans, with many wondering if he might be “activating” ahead of a potential performance… at the Super Bowl.
Now, if this sounds a little random to you, allow me to explain.
This year’s Super Bowl — taking place in Las Vegas on Feb. 11 — will feature a halftime show from Usher. And as you may know, Usher, along with Scooter Braun, has been credited for making JB the superstar that he is today.
After a chance meeting in 2009, Usher mentored Justin throughout his early career, and even appeared in the music video for his first ever single, “One Time.”
Since then, the pair have maintained a strong relationship, which has also brought us a number of pretty beloved musical collaborations — namely, the “Somebody To Love Remix”, which was released in 2010 alongside a now-iconic music video.
Usually, the Super Bowl halftime performer brings out a guest or two, so when it was announced that Usher would be headlining last year, it was only a matter of weeks before reports surfaced that he was desperately trying to recruit his former protégé for a surprise cameo.
“Usher has been doing his residency in Vegas and has most of his ideas ready for his big halftime show performance,” a source told the Mail Online in October. “He has asked some of his friends who are artists to help him out and join him on stage, and he has thrown a few ideas towards Justin.”
At the time, insiders attempted to quiet speculation by suggesting that an appearance from Justin was fairly unlikely, alleging that he’d “rather have the opportunity to do the Super Bowl on his own in the future if he were to be asked.”
In fact, some think that Usher might be hinting at this possibility too, with many noticing the use of peach imagery on his Instagram page, which — other than a link to his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia — could be a reference to his remix of Justin’s hit song, “Peaches.”
To add some weight to this theory, it also looked like Justin was rehearsing “Peaches” in the photographs he posted to Instagram based on one picture where the lyrics to the first verse are partly visible in the corner.
Needless to say, this is all based on speculation, and either way, it sounds like we’ve still got a lot to look forward to from both Usher and Justin — whether that’s together or not, we’ll have to wait and see.
