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He’s certainly very wealthy, but Usher’s net worth took a hit a few years ago after a lawsuit filed by a woman he’d slept with. The legendary R&B artist has been the subject of multiple legal filings over the years, wherein people claim that he transmitted herpes to them without their knowledge. Eeek.
Usher Raymond IV was born on October 14, 1978. He first released his self-titled debut album in 1994 at the age of sixteen and rose to fame in the late 1990s following the release of his second album, My Way. Confessions, released in 2004, established Usher as one of the best-selling musical artists of the 2000s. He earned four consecutive Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles with “Yeah!” (featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris), “Burn”, “Confessions Part II”, and “My Boo” (with Alicia Keys)— and “Caught Up” made top 10.
“Usher is one of the greatest performers alive, and his music has touched so many of us around the world,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats. “We couldn’t be more excited to have him on board for the second Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show and offer fans so many fun ways to celebrate this iconic moment in his career.”
“Music has always been the best way to set a mood, explain an emotion, or define different moments in time,” Usher told Apple Music. He’s a talented artist no doubt, and Usher’s net worth reflects that. Read on to find out more about these messy lawsuits and how much he got paid for the 2024 Super Bowl Halftime show.
Usher's net worth
Usher’s net worth is around $180 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, making him one of the richest R&B artists of all time.
Usher’s debut album sold 500,000 copies before he even finished high school and his successes only climbed from there. His mega-hit album Confessions achieved Diamond status, which means more than 10 million copies were sold.
But he’s done meaningful work spreading his wealth around. In 1999, he founded the non-profit New Look, which “transforms the lives of under-resourced youth through a comprehensive program which develops passion-driven, global leaders,” according to its website. “Founded in 1999 by Usher Raymond IV and his mother Jonetta Patton, who were inspired after witnessing the dire narratives of Atlanta teens in a courtroom. As a result, UNL was created to tackle systemic barriers that prevent teens from graduating from high school and college.”
He was awarded the Freedom Award for New Look by the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis which recognizes people who have “worked tirelessly for justice, equality, civil and human rights.”
After the disaster of Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans in 2005, Usher launched Project Restart to help more than 700 families with finding or rebuilding housing. Because of his monumental contribution, Usher was given the key to the city of New Orleans in 2008 and the mayor of the city proclaimed a day in his honor, Usher Day.
But as we mentioned, Usher’s net worth took a considerable hit in the past few years, dropping $20M from 2020 to 2023. More on that below.
Usher's lawsuits
In 2017, a lawsuit was filed against Usher by Jane Doe, who accused the rapper of allegedly exposing her to the herpes virus during an unprotected sexual encounter.She initially sued him for $10 million, claiming that Usher didn’t tell her about his condition before engaging in sex. Later, she raised the figure to $20 million, citing emotional harm and punitive damages.
As TMZ reported two years later, the case was dismissed because she and Usher had “reached an amicable resolution.” The tabloid asked Usher and her team what the settlement had cost him, but “they would only repeat that word … ‘amicable.’ The dismissal was filed with prejudice … meaning it can’t be refiled, and that’s typically done when there’s been a financial settlement,” TMZ wrote.
How much does Usher get paid for the Super Bowl Halftime show?
It was previously reported that Super Bowl Halftime performers do not get paid. However, NFL’s vice president of communications, Brian McCarthy, clarified to Newsweek, “The NFL covers all costs associated with the show and does pay the performers’ union scale. There is not an appearance fee, but the artists are indeed paid union scale.” The union scale is the minimum amount that bosses have to pay performers. It’s estimated that it’s “a fraction of the six- and seven-figure sums” the artists typically earn, according to Forbes.
According to National Football League spokesperson Joanna Hunter, Super Bowl Halftime Show performers aren’t paid but the NFL does cover the expenses for their performance. “We do not pay the artists,” Hunter toldForbesin 2016. “We cover expenses and production costs.” However, there is a limit to how much the NFL will pay. The Weeknd’s manager Wassim “Sal” Slaiby toldBillboardin 2021 that the “Starboy” singer contributed $7 million of his own money to“make this halftime show be what he envisioned” when he performed at the Super Bowl LV.
Though USher may be being paid little for his performance, his music sales are about the explode. In data compiled by Forbes, 2023 Super Bowl performer Rihanna’s digital album sales climbed by 301%, while digital song sales surged by 390 percent. Though Rhianna didn’t have any new songs to promote, Usher released his latest album COMING HOME on February 9, a couple of days before the big Super Bowl performance.
