Transposing steamy diary entries into both heartrending and jaw-dropping lyrics, Usher’s 2004 Confessions album skyrocketed him across the charts as the lover boy we’ve all dated (or wanted to date) and largely birthed his legacy as the R&B blueprint for acts to come. Lining up four No. 1 hits with “Confessions,” “Yeah!” “Burn,” and “Confessions Part II,” the candidly honest album scaled the industry’s ranks as one of the most bestselling projects of all time — remarkably selling over a million copies in the first week at a time where illegal file-sharing rocked the industry and left record labels and musicians scrambling. Seventeen years and much anticipation later, Usher is finally giving us the sequel to his sensational heyday.
“I’m ready to drop my album,” the 42-year-old said to the Associated Press on Thursday at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. Mentioning that he spent most of pandemic lockdown recording new music, he continued, “If this is an exclusive, I’m letting you know that the album is officially coming this year. But before it does, I’ll see you guys at my Vegas residency.” The last we’ve heard of the eight-time Grammy award-winning singer was in 2019 when he teased a snippet of his new music during a recording session with producer Jermaine Dupri, who worked heavily on the seminal project. He admits that the pandemic postponed his plans to start his residency and subsequently release his sequel album.
The residency, which he headlines at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in July, will hold fans over until the album arrives. “This couldn’t have come at a better time — to be able to bring people from all over the world to Las Vegas to come see me at The Colosseum is really a treat for me and hopefully, you know, just for everybody to celebrate. It’s been a really, really tough few seasons, but this will definitely be the hottest summer of all,” he said of gearing up for performance.
