Yolanda Adams, a four-time GRAMMY-winning gospel icon, officially opened Super Bowl 2020 today (Sunday, Feb. 2) with a beautiful performance of "America The Beautiful." 

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For her rendition of the patriotic song, Adams invited The Children’s Voice Chorus, a local youth vocal group from Miami, where the Super Bowl is taking place this year.  

Read: Watch Jennifer Lopez And Shakira Deliver Dazzling Halftime Show At Super Bowl 202

Adams' Super Bowl performance is the latest in a busy year for the singer. Last month, she was nominated at the 62nd GRAMMY Awards in the Best Gospel Performance/Song category for her performance on "Talkin' 'Bout Jesus," a featured track on Gloria Gaynor's 2019 GRAMMY-winning album, Testimony.

Other musical highlights from Super Bowl 2020 included a dazzling, star-studded halftime show from Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, which featured surprise performances from Bad Bunny and J Balvin, plus a powerful rendition of the U.S. national anthem from Demi Lovato.

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In the pantheon of rock guitar gods, Slash ranks high on the list of legends. Many fans have passionately discussed his work — but if you ask him how he views his evolution over the last four decades, he doesn't offer a detailed analysis.

"As a person, I live very much in the moment, not too far in the past and not very far in the future either," Slash asserts. "So it's hard for me to really look at everything I'm doing in the bigger scheme of things."

While his latest endeavor — his new studio album, Orgy Of The Damned — may seem different to many who know him as the shredding guitarist in Guns N' Roses, Slash's Snakepit, Velvet Revolver, and his four albums with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, it's a prime example of his living-in-the-moment ethos. And, perhaps most importantly to Slash, it goes back to what has always been at the heart of his playing: the blues.

Orgy Of The Damned strips back much of the heavier side of his playing for a 12-track homage to the songs and artists that have long inspired him. And he recruited several of his rock cohorts — the likes of AC/DC's Brian Johnson, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Gary Clark Jr., Iggy Pop, Beth Hart, and Dorothy, among others — to jam on vintage blues tunes with him, from "Hoochie Coochie Man" to "Born Under A Bad Sign."

But don't be skeptical of his current venture — there's plenty of fire in these interpretations; they just have a different energy than his harder rocking material. The album also includes one new Slash original, the majestic instrumental "Metal Chestnut," a nice showcase for his tastefully melodic and expressive playing.

The initial seed for the project was planted with the guitarist's late '90s group Slash's Blues Ball, which jammed on genre classics. Those live, spontaneous collaborations appealed to him, so when he had a small open window to get something done recently, he jumped at the chance to finally make a full-on blues album.

Released May 17, Orgy Of The Damned serves as an authentic bridge from his musical roots to his many hard rock endeavors. It also sees a full-circle moment: two Blues Ball bandmates, bassist Johnny Griparic and keyboardist Teddy Andreadis, helped lay down the basic tracks. Further seizing on his blues exploration, Slash will be headlining his own touring blues festival called S.E.R.P.E.N.T. in July and August, with support acts including the Warren Haynes Band, Keb' Mo', ZZ Ward, and Eric Gales.

Part of what has kept Slash's career so intriguing is the diversity he embraces. While many heavy rockers stay in their lane, Slash has always traveled down other roads. And though most of his Orgy Of The Damned guests are more in his world, he's collaborated with the likes of Michael Jackson, Carole King and Ray Charles — further proof that he's one of rock's genre-bending greats.

Below, Slash discusses some of the most memorable collabs from Orgy Of The Damned, as well as from his wide-spanning career.

I was just listening to "Living For The City," which is my favorite track on the album.

Wow, that's awesome. That was the track that I knew was going to be the most left of center for the average person, but that was my favorite song when [Stevie Wonder's 1973 album] Innervisions came out when I was, like, 9 years old. I loved that song. This record's origins go back to a blues band that I put together back in the '90s.

Slash's Blues Ball.

Right. We used to play "Superstition," that Stevie Wonder song. I did not want to record that [for Orgy Of The Damned], but I still wanted to do a Stevie Wonder song. So it gave me the opportunity to do "Living For The City," which is probably the most complicated of all the songs to learn. I thought we did a pretty good job, and Tash [Neal] sang it great. I'm glad you dig it because you're probably the first person that's actually singled that song out.

With the Blues Ball, you performed Hoyt Axton's "The Pusher" and Robert Johnson's "Crossroads," and they surface here. Isn't it amazing it took this long to record a collection like this?

[Blues Ball] was a fun thrown-together thing that we did when I [was in, I] guess you call it, a transitional period. I'd left Guns N' Roses [in 1996], and it was right before I put together a second incarnation of Snakepit.

I'd been doing a lot of jamming with a lot of blues guys. I'd known Teddy [Andreadis] for a while and been jamming with him at The Baked Potato for years prior to this. So during this period, I got together with Ted and Johnny [Griparic], and we started with this Blues Ball thing. We started touring around the country with it, and then even made it to Europe. It was just fun.

Then Snakepit happened, and then Velvet Revolver. These were more or less serious bands that I was involved in. Blues Ball was really just for the fun of it, so it didn't really take precedence. But all these years later, I was on tour with Guns N' Roses, and we had a three-week break or whatever it was. I thought, I want to make that f—ing record now.

It had been stewing in the back of my mind subconsciously. So I called Teddy and Johnny, and I said, Hey, let's go in the studio and just put together a set and go and record it. We got an old set list from 1998, picked some songs from an app, picked some other songs that I've always wanted to do that I haven't gotten a chance to do.

Then I had the idea of getting Tash Neal involved, because this guy is just an amazing singer/guitar player that I had worked with in a blues thing a couple years prior to that. So we had the nucleus of this band.

Then I thought, Let's bring in a bunch of guest singers to do this. I don't want to try to do a traditional blues record, because I think that's going to just sound corny. So I definitely wanted this to be more eclectic than that, and more of, like, Slash's take on these certain songs, as opposed to it being, like, "blues." It was very off-the-cuff and very loose.

It's refreshing to hear Brian Johnson singing in his lower register on "Killing Floor" like he did in the '70s with Geordie, before he got into AC/DC. Were you expecting him to sound like that?

You know, I didn't know what he was gonna sing it like. He was so enthusiastic about doing a Howlin' Wolf cover.

I think he was one of the first calls that I made, and it was really encouraging the way that he reacted to the idea of the song. So I went to a studio in Florida. We'd already recorded all the music, and he just fell into it in that register.

I think he was more or less trying to keep it in the same feel and in the same sort of tone as the original, which was great. I always say this — because it happened for like two seconds, he sang a bit in the upper register — but it definitely sounded like AC/DC doing a cover of Howlin' Wolf. We're not AC/DC, but he felt more comfortable doing it in the register that Howlin' Wolf did. I just thought it sounded really great.

You chose to have Demi Lovato sing "Papa Was A Rolling Stone." Why did you pick her?

We used to do "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" back in Snakepit, actually, and Johnny played bass. We had this guy named Rod Jackson, who was the singer, and he was incredible. He did a great f—ing interpretation of the Temptations singing it.

When it came to doing it for this record, I wanted to have something different, and the idea of having a young girl's voice telling the story of talking to her mom to find out about her infamous late father, just made sense to me. And Demi was the first person that I thought of. She's got such a great, soulful voice, but it's also got a certain kind of youth to it.

When I told her about it, she reacted like Brian did: "Wow, I would love to do that." There's some deeper meaning about the song to her and her personal life or her experience. We went to the studio, and she just belted it out. It was a lot of fun to do it with her, with that kind of zeal.

You collaborate with Chris Stapleton on Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well" by Peter Green. I'm assuming the original version of that song inspired "Double Talkin' Jive" by GN'R?

It did not, but now that you mention it, because of the classical interlude thing at the end... Is that what you're talking about? I never thought about it.

I mean the overall vibe of the song.

"Oh Well" was a song that I didn't hear until I was about 12 years old. It was on KMET, a local radio station in LA. I didn't even know there was a Fleetwood Mac before Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. I always loved that song, and I think it probably had a big influence on me without me even really realizing it. So no, it didn't have a direct influence on "Double Talkin' Jive," but I get it now that you bring it up.

Was there something new that you learned in making this album? Were your collaborators surprised by their own performances?

I think Gary Clark is just this really f—ing wonderful guitar player. When I got "Crossroads," the idea originally was "Crossroads Blues," which is the original Robert Johnson version. And I called Gary and said, "Would you want to play with me on this thing?"

He and I only just met, so I didn't know what his response was going to be. But apparently, he was a big Guns N' Roses fan — I get the idea, anyway. We changed it to the Cream version just because I needed to have something that was a little bit more upbeat. So when we got together and played, we solo-ed it off each other.

When I listen back to it, his playing is just so f—ing smooth, natural, and tasty. There was a lot of that going on throughout the making of the whole record — acclimating to the song and to the feel of it, just in the moment.

I think that's all an accumulation of stuff that I've learned over the years. The record probably would be way different if I did it 20 years ago, so I don't know what that evolution is. But it does exist. The growth thing — God help us if you don't have it.

You've collaborated with a lot of people over the years — Michael Jackson, Carole King, Lemmy, B.B. King, Fergie. Were there any particular moments that were daunting or really challenging? And was there any collaboration that produced something you didn't expect?

All those are a great example of the growth thing, because that's how you really grow as a musician. Learning how to adapt to playing with other people, and playing with people who are better than you — that really helps you blossom as a player.

Playing with Carole King [in 1993] was a really educational experience because she taught me a lot about something that I thought that I did naturally, but she helped me to fine tune it, which was soloing within the context of the song. [It was] really just a couple of words that she said to me during this take that stuck with me. I can't remember exactly what they were, but it was something having to do with making room for the vocal. It was really in passing, but it was important knowledge.

The session that really was the hardest one that I ever did was [when] I was working with Ray Charles before he passed away. I played on his "God Bless America [Again]" record [on 2002's Ray Charles Sings for America], just doing my thing. It was no big deal. But he asked me to play some standards for the biopic on him [2004's Ray], and he thought that I could just sit in with his band playing all these Ray Charles standards.

That was something that they gave me the chord charts for, and it was over my head. It was all these chord changes. I wasn't familiar with the music, and most of it was either a jazz or bebop kind of a thing, and it wasn't my natural feel.

I remember taking the chord charts home, those kinds you get in a f—ing songbook. They're all kinds of versions of chords that wouldn't be the version that you would play.

That was one of those really tough sessions that I really learned when I got in over my head with something. But a lot of the other ones I fall into more naturally because I have a feel for it.

That's how those marriages happen in the first place — you have this common interest of a song, so you just feel comfortable doing it because it's in your wheelhouse, even though it's a different kind of music than what everybody's familiar with you doing. You find that you can play and be yourself in a lot of different styles. Some are a little bit challenging, but it's fun.

Are there any people you'd like to collaborate with? Or any styles of music you'd like to explore?

When you say styles, I don't really have a wish list for that. Things just happen. I was just working with this composer, Bear McCreary. We did a song on this epic record that's basically a soundtrack for this whole graphic novel thing, and the compositions are very intense. He's very particular about feel, and about the way each one of these parts has to be played, and so on. That was a little bit challenging. We're going to go do it live at some point coming up.

There's people that I would love to play with, but it's really not like that. It's just whatever opportunities present themselves. It's not like there's a lot of forethought as to who you get to play with, or seeking people out. Except for when you're doing a record where you have people come in and sing on your record, and you have to call them up and beg and plead — "Will you come and do this?"

But I always say Stevie Wonder. I think everybody would like to play with Stevie Wonder at some point.

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"...and you're watching Disney Channel!" For anyone who grew up in the 2000s, those five words likely trigger some pretty vivid imagery: a glowing neon wand, an outline of Mickey Mouse's ears, and every Disney star from Hilary Duff to the Jonas Brothers. 

Nearly 20 years later, many of those child stars remain instantly recognizable — and often mononymous — to the millions of fans who grew up with them: Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato. Nick, Kevin and Joe. 

Each of those names has equally memorable music attached to it — tunes that often wrap any given millennial in a blanket of nostalgia for a time that was, for better or for worse, "So Yesterday." And all of those hits, and the careers that go with them, have the same starting point in Hollywood Records, Disney Music Group's pop-oriented record label.

This time in Disney's history — the core of which can be traced from roughly 2003 to 2010 — was impactful on multiple fronts. With its music-oriented programming and multi-platform marketing strategies, the network launched a procession of teen idols whose music would come to define the soundtrack to millennials' lives, simultaneously breaking records with its Disney Channel Original Movies, TV shows and soundtracks.

Now, two decades later, Disney Music Group launched the Disney 2000s campaign, honoring the pivotal, star-making era that gave fans a generation of unforgettable pop music. The campaign will last through August and lead directly into D23 2024: The Ultimate Fan Event with special vinyl releases of landmark LPs and nostalgic social media activations occurring all summer long. April's campaign activation was Disney 2000s Weekend at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, which featured special screenings of 2008's Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert and 2009's Hannah Montana: The Movie and Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience.

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But before Miley and the JoBros, Hollywood Records' formula for creating relatable (and bankable) teen pop stars began with just one name: Hilary Duff. At the time, the bubbly blonde girl next door was essentially the face of the network thanks to her starring role in "Lizzie McGuire," and she'd just made the leap to the big screen in the summer of 2003 with The Lizzie McGuire Movie. In her years with Disney, Duff had dabbled in recording songs for Radio Disney, and even released a Christmas album under Buena Vista Records. However, her first album with Hollywood Records had the potential to catapult her from charming tween ingénue to bonafide teen pop star — and that's exactly what it did.

Released on August 26, 2003, Duff's Metamorphosis sold more than 200,000 copies in its first week and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The following week, the bubblegum studio set performed the rare feat of rising from No. 2 to No. 1, making the then-16-year-old Duff the first solo artist under 18 to earn a No. 1 album since Britney Spears.

The album's immediate success was no fluke: Within a matter of months, Metamorphosis had sold 2.6 million copies. Music videos for its radio-friendly singles "So Yesterday" and "Come Clean" received constant airplay between programming on the Disney Channel. (The latter was eventually licensed as the theme song for MTV's pioneering teen reality series "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County," giving it an additional boost as a cultural touchstone of the early '00s.) A 33-date North American tour soon followed, and Hollywood Records officially had a sensation on their hands. 

Naturally, the label went to work replicating Duff's recipe for success, and even looked outside the pool of Disney Channel stars to develop new talent. Another early signee was Jesse McCartney. With a soulful croon and blonde mop, the former Dream Street member notched the label another big win with his 2004 breakout hit "Beautiful Soul."

"When 'Beautiful Soul' became the label's first No. 1 hit at radio, I think that's when they really knew they had something," McCartney tells GRAMMY.com. "Miley [Cyrus] and the Jonas Brothers were signed shortly after that success and the rest is history.

"The thing that Disney really excelled at was using the synergy of the channel with promoting songs at pop," he continues. "I did appearances on 'Hannah Montana' and 'The Suite Life of Zack & Cody' and my music videos were pushed to Disney Channel. The marketing was incredibly brilliant and I don't think there has been anything as connected with an entire generation like that since then."

By 2006, Disney had nearly perfected its synergistic formula, continually launching wildly popular tentpole franchises like High School Musical and The Cheetah Girls, and then giving stars like Vanessa Hudgens and Corbin Bleu recording contracts of their own. (Curiously, the pair's HSM co-star Ashley Tisdale was never signed to Hollywood Records, instead releasing her first two solo albums with Warner.) 

Aly Michalka showed off her vocal chops as sunny girl next door Keely Teslow on "Phil of the Future," and fans could find her off-screen as one half of sibling duo Aly & AJ. In between their 2005 debut album Into the Rush and its electro-pop-charged follow-up, 2007's Insomniatic, Aly and her equally talented younger sister, AJ, also headlined their own Disney Channel Original Movie, Cow Belles. (Duff also helped trailblaze this strategy with her own early DCOM, the ever-charming Cadet Kelly, in 2002, while she was simultaneously starring in "Lizzie McGuire.")

Even after years of proven success, the next class of stars became Disney's biggest and brightest, with Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers all joining the network — and record label — around the same time. "Hannah Montana" found Cyrus playing a spunky middle schooler by day and world-famous pop star by night, and the network leveraged the sitcom's conceit to give the Tennessee native (and daughter of '90s country heartthrob Billy Ray Cyrus) the best of both worlds. 

After establishing Hannah as a persona, the series' sophomore soundtrack introduced Miley as a pop star in her own right thanks to a clever double album that was one-half Hannah's music and one-half Miley's. It's literally there in the title: Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus.

From there, Cyrus' stardom took off like a rocket as she scored back-to-back No.1 albums and a parade of Top 10 hits like "See You Again," "7 Things," "The Climb," "Can't Be Tamed," and the ever-so-timeless anthem "Party in the U.S.A."

At the same time, Gomez had top billing on her own Disney Channel series, the magical (but less musical) "Wizards of Waverly Place." That hardly stopped her from launching her own music career, though, first by fronting Selena Gomez & the Scene from 2008 to 2012, then eventually going solo with the release of 2013's Stars Dance after the "Wizards" finale aired.

For her part, Lovato — Gomez's childhood bestie and "Barney & Friends" costar — got her big break playing Mitchie Torres in Camp Rock alongside the Jonas Brothers as fictional boy band Connect 3, led by Joe Jonas as the swaggering and floppy-haired Shane Gray. Much like Duff had five years prior in the wake of The Lizzie McGuire Movie, Lovato released her debut solo album, 2008's Don't Forget, just three months after her DCOM broke records for the Disney Channel. 

Building off their chemistry from the movie musical, nearly the entirety of Don't Forget was co-written with the Jonas Brothers, who released two of their own albums on Hollywood Records — 2007's Jonas Brothers and 2008's A Little Bit Longer — before getting their own short-lived, goofily meta Disney series, "Jonas," which wrapped weeks after the inevitable Camp Rock sequel arrived in September 2010.

As the 2000s gave way to the 2010s, the Disney machine began slowing down as its cavalcade of stars graduated to more grown-up acting roles, music and careers. But from Duff's Metamorphosis through Lovato's 2017 LP, Tell Me You Love Me, Hollywood Records caught lightning in a bottle again and again and again, giving millennials an entire generation of talent that has carried them through adulthood and into the 2020s.

To commemorate the Disney 2000s campaign, GRAMMY.com crafted a playlist to look back on Disney's golden age of pop with favorite tracks from Hilary Duff, Vanessa Hudgens, the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and more. Listen and reminisce below.

With eight GRAMMYs, over 65 million albums sold, and nine Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s, Usher is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars of his generation. And 20 years after his diamond-certified magnum opus, 2004's Confessions, the 45-year-old triple threat is reminding fans and critics alike that he's still got it.

In the midst of his highly successful (and twice-extended) Las Vegas residency, Usher was announced as the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show headliner, coinciding with the Feb. 9 release of Coming Home — his first solo studio album in eight years. On paper, Usher is the perfect halftime performer that checks all the boxes: the voice, the choreography, the stamina, the hits, the charm. If his electrifying appearance alongside the Black Eyed Peas' 2011 performance is any indication of how Feb. 11 will go, it's bound to be one for the books. 

Super Bowl halftime shows usually last around 13 minutes, but for an artist of Usher's caliber, the high-stakes performance is over 30 years in the making. In 1991, a 13-year-old Usher appeared on Star Search, which led to an audition with LaFace Records. While singing Boyz II Men's "End of the Road," he displayed his knack for captivating an audience even way back then, before appearing on the soundtrack for the 1993 film Poetic Justice starring Janet Jackson and Tupac. 

His debut single, "Call Me a Mack," mostly flew under the radar at the time, though his star power gleamed in the accompanying video. In the decades since, Usher's eight albums and 16 No. 1 hits on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart have helped him earn the unofficial title of "The King of R&B," paving the way for other household names like Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Ne-Yo, and protégé Justin Bieber.

Though the aptly titled Coming Home marks his first solo album since 2016's Hard II Love, he's continued to whet fans' appetite with several one-off singles, including "Bad Habits" and "Glu." For the lead single from Coming Home, "Good Good," he recruited Summer Walker and 21 Savage, signaling a new chapter for the music veteran. Following his announcement, Usher described the forthcoming LP as a body of work that not only honors his legacy, but tells "a story that is open to interpretation and that will connect with people in different ways."

As the world awaits Usher's Super Bowl halftime show and new music, GRAMMY.com is revisiting 15 songs that made him a force to be reckoned with in entertainment.

"You Make Me Wanna," My Way (1997)

Three years after his 1994 self-titled debut album failed to garner much attention, Usher crashed the second half of the decade with his breakout hit "You Make Me Wanna." Inspired by the then 19-year-old's real-life experiences of juggling multiple women, he sings frankly about being stuck in a love triangle: "You make me wanna leave the one I'm with/ Start a new relationship wit' you."

Peaking at No. 2 on the Hot 100, "You Make Me Wanna" set Usher's career ablaze as the lead single off 1997's seven-time-platinum My Way album — helping him stand out among a sea of fellow R&B newcomers, including Joe and Ginuwine.

In 1998, the success of "You Make Me Wanna" also earned Usher his first-ever GRAMMY nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. That same year, he was chosen as Janet Jackson's opening act for the U.S. leg of her Velvet Rope Tour, setting a precedent for the show-stopping performances he's since become known for.

"Nice & Slow," My Way (1997)

So many of Usher's best songs focus on the art of lovemaking, but "Nice & Slow" is notable as his first No. 1 on the Hot 100 — and for cementing his sex symbol status.

Only 20 years young at the time, Usher delivers suggestive lyrics (e.g., "I got plans to put my hands in places/ I never seen, girl you know what I mean") with such bravado that it's easy to mistake the then-budding entertainer for someone twice his age.

Moments before laying down the sensual track, producer Jermaine Dupri set out to create a "ballad that's gonna knock out the world," he said in 2003's The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. Over 25 years later, "Nice & Slow" is still quintessential Usher, as it gave way to a long string of slow jams like "Do It To Me" and "Climax" that make the ladies swoon.

"Bedtime," My Way (1997)

Around the release of Confessions, Usher declared himself a "sexaholic" (which he later refuted). But the hearthrob's sexual appetite first appeared on his album My Way, as evidenced by one of the LP's closing tracks, "Bedtime." In the opening line, he sings, "Craving your body all through the night/ Feels like I'm going through withdrawals."

Penned by R&B mastermind Babyface, the number is structured a little bit like a lullaby but isn't as captivating as "Nice & Slow." Still, it earns a spot on this list for being one of the very first in his catalog to ooze grown and sexy vibes.

"U Remind Me," 8701 (2001)

Kicking off his now-iconic 8701 era, "U Remind Me" follows Usher as he falls for a girl who resembles his ex, but ultimately decides against dating her for that very reason.

Produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, "U Remind Me" shares similarities to "You Make Me Wanna" as both songs center around inner conflict, but the most noticeable difference is the vocal delivery. His runs and ad-libs carry more weight in "U Remind Me," which also charted higher internationally. According to what Jimmy Jam told MTV at the time, the goal was for "people to hear Usher sing and go, 'This boy can sing. He's a singer.'" 

Becoming his second No. 1, "U Remind Me" paid off critically for him as well, earning the child prodigy his first GRAMMY for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 2002.

"U Got It Bad," 8701 (2001)

After "U Remind Me," Usher slowed things down with his third chart-topper, "U Got It Bad," which is believed to be about then-girlfriend, Rozanda "Chilli" Thomas of best-selling female group TLC, who also stars in the accompanying video.

Interpolating Prince's "Adore" and Maxwell's "Fortunate" from 1987 and 1999, respectively, "U Got It Bad" finds Usher struggling to accept that he's fallen deep for someone, a slow-burning feeling intensified by a guitar solo that soars midway through. The smoldering track showcased that he was a fully developed star capable of conveying emotion in addition to crafting tunes that fill the dance floor.

"Yeah!" feat. Lil Jon and Ludacris, Confessions (2004)

Usher was at his commercial peak when he tried his hand at crunk music à la "Yeah!" with Lil Jon at the helm. Somewhat of a catalyst for his foray into EDM (more on that later), "Yeah!" marked the first of four consecutive No. 1s off Confessions and Usher's longest-running chart-topper at 12 weeks. Naturally, it was crowned the most-played song of 2004 despite the label's hesitation to release it as a lead single.

Of all of Usher's party anthems, "Yeah!" wins for holding its relevance 20 years later; to this day, it remains a staple at wedding receptions, sporting events, and countless other celebrations. Plus, Ludacris' scene-stealing guest verse, where he rhymes "ridiculous" and "conspicuous," is forever etched in our memory.

In 2005, Usher added to his GRAMMY collection after "Yeah!" took home Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. It was such a smash that "Ursher, Jon and Luda had to do it again" in 2004's "Lovers and Friends," which narrowly missed the No. 1 spot, and then again with "SexBeat" in 2020.

"Burn," Confessions (2004)

True to the diaristic nature of Confessions, "Burn" sees Usher grappling with the aftermath of a failed relationship. "Sendin' pages I ain't supposed to/ Got somebody here, but I want you/ 'Cause the feelin' ain't the same/ Find myself callin' her your name," he laments in the second verse.

"Yeah!" took Usher's stardom to the next level, but "Burn" gave fans a deeper glimpse into his personal life. By then, his two-year relationship with TLC's Chilli had run its course. As Usher noted himself to MTV News, "It's unfortunate when you have to let a situation go because it's not working. Although you may want to stay, you've got to let it burn."

That level of vulnerability resonated with broken hearts everywhere; "Burn" dethroned "Yeah!" when it skyrocketed to the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100. Subsequently, Usher held the No. 1 and 2 spots on the chart, becoming the first artist to achieve such a major feat since the Beatles 40 years earlier. 

"Confessions Part II," Confessions (2004)

While "Burn" saw Usher pulling back the curtain, he left it all on the table in one of the most talked about songs of his three-decade career: "Confessions Part II."

In "Part I," he sings about having a "chick on the side," but "Part II" marks the point of no return as he confesses to impregnating his mistress. As expected, "Confessions" sparked rumors that Usher got another woman pregnant while dating Chilli. In reality, it was recorded before their breakup and based on Jermaine Dupri's situation. Still, Usher delivers the story as if it was his own.

Even though "Confessions Part II" revolves around infidelity, it's difficult to not feel sympathetic toward him as the track winds down: "This by far is the hardest thing I think I've ever had to do/ To tell you, the woman I love/ That I'm havin' a baby by a woman that I barely even know/ I hope you can accept the fact that I'm man enough to tell you this," he says in the spoken interlude.

"My Boo" feat. Alicia Keys, Confessions (2004)

Usher and Alicia Keys were both at the top of their game when they joined forces for "My Boo," an ode to young love that's guaranteed to make you cry nostalgic tears of joy. Even the most cynical hearts can't resist singing along: "I don't know about y'all, but I know about us and, uh/ It's the only way we know how to rock," a twenty-something Usher croons in the outro.

The romantic duet is even sweeter when you realize that Usher and Keys have known each other since they were teenagers. Their undeniable musical chemistry won a GRAMMY for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals.

At the time of its release, "My Boo" went straight to No. 1, which means he spent an astonishing 28 weeks atop the Hot 100 in 2004, proving that the year unequivocally belonged to none other than Usher.

"Bad Girl," Confessions (2004)

"Caught Up" was the final single off of Confessions, but Usher's reign could have carried well into 2005 and possibly even '06 if deep cuts like "Throwback," "Superstar," "Can U Handle It?" and "Bad Girl" were released as singles. The latter appears as a snippet in the beginning of the music video for "My Boo," leaving you wanting more.

In "Bad Girl," Usher prefers women who look "fresh out of Elle magazine" and can buy their "own bottles." Fueled by hypnotic electric guitar riffs, "Bad Girl" exemplifies his fondness for a late-night rendezvous: "Look at them bad girls moving it/ Making faces while they doing it/ Ah, I want to take one to the restroom/ So close, I'm smelling like your perfume," he sings in the second verse.

The song also took on a life of its own when Usher performed it at a 2005 concert special with Beyoncé, who steals the show without ever touching the mic.

"Best Thing" feat. Jay-Z, Here I Stand (2008)

When "Best Thing" arrived, Usher and Jay-Z were both newlyweds. So, of course, Usher was feeling particularly inspired by then-wife Tameka Foster.

Recorded during Hov's Heart of the City Tour, "Best Thing" celebrates commitment over "trickin' and kissin' miscellaneous chicks." Of the song's background, Usher reportedly said, "If you are a playa, you're a playa. If you're a real man, you're a real man, but you know you got to — in some point in life — you've got to grow up. Grow away from certain immaturities."

He and Foster divorced the next year, but "Best Thing" speaks to something bigger: the beginning of his transition into manhood.

"OMG" feat. will.i.am, Raymond v. Raymond (2010)

With easygoing lyrics like "I fell in love with shawty when I seen her on the dance floor/ She was dancing sexy, pop-pop-popping, dropping, dropping low," "OMG" sounds like a continuation of "Yeah!" but with hints of Eurodance.

Written and produced by Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am, "OMG" gave Usher's post-Confessions career a much-needed boost. Despite spawning the No. 1 single "Love in This Club," his previous studio effort, 2008's Here I Stand, was deemed a commercial disappointment. 

Although "OMG" was criticized for Usher's use of auto-tune, the party classic thrusted him back to the top. What's more, he displayed a willingness to reinvent himself at a time when EDM started to infiltrate the charts. It not only became Usher's ninth No. 1 hit, but it produced his first of four entries on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, while paving the way for his other dance-pop hits like Pitbull-featuring "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" and "Without You" with David Guetta.

"Numb," Looking 4 Myself (2012)

At first listen, "Numb" may sound like just another synth-heavy banger about leaving your troubles on the dance floor, but the song is actually a well-crafted culmination of what was going on behind the scenes for the R&B superstar.

In the years leading up to his seventh album, Looking 4 Myself, Usher experienced some turbulent times. Months before their divorce, Tameka Foster went into cardiac arrest prior to undergoing cosmetic surgery (depicted by scenes of Usher comforting a woman in the hospital in the accompanying video for "Numb"). A couple years later, fans booed him after he walked off stage mid-show in Berlin. Then, in the midst of a highly publicized custody battle with Foster, his 11-year-old stepson died after a tragic jet ski accident.

In true Usher fashion, he sang and danced through the pain: "Keep on doing the same old thing/ And you expecting change/ Well, is that really insanity/ Or just a losers' game?" he ponders in the second verse.

Stalling at No. 69 on the Hot 100, "Numb" is one of Usher's lowest-charting songs — but along with "Sins of My Father," which deals with breaking generational curses, it spotlights his depth as an artist.

"Tell Me," Hard II Love (2016)

Usher set out to make music he wanted to with 2016's Hard II Love. Though it marked his first album to miss the top spot in eight years, the 15-track LP is a welcome return to his R&B roots. He does just that in "Tell Me," a nearly nine-minute carnal extravaganza that acts as the album's centerpiece and encompasses the physical, emotional, and spiritual connection between two lovers.

At face value, "Tell Me" boasts Usher's endurance in the bedroom, but on a deeper level, it's about intimacy — an element missing from a great deal of today's R&B, especially from the male perspective. His golden falsetto shines through, making eight and a half minutes sound like the sweetest serenade.

"Boyfriend" (2023)

Last summer, things got interesting when Keke Palmer stopped by Usher's acclaimed Vegas residency, where she was serenaded by the "There's Goes My Baby" singer. Seen by millions, the lighthearted moment turned negative when Darius Jackson, the father of Palmer's child, publicly shamed her for the sheer outfit she wore to the show.

But in the name of entertainment, Usher seized the moment, flipping the controversy into a new earworm. Adding fuel to the fire, Palmer stars in the video, which appears to be filmed in Vegas. And the lyrics are as cheeky as they come: "Somebody said that your boyfriend's lookin' for me/ Oh, that's cool, that's cool/ Well, he should know I'm pretty easy to find/ Just look for me wherever he sees you."

The stunt jokingly earned Usher the nickname "Domestic Terrorist," but more importantly, it illustrated his power to still generate buzz as a well-established artist amid the rise of R&B's new class comprising younger male singers like Steve Lacy, Jvck James, Brent Faiyaz, and Lucky Daye.

Thirty years after his debut, Usher proves he's the last of his kind with the voice, sales, and stage presence to back it up. In a recent interview with Vogue, he described his highly anticipated Super Bowl performance as a "celebration for everybody, for all of us, from the beginning up until this point." 

It'll be the single biggest showcase of his career, but judging by his showmanship, he'll meet the moment while reminding the world of his greatness as a new, exciting era begins — one that demonstrates he's still at the top of his game.

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Updated Friday Oct. 13, 2023 to include info about Kendrick Lamar's most recent GRAMMY wins, as of the 2023 GRAMMYs.

A GRAMMY veteran these days, Kendrick Lamar has won 17 GRAMMYs and has received 47 GRAMMY nominations overall. A sizable chunk of his trophies came from the 58th annual GRAMMY Awards in 2016, when he walked away with five — including his first-ever win in the Best Rap Album category.

This installment of GRAMMY Rewind turns back the clock to 2016, revisiting Lamar's acceptance speech upon winning Best Rap Album for To Pimp A Butterfly. Though Lamar was alone on stage, he made it clear that he wouldn't be at the top of his game without the help of a broad support system. 

"First off, all glory to God, that's for sure," he said, kicking off a speech that went on to thank his parents, who he described as his "those who gave me the responsibility of knowing, of accepting the good with the bad."

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He also extended his love and gratitude to his fiancée, Whitney Alford, and shouted out his Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates. Lamar specifically praised Top Dawg's CEO, Anthony Tiffith, for finding and developing raw talent that might not otherwise get the chance to pursue their musical dreams.

"We'd never forget that: Taking these kids out of the projects, out of Compton, and putting them right here on this stage, to be the best that they can be," Lamar — a Compton native himself — continued, leading into an impassioned conclusion spotlighting some of the cornerstone rap albums that came before To Pimp a Butterfly.

"Hip-hop. Ice Cube. This is for hip-hop," he said. "This is for Snoop Dogg, Doggystyle. This is for Illmatic, this is for Nas. We will live forever. Believe that."

To Pimp a Butterfly singles "Alright" and "These Walls" earned Lamar three more GRAMMYs that night, the former winning Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song and the latter taking Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (the song features Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat). He also won Best Music Video for the remix of Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood." 

Lamar has since won Best Rap Album two more times, taking home the golden gramophone in 2018 for his blockbuster LP DAMN., and in 2023 for his bold fifth album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.

Watch Lamar's full acceptance speech above, and check back at GRAMMY.com every Friday for more GRAMMY Rewind episodes. 

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