Usher begins Past Present Future Tour in Washington D.C. after postponement due to neck injury
Usher kicked off his tour with the title Past Present Future this week with two sold-out concerts on Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington, DC at the Capital One Arena.
The 45-year-old eight-time Grammy winner was originally scheduled to perform in Atlanta on August 14, but missed three concerts after injuring his neck while preparing for the shows.
“I was hoping that with physical therapy and medical treatment I would be able to overcome the injury and be ready for opening night,” the Dallas native, whose full name is Usher Raymond IV, said in a statement on social media on Aug. 15.
The Yeah! singer said at the time that the neck injury was “not healed yet” and that doctors had ordered him “not to perform.”
Usher will perform at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on December 9, 10 and 12.
Usher, 45, kicked off his Past Present Future tour this week with a pair of sold-out shows in Washington, DC at the Capital One Arena. Pictured on Tuesday
According to Usher, the sets in the nation’s capital lasted two hours and included songs such as Lovers and Friends, Confessions, Yeah! and U Don’t Have To Call. People.
The Burn singer also performed songs from his most recent album Coming Home, which was released last February, the outlet reported.
On Wednesday, Usher was joined on the tour by Washington, D.C. music stars including Wale, Raheem DeVaughn and Sugar Bear of EU, the magazine reported.
Usher and Wale collaborated on the songs No Hands and The Matrimony, while he sang You with DeVaughn and Da’ Butt with Sugar Bear.
A review posted by Variety Shaheem Reid said the artist effectively showcased the different “eras of his career” by using “an elaborate cube made up of several large LED screens that could display one large image or video, or several smaller ones, across multiple screens.”
The cube also functioned “as a gigantic set,” the artwork said, including a penthouse and a room “alternately reminiscent of a room in a house, a strip club or a dance performance.”
Reid said Usher “didn’t look like a guy with a neck injury” but rather “someone in peak physical condition” as he performed the physically demanding, high-energy show.
Usher has concerts scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore.
The eight-time Grammy winner was well-received at a series of shows in the nation’s capital
Usher’s sets in the nation’s capital lasted two hours and included songs like Lovers and Friends, Confessions, Yeah! and U Don’t Have To Call
The Burn singer also played songs from his most recent album Coming Home, which was released last February
Usher released a statement earlier this month explaining how he had to postpone three shows
Concerts are scheduled in North American cities such as Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, New York City, Detroit, Denver and Los Angeles through the end of the year. The Atlanta concerts will conclude that leg of his tour.
He will kick off the European leg of his tour in London at the O2 Arena, which begins on March 29. He has eight shows scheduled at the venue, and will then visit cities including Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin before returning to London in May to conclude the tour.
The singer announced late last year that he would be going on tour after completing My Way: The Las Vegas Residency.
It’s been a busy year for the stalwart R&B star, who headlined halftime at Super Bowl LVIII, performing with the likes of Alicia Keys, will.i.am, Lil Jon, Jermaine Dupri, Ludacris and HER in Las Vegas.
He also has a concert film scheduled to be released next month, titled USHER: RENDEZVOUS IN PARIS, in approximately 2,000 theaters worldwide, from September 12-15.