Did The BET Awards Tribute Do Usher’s Career Justice?
Despite what many expected, BET opted for a mostly female-led tribute performance to celebrate Usher‘s enduring legacy and 30-year career as he accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 BET Awards.
Live from the Peacock Theater on Sunday night (June 30), Childish Gambino opened the 17-minute long set with an acoustic rendition of “U Don’t Have To Call,” which was a win for those who still have his version of Tamia’s “So Into You” living rent-free in your minds.
Keke Palmer joined him for the second half of the first verse before the former child star, once again, lived out her childhood dreams after first doing so when she and Usher collaborated for his “Boyfriend” music video.
Palmer broke out into the infamous choreography before taking over the stage with a vibrant version of “You Make Me Wanna.” She was spot-on with mimicking Ursher’s notorious dance moves and even nailed the moment when the singer dropped his pants and kicked off his shoes in the classic visual. This part has Usher ready to jump out of his seat with excitement.
Not long after, Coco Jones stole the show the same way Usher did during his BET Awards debut performance— by walking through the audience and serenading a select few.
When she approached Usher in the front row, the “ICU” star first sang to his wife, Jennifer Goicoechea-Raymond, before pulling the crooner out of his seat for an intimate moment.
Arguably, the best part was when Teyana Taylor and Victoria Monét saved the tribute and paid homage to Usher by recreating his 2004 “Bad Girl” performance with Beyoncé.
Leave it to two Black, queer women to give the best performance of the night, which feels appropriate considering the award show fell on the last day of Pride Month.
Chlöe‘s rendition of “Good Kisser” had Usher on his feet, watching in amazement. It was a fitting number to match the “Have Mercy” singer’s sexy and sultry aura.
However, most of the viewers’ disappointment stemmed from other performances. Tinashe did her best to match her own freak by performing “Nice & Slow,” but it just missed the mark of being something great. Summer Walker came out to perform her verse from “Good Good,” which some felt was necessary because of all the hits that should’ve been included in the tribute. Marsha Ambrosius took the stage with her own performance of “Superstar,” but lost a lot of viewers’ attention from the opening note.
Latto closed out the tribute by rapping Ludacris’ verse on “Yeah!,” and this had many questioning why Luda couldn’t perform it himself—regardless of Usher’s love for Latto.
Viewer reactions across social media mostly stemmed from disappointment.
Some felt the vocal performances were mid while others felt that Usher’s tribute needed more of a male presence. Heated debates were conjured up across X/Twitter as fans and harsh critics defended their stances regarding the male R&B singers of today.
Vocal powerhouses Avery Wilson and Durand Bernarr reacted to the vitriol on Twitter. Wilson tweeted, “I was available,” as his name, among others, flooded the timeline as apt tribute replacements. Bernarr replied, “We all were and yet…hmmm.”
To add salt to the wound, BET used Bernarr in the promotional skit for Usher’s tribute, and he was seemingly not selected to perform.
VIBE also provided a well-curated list of worthy contenders, most of whom were in the audience as this tribute took place—which included Bernarr, DIXSON, Eric Bellinger, Vedo, and Josh Levi. The latter reacted to the demand by tweeting, “I see yall rooting for me, and i see the love! i’m gonna keep giving it my all and i promise im putting in the work to be where yall see me at. your support goes a long way, i really love you guys and thank you for seeing the vision.”
Normani was rumored to participate in the tribute but allegedly pulled out due to an injury she procured during rehearsals.
With that said, we don’t feel the tribute was a complete feat or a solid fumble, but landed somewhere in between. Was it the worst tribute ever? Not by a long shot; it just could’ve been better.
You can rewatch the full Usher tribute below and rate it like Keith Lee or however you see fit.
