LAS VEGAS (AFP) — Usher delivered a Las Vegas-appropriate set heavy on glitz, choreography and nostalgia as he headlined Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show, but it was new music from Beyonce and the Taylor Swift cam that grabbed the most attention.
Swift was the night’s most-watched fan as she cheered on her boyfriend Travis Kelce, the tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, from a luxury box with a coterie of famous friends.
Swift’s relationship with the charismatic Chiefs star has been a boon to television ratings, her every move offering headline fodder.
At one point she delighted the internet by chugging a beer — she clocked in at 6.6 seconds — as the jumbotron documented the party trick.
Beyonce was also in attendance with her hip hop mogul husband Jay-Z — and announced a new album during a commercial she did with Verizon, in which she repeatedly tries to “break the internet.”
The ad closes with the line: “Drop the music.”
Moments later on Instagram, Beyonce announced with another clip that her eighth studio album is due 29 March. The post didn’t give a title but simply said “Act II”; her blockbuster album “Renaissance” had been branded “Act I.”
Shortly thereafter the Beyhive had two brand new songs to listen to: the twangy “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” implied Beyonce’s new volume of work might be country-heavy, in a nod to her Texas roots.
The announcement came one week after Swift used the Grammy awards to promote her forthcoming studio album “The Tortured Poets Department,” out 19 April.
America’s megastars Beyonce and Swift both had major summer tours last year, boosting local economies at every turn.
