Chattanoogans celebrate Usher’s Super Bowl announcement
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – It might only be week three in the NFL, but Super Bowl 58 made its halftime show announcement over the weekend.
The headliner has deep ties to the Scenic City.
Roxanna Edwards was the seventh-grade music teacher at Dalewood Middle School in Brainerd when she met a young boy named Usher Raymond.
Usher went from her student at Dalewood to a global superstar with hits ranging from “DJ Got Us Falling in Love Again” to “My Boo.”
Now, Usher will get one of the biggest stages of his career this coming February.
The announcement, says Edwards, makes her and the community say, “Yeah!”
Edwards said, “He knew what he wanted to do. He would tell me after class, “Ms. Edwards, you’re going to see me on the screen, you’re going to see me on the stage, I’m going to be big time!” And I said, “Just keep working for it and you’ll get there.””
Roxanna Edwards was more than just a teacher to Usher Raymond.
When Usher gave a surprise performance at Dalewood Middle School in 20-16, he made a different kind of confession when he shouted her out as a mentor.
Edwards says that their paths crossing had to be fate.
She said, “I just remember a time when I first started teaching that I actually had a dream that one day, one of my students would be successful. They didn’t have a face, because I hadn’t met Usher at the time.”
The stretch of Shallowford Road in front of Dalewood Middle School is named after Usher Raymond, and it is.
Edwards knows that the students that still go to Dalewood look up to Usher as a source of inspiration.
She said,” I’ve had so many students come to me wanting to know if I could coach them, because I gave Usher just a smidgen of coaching sessions.”
The announcement also excites other local musicians who hope to be where Usher is one day.
Cameron “C-Grimey” Williams, a local artist and Chattanooga Hip-Hop Summit organizer, said, “That’s motivation to an up-and-coming artist from right here. Roaming the same streets that Usher did, maybe even the same schools and hallways, just to see you can reach the highest of heights.”
Edwards says that Usher should be celebrated by Chattanooga.
She said, “For young hip-hop and R&B artists, Atlanta was the scene, so I understood, and he finally came back around and acknowledging that he was from Chattanooga, everybody was like, “Yes, he’s home again!””
Usher will take the stage in Las Vegas on February 11, 2024.
You can see his halftime show and the rest of the Super Bowl right here on News 12.
