The enduring appeal of Usher

LAST SUMMER, A VIDEO OF USHER SERENADing actor Keke Palmer onstage at his Las Vegas residency made the rounds online. In the clip, Usher slow-dances with the star like she's the only person in the room, while crooning his falsetto-laden 2010 ballad "There Goes My Baby."

- CADY LANG

It was all enough to leave Palmer starstruck and giddy. That song, the dance, Usher's undivided attention were the stuff of a romantic fantasy the R&B star has been cultivating for three decades-seductive but respectful, flirtatious, and wholly charming. Palmer's unfettered joy was so tangible, so infectious, that I could feel myself blushing, falling under the irresistible spell of Usher, even through a screen.

Usher's magnetism has been well documented over the course of his career. His charisma is so arresting that it inspired a 2007 episode of The Boondocks in which the animated Usher's mere presence leads to a marital separation. In an iconic cameo as himself in the 2019 film Hustlers, he holds an entire strip club in his thrall, his song "Love in the Club" playing as he lavishes attention on the dancers. His 2022 NPR Tiny Desk Concert netted over 20 million views, making it one of the series' most popular installments. And that viral clip of Usher serenading Palmer was so electrifying, it instigated a petty, misogynistic social media response from her then partner that united the internet in righteous indignation.