Usher nearly got “Caught Up” by the Beyhive on Saturday night after making a joke about their queen at his recent performance.
The R&B veteran was in the middle of his set at J. Cole’s Dreamville Music Festival in North Carolina when took a pause to tell the audience that he had a surprise for them.
“As promised, I said I would have a special surprise for you tonight, ladies and gentlemen. You guys want to know what that surprise is?” he teased. The crowd roared back, “Yes,” anxiously waiting for what the 44-year-old has planned.
He said, “Ladies and gentlemen without further adieu put your hands together for the one the only Beyoncé.”
Usher stepped back from the mic, looking off stage as the audience let out a loud scream as they waited for Queen Bey to come out.
A few seconds go by, and Usher continued pretending by waiting for “Beyoncé” to walk out on stage. He walks a little off stage and into the dark as if he were going to get her, but then quickly runs back to the mic and says, “April Fool’s.”
A loud yell can be heard coming from the crowd, as Usher continued smiling on stage.
The clip from Usher’s show was shared on The Shade Room’s Instagram page. Fans in the comment section sent warnings to the Grammy Award-winning artist on behalf of all Beyoncé fans.
“Aite Usher don’t get swarmed.”
“I’m suing for intention infliction of emotional distress.”
“I would’ve threw a tomato at him for getting me all hype like that.”
“He play too much.. I was ready to hear love in this club.”
One person jokingly said, “Shoulda known with all that stuttering! Lmao Beyoncé woulda had him rehearse that speech.”
While the audience may not have gotten to see the “CUFF IT” singer, Usher did still give them a surprise performance when he brought out the City Girls during his set. The duo, who performed for the Festival earlier that day, came out to perform their hit song “Good Love.”
This year, J. Cole and his Dreamville team curated a stellar lineup of artists for their third annual spring festival in Raleigh, North Carolina. Besides Usher and the City Girls, the two-day multi-stage event also has artists like Ari Lennox, Sean Paul, Earthgang, Summer Walker, Glorilla, Mario, Burna Boy, JID, Drake, as well as others.
In fact, J. Cole himself is set to perform with Drake for the final set on April 2 at 9:15 p.m., available on Amazon Prime Video.