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Watch H.E.R. breeze through her surprise guest appearance during Usher’s Halftime Show at the Super Bowl
The guitarist’s custom red Stratocaster was made especially for the Halftime Show.
Image: Lauren Leigh Bacho / Getty
H.E.R. made a surprise guest appearance alongside Usher during the Super Bowl Halftime Show yesterday evening, armed with a custom red version of her signature Fender Stratocaster.
During her short appearance she struts through the dancers, performing track U Got It Bad before moving into Bad Girl, and mixes in a stunning solo before making way for Usher and his dancers to continue the show on rollerskates.
- READ MORE: Watch H.E.R. shred a soaring solo on a Charvel during performance with Foo Fighters on SNL
“Can’t spell Usher without H.E.R.,” she writes in a post on Instagram, shared after her performance. “Halftime show?! What. And it was the greatest ever. Thank you for your talent, your love, and for sharing this moment with me. Wow I have no words. Usher we love you.”
Watch H.E.R. perform below:
And it seems this custom variation of H.E.R.’s favoured Stratocaster was made on short notice, especially for the show. Donning the usual matching headstock and trio of Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups (found previously on her Blue Marlin 2023 model), this guitar hosts a dark chrome pickguard and custom Chrome Red finish.
“Sometimes we get asked [to] do things last minute,” says Brian Thrasher of Fender on Instagram. “Our team pulled it off with another Super Bowl guitar. H.E.R. Custom Chrome Red finish Stratocaster.”
Fender released the first Limited H.E.R Strat back in 2020. The original launch established H.E.R. as the first Black female artist in Fender’s 77-year history to launch a signature guitar.
“I designed my Limited Edition Stratocaster guitar with a colour, shape and sound that is 100 percent my own so that young women and players from all backgrounds feel inspired to pick up this guitar, tap into their thoughts and create amazing music,” she said at the release of her Blue Marlin edition.
H.E.R.’s latest album, Back Of My Mind landed in 2021. You can stream it now.