Usher performed with Craig David during his show in London on Saturday night (05.04.25). The surprise collaboration sent the audience into a frenzy, with videos of the moment quickly going viral across social media platforms.
The pop superstar brought his ‘Past Present Future’ tour to the UK capital for 10 shows at the city’s O2 Arena and he had a special surprise for the audience at at the fourth gig – bringing out Craig to duet on the British singer’s hits ‘Fill Me In’ and ‘7 Days’. The O2 Arena erupted in cheers as the two music icons shared the stage.
“Feeling truly blessed to share the stage with the legend @usher,” Craig admitted the collaboration was a dream come true in a post on Instagram. “This is a real full-circle moment for me. Growing up, I had ‘I Think of You’ and ‘U Make Me Wanna’ on repeat. He’s always been an artist I deeply respect and one of the greatest to ever do it. Thank you for this incredible moment.” The post garnered extensive engagement, with fans expressing their excitement in the comments.
Craig previously revealed he spent years dreaming of collaborating with the ‘Yeah!’ star ever since they shared a “moment” on a French radio station when they performed a “freestyle” togethe. This earlier interaction happened at the height of both artists’ early careers, around the early 2000s when they were dominating charts worldwide.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz at Capital’s Jingle Bell Ball with Barclaycard last year, Craig said: “For me, having grown up listening to Usher, I feel that would be a great … we would create something special. The admiration between the two artists has been evident throughout their respective careers, with both acknowledging each other’s influence on R&B and pop music.
“We had a moment at a place called Skyrock at a radio station over there in Paris and we did a little freestyle on the radio back when I was releasing ‘Fill Me In’, ‘7 Days’ and he had ‘You Make Me Wanna … ‘ and about to go into his ‘8701’ album so it was a moment. Their impromptu radio session became legendary among fans of both artists, with bootleg recordings circulating for years afterward.
“Everyone was like: ‘You guys need to [do something together]’. It would be one to say we ticked that box.” After more than two decades, fans finally witnessed the collaboration they had been requesting since the early 2000s.
Craig recently wrapped up his own UK tour in mid-February. His tour celebrated his influential career, spanning from his garage roots to his more recent R&B material.
Towards the end of last year, the ‘7 Days’ hitmaker – who last released an album in 2022 – admitted he is touched by how much his music means to people after 25 years in the industry as he reflected on his upbringing. Craig has sold millions of albums worldwide since his debut in the late 1990s.
“Every different faith has different ways of getting to the same thing, which ultimately is community and bringing people together,” he told BANG Showbiz. “And the core of everything I found really came from my parents in the way I was brought up, the way my grandmother would make that chicken casserole for me or my mum picking me up from school. Craig’s music has often reflected these values of community and connection.
“Those things you start to see are really the core underlining factor that is love, right? His ability to blend personal experiences into relatable music has been cited as a key factor in his longevity in the industry.
“And when it goes into making music, I wanted to be quite poetic in the way I do those songs, and also not realising how much of an effect it’s going to have on other people. Craig’s songwriting has earned him multiple award nominations throughout his career.
“People have got married to my songs, they’ve gone on holiday where they met their partner, and they remember where they were and who they were with, and I think, ‘Man, who would’ve thought that would’ve been a part of me.'” This emotional connection with fans has sustained his career through changing musical trends.
Usher‘s ‘Past Present Future’ tour has been selling out venues across Europe and will continue through the summer, celebrating his decades in music. The tour features his extensive catalog of hits spanning his career from the 1990s to the present day, with elaborate production and choreography that has received critical acclaim from music reviewers.
