Usher sent Dreamville Festival attendees into pandemonium last night (April 1) when he pulled off an epic April Fools’ prank. The singer headlined Day One of the two-day event that is taking place at Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh, North Carolina.
His 21-song set list included his massive hits like “U Don’t Have To Call,” “Love in This Club,” “Lovers And Friends,” “Yeah,” “Burn,” “Nice and Slow,” and his newest single, “Glu.” He even added some of his notable features, which included “I Need a Girl” with Sean “Diddy” Combs, “Party” with Chris Brown, “Matrimony” with Wale, and “Good Love” with the City Girls, who also hit the stage on Day One of the festival. Other acts who performed ahead of the Confessions icon included Ari Lennox, Sean Paul, SiR, Key Glock, and others.
While his performance was already electrifying, he took things up a notch when he paused his set to speak directly to his fans. “You know, I don’t know if you guys listened to some of the interviews I did before we decided to do this show, but as promised, I said I would have a special surprise for you tonight, ladies and gentlemen,” he said while building anticipation. “You guys wanna know what that surprise is? Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, put your hands together for the one, the only, Beyoncé.”
The crowd erupted into applause, and roars of excitement were heard as Usher directed his attention to the wings of the stage. As he stepped out of the spotlight, his left hand, which had been gesturing toward his special guest’s entrance, slowly folded when no one appeared on stage. Fans’ applause audibly turned into confusion as Usher continued to toil in his antics by running to the side of the stage as if he were talking to someone.
When he returned to the mic, he pointed at the crowd and said, “April Fools,” before laughing at the prank. Tonight (April 2), J. Cole will share headlining duties with Drake. Other artists who are slated to perform are Burna Boy, Summer Walker, GloRilla, Waka Flocka Flame, Mario, Bas, J.I.D., Ayra Starr, Baby Tate, Cozz, Jordan Ward, and Reuben Vincent.
Peep a few of the fans’ reactions to Usher’s prank below.
Forgot it was April Fools, so Usher announced Beyoncé as a surprise guest 😭 I was so excited for a sec pic.twitter.com/UBzAcfGruZ
— carlos (@nightscanary) April 2, 2023
Usher just gestured to the side of the stage and said “ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, my special guest, Beyoncé.”
It was an April Fools joke. But I wasn’t laughing. pic.twitter.com/SzcNZcwvQY
— Braxton 🟥 (@Braxtonbrew96) April 2, 2023
Usher April Fooled Everyone at #DreamVilleFest saying he was bringing out Beyonce #DreamvilleFest2023 pic.twitter.com/FZ81AfxzH6
— Anthony Tilghman (@AnthonyTilghman) April 2, 2023
Usher just said he was bringing out Beyoncé at the Dreamville festival (I’m watching in TV mind you 😂) I was shocked, my jaw dropped and I gasped…….it was an April Fools joke 😫
— ✨🪄 (@ginahazep) April 2, 2023
Usher about to lose his VIP seats to one of Beyoncé’s concerts this summer lmao. https://t.co/Cn9dRMTCtq
— Chris Williamson (@CWilliamson44) April 2, 2023
😂😂😂 @Usher had em heated with the #AprilFools joke😂😂😂 no @Beyonce tonight 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/oolsZlt4Kf
— NICE “NICEontheBeat” (@NICECSN) April 2, 2023
Usher getting ready to prank 50’000 people at #dreamvillefest by telling them beyonce was a special guest pic.twitter.com/7hkS8mPD07
— xav (@UltralightXavy) April 2, 2023