The season three premiere of Celebrity Jeopardy! took an unexpected turn when all three contestants failed to identify Usher’s career-defining hit “Yeah!” during the Triple Jeopardy round.
The question, featured in the category “2004, What a Year!,” prompted contestants with, “We got so caught up in this Usher song that it spent 12 weeks at the top of the charts.”
Max Greenfield (New Girl) responded first, incorrectly guessing, “What is ‘Caught Up?’” – a different Usher track from 2005. Camilla Luddington (Grey’s Anatomy) then followed with the incorrect “What is ‘All Caught Up?’”.
W. Kamau Bell (United Shades of America) chose not to respond, letting the timer expire. Bell later joked, “Feels so awkward to be the Black guy who doesn’t know the Usher song. I was listening to Rage Against the Machine at the time, sorry everybody.”
Released in January 2004, “Yeah!” was an instant cultural and commercial phenomenon. Featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, the single spent 12 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained on the chart for 45 weeks, becoming the longest-running No. 1 single of that year. It ranked No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Songs of the Decade (2000–2009), second only to Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together,” as the top song of that decade.
The track served as the lead single from Usher’s fourth studio album, Confessions, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and went on to sell over 10 million copies in the U.S., earning a diamond certification from the RIAA. “Yeah!” also won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards and garnered widespread critical acclaim for its fusion of crunk and R&B.
“Yeah!” achieved global success, topping charts in over 12 countries and earning platinum certifications in markets such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, and Norway. In Australia, the song was certified 5× platinum by ARIA for selling 350,000 units. In 2024, the track achieved a milestone when it was certified 13× platinum by the RIAA, reflecting 13 million units sold in the U.S.
Its resurgence in popularity was further fueled by Usher’s 2024 Super Bowl halftime show performance, which caused his overall Spotify streams to increase 550%. Specifically, “Yeah!” featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris saw a 520% streaming boost following the performance. The Super Bowl performance was the most-watched halftime show in history, drawing 129.3 million viewers.
Later in the Celebrity Jeopardy! game, Bell redeemed himself by correctly answering a question about N.W.A.’s historic chart achievements.
