Introduced by reigning NBA MVP LeBron James as "Skateboard P," Pharrell Williams rolled off his debut single "Frontin' " in front of a throng of shrieking women in the audience before bringing out Nelly to perform his Neptunes-produced smash "Hot in Herre."
After the Eastern Conference All-Stars were introduced, Williams performed the 2013 song of the summer, "Blurred Lines," and the still-great 2002 single from his N.E.R.D. project, "Rock Star."
Joining Pharrell Williams during the pregame performance, Diddy and Busta Rhymes rose from beneath the stage to perform "Pass the Rock This Way," a basketball-minded revamp of their 2002 single "Pass the Courvoisier, Part II."
Snoop Dogg, right, also joined Pharrell onstage for the pregame performance.
During his set, Pharrell performed his and Daft Punk's Grammy winner for record of the year, "Get Lucky," and closed out the performance with his Oscar-nominated hit "Happy" from Despicable Me 2.
The rapper showed off his skills with the basketball.
The comedian-actor busted a move during the game.
The rapper had a prime seat for all the action on court.
Janelle Monae, along with Trombone Shorty; Earth, Wind & Fire; Gary Clark Jr.; and Dr. John, gave an inspired performance at the New Orleans Arena on Sunday night as part of the Entertainment Series presented by Sean John at Macy's.
After Janelle Monae successfully moonwalked across the stage while dragging the microphone stand with her, the rising R&B star received hugs and high-fives from the members of Earth Wind & Fire.
"We love music, we love funk, we love soul, we love to jam," Monae told Billboard prior to the performance on Sunday. "We didn't really even have to rehearse [the performance] as many times as we did. Everybody's fans of each other's music."
The former NBA player was in New Orleans for the All-Star Game.
Hours before taking the stage at the NBA All-Star halftime show, Trombone Shorty told Billboard of the performance, "People will definitely be out of their seats dancing. That's what our focus is — to have a big party, the way we do here in the Big Easy."
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue lit the fuse with an opening number that included a three-piece brass band behind Shorty's own trombone blasts.
NBA mascots hit the court before the game on Sunday.
