Usher told the crowd at a recent show that Beyoncé was about to join him on stage. He then revealed it was just a cruel April Fools' joke.

• Usher played a cruel joke on the crowd at Dreamville Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina, Saturday.
• The singer told the crowd that he was about to be joined on stage by Beyoncé.

Usher played a cruel April Fools' joke on the crowd during his performance at Dreamville Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Saturday, April 1.

Midway through his set, the "U Got It Bad" singer announced that he was to be joined on stage by none other than Beyoncé.

"You know, I don't know if you guys listened to some of the interviews that 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 told the crowd.

"You guys wanna know what that surprise is? Ladies and gentlemen, without further adieu, put your hands together for the one, the only, Beyoncé."

After rapturous applause from the crowd, Usher then stepped away from his microphone and walked off to the side of the stage, making it seem that Beyoncé was about to appear.

Moments later, however, he returned with a big smile on his face.

"April Fools," he said.

Fortunately, the North Carolina crowd saw the funny side of Usher's prank, erupting into laughter as the 44-year-old singer giggled to himself on the stage.

Twitter users also found Usher's prank hilarious.

"That has got to be worlds best April Fools," wrote one person. Another said: "That's such a sick prank, I love it."

"Usher pulled the biggest April Fools joke in existence," tweeted somebody else.

While Beyoncé didn't join Usher on stage on Saturday, he still wowed the crowd with his set, performing over 20 of his biggest hits, including "My Boo," You Make Me Wanna...," "Burn," and "Yeah!"

"The energy last night man…unexplainable," Usher wrote on Instagram on Sunday alongside a series of photos of him performing at the festival.

"U showed me so much love and I love u more @dreamvillefest."

Usher previously starred in Beyoncé's "Naughty Girl" music video in 2004.