When Weeknd released its first mixtape “House of Balloons” in 2011, its identity was shrouded in mystery. On Sunday, he stepped onto one of pop’s biggest stages, the Super Bowl LV break at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
The Weeknd (also known as Toronto-born singer-songwriter Abel Tesfaye) began his performance in the stands, emerging in front of rows of lights to present “Starboy” and “The Hills” with a choir, so he moved to a corridor of lights and mirrors for “Can’t Feel My Face” while the dancers with bandaged faces surrounded him. With fireworks lighting the sky, he returned outdoors for “I Feel It Coming”, a large moon rising over the urban landscape projected behind him.
While a musician with a shiny mask strummed a guitar, Weeknd turned to the more optimistic “Save Your Tears” and “Earned It”, accompanied by strings and ending on a long, triumphant note. An army of performers dressed like Weeknd marched across the field and the singer ran energetically alongside them to announce his grand finale: his recent hit “Blinding Lights”, an ecstatic and dynamic disco-pop song.
The Weeknd has released four albums since 2013, including his breakthrough, “Beauty Behind the Madness” in 2015. When promoting his latest LP, “After Hours”, he wore a black shirt and red jacket and sported an increasingly shabby outfit. bandaged face while spinning a narrative at appearances at the MTV Video Music Awards and the American Music Awards, as well as at night shows and music videos. (He said that the character he is playing “is having a very bad night” and, in the video clips, the plot possibly involves being overwhelmed by an evil spirit and committing murder.)
“After Hours”, which was released in March after the pandemic blockade interrupted the live tour, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with the equivalent of 440,000 sales in the United States. Following demonstrations sparked by the assassination of George Floyd, Weeknd donated $ 500,000 to nonprofit organizations focused on racial equality and used their acceptance speeches at the VMAs to say “justice for Jacob Blake and justice for Breonna Taylor”. But in what was seen as a major rejection, Weeknd received no nomination for the Grammy Awards, which would take place on January 31, a week before the Super Bowl; the awards were later transferred to March 14, while Covid-19 was held in Los Angeles, where the ceremony will be held.
When the nominations were announced in November, the Weeknd spoke on social networks, writing, “Grammys are still corrupted. You owe me, to my fans and the transparency of the industry … ”Harvey Mason Jr., President and Acting Chief Executive of the Recording Academy, denied that Weeknd’s lack of nominations was retaliation for performing at the Super Bowl, as some have suggested in online theories.
Weeknd’s halftime show faced a unique set of challenges because of the pandemic. About 1,050 people worked on the program, a much smaller group than most years, and preparations included frequent testing of Covid-19 and social detachment in production trailers. This is the second Super Bowl halftime show produced in part by Jay-Z and Roc Nation: Last year, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira performed heavy sets of Latin pride and dance for fans glued elbow to elbow in the field – a scenario that was impossible in 2021.