The Weeknd promises a ‘PG’ halftime show First Canadian Solo Artist In 55 Years
Scarborough superstar shows his humble side at pre-Super Bowl event Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer.
- Toronto Star
- NICK KREWEN
PERRY KNOTTS THE ASSOCIATED PRESSDon’t worry about the little ones when it comes to watching the Super Bowl halftime show starring Scarborough R&B superstar The Weeknd.
During a Thursday morning news conference held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. — the site of Sunday’s Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the 12-minute spectacular The Weeknd will headline midway through the big game — the multiple Grammy and Juno Award winner promised to deliver a clean show.
The Weeknd, a.k.a. Abel Tesfaye, says his performance won’t feature any of the adultthemed gore and violent imagery shown in the promotional videos for the singles from his latest smash album, “After Hours.”
“I definitely want to be respectful to the viewers at home,” Tesfaye said during the 15-minute virtual conference attended by the Star.
“I will still incorporate some of the storyline — it’s a very cohesive storyline I’ve been telling throughout this era and throughout this year, so the story will continue.
“But we’ll definitely keep it PG for the families, definitely. I’ll try my best.”
Arguably one the world’s biggest music stars at the moment — “After Hours” and the single “Blinding Lights” have broken all kinds of chart records — Tesfaye, who has sold more than 75 million albums around the world, says in light of the pandemic certain safety considerations had to be considered when planning his performance.
It will be a different show visually than perhaps he had initially planned, encompassing different parts of the stadium, including the stands.
“Due to the COVID and for the safety of the players and the workers, we built the stage within the stadium and we’re also using the field as well, but we wanted to do something that we’ve kind of never done before.
“So we built the stage within the stadium, but I’m not going to tell you anything else, because you’ll have to watch on Sunday.”
He played equally coy in terms of revealing any additional details of the performance, which is expected to be viewed by over 100 million people, but he did express surprise at a Toronto Star question about being the first solo Canadian artist to headline a Super Bowl halftime show.
“Really? I didn’t know that. I had no idea, but it’s an honour, yeah, a blessing.”
(Shania Twain performed at the 2003 Super Bowl with Sting and No Doubt, and Dan Aykroyd performed at the 1997 event with the Blues Brothers.)
Tesfaye also revealed that his favourite halftime show was the appearance of Diana Ross in 1996.
“She’s just so glamorous and the show just makes me smile, and she has a great exit with the helicopter, where it lands in the middle of the field, she grabs onto it and flies out into the clouds,” he recalled. “I wish I could have done that; I wish I’d thought of it.”
An off-camera host joked that there was still enough time to plan it.
“I don’t think I have enough money to do it, to be honest,” Tesfaye quipped.
Sunday’s halftime show, coproduced by Roc Nation, caps a busy period of activity for the R&B superstar, aside from the months of rehearsal and a production in which he reportedly invested $7 million (U.S.) of his own money.
On Wednesday, he announced expanded dates for his bumped-to-2022 “After Hours” tour (now 104 concerts kicking off in Vancouver Jan. 14 to 15; Toronto dates are Feb. 1 to 2, and April 10 to 11 at Scotiabank Arena) and on Friday, he is releasing “Highlights,” a compilation of 17 songs he’s curated for Sunday’s performance.
He also found time to donate 150 meals to front-line workers in Tampa Bay and to honour Black-owned restaurants in the area. When asked about the gestures, Tesfaye said, “I see that people are struggling and I just want to help.
“I’ve been in that position myself and I know what it feels like. I never really had money growing up, so giving away isn’t hard for me; it’s very easy. It means nothing.”
When asked what he would advise the 17-year-old Abel who left home and moved into a Parkdale apartment with his friend, Tesfaye said, “Don’t quit. Just don’t quit. And there were times when it was easy to quit, but I told him, just keep going. He was pretty hard-headed.”
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