WATCH: The Weeknd’s halftime Super Bowl performance
BLINDING LIGHTS 🙌 @TheWeeknd #PepsiHalftime #SBLV pic.twitter.com/Qv9yyW8wED
— NFL (@NFL) February 8, 2021
.@TheWeeknd kicks off the #PepsiHalftime show with Starboy! #SBLV pic.twitter.com/DFAi1LNtNl
— NFL (@NFL) February 8, 2021
🔥🔥🔥 @TheWeeknd #PepsiHalftime #SBLV pic.twitter.com/QCFlAPcion
— NFL (@NFL) February 8, 2021
TAMPA BAY, Florida -- The Weeknd kept us guessing for months. And the bandages were back, but not on The Weeknd’s face this time.
The Grammy-winning singer took to the stage for the Pepsi Super Bowl LV halftime performance with plenty of pyrotechnics, lights and men dressed like The Weeknd in all black with red jackets and bandaged faces.
The Weeknd performed a medley of his hits, including “Can’t Feel My Face,” “Earned It” and his more recent chart topper, “Blinding Lights.”
The colorful set in the stands of the stadium, which resembled the Las Vegas strip, was the backdrop for headliner and a massive choir and instrumentalists.
Toward the end of the show, The Weeknd moved to the field with an army of bandaged-faced dancers in an apparent nod to recent appearances in which his face was wrapped in bandages, sometimes looking bruised and bloodied or appearing to have undergone plastic surgery.
The singer has had people scratching their heads as to what it all means.
"The significance of the entire head bandages is reflecting on the absurd culture of Hollywood celebrity and people manipulating themselves for superficial reasons to please and be validated," he said.
The featured performer didn't bring with him any special or surprise guests for Sunday's show. "There wasn't any room to fit it in the narrative and the story I was telling in the performance," he explained.
The Weeknd also kept his promise to make the halftime show "PG for the families."
