Super Bowl 2021: The Weeknd Says There Will Be No Guests at His Halftime Show

The Weeknd is putting on quite the show during Sunday’s big game, but he’s doing it solo. The “Blinding Lights” artist confirmed in an interview on the NFL Network Thursday that there were no special guests lined up to join him during the Super Bowl halftime show, planning amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (Watch all the festivities for free this year online.)

“I’ve been reading a lot of rumors,” he said. “There wasn’t any room to fit it in the narrative and the story I was telling in the performance. So, there’s no special guests, no.” There’s a long tradition of halftime show performers featuring some A-List surprise guests. Last year, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira brought on Bad Bunny, J Balvin and Lopez’s own daughter during their performance. In 2015, Katy Perry’s performance featured appearances from Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott.

The Weeknd has something grand up her sleeve for this year, telling Billboard he would have the longest halftime show in Super Bowl history, clocking in at 24 minutes long. He added that the performance would take him onto the field at some point during the show. “Due to the COVID, and for the safety of the players and the workers, we built a stage within the stadium,” he said. “And we’re also using the field as well. But we wanted to do something that we’ve never done before.”

The Weeknd has long been telling a dark story of his After Hours character slowly descending into serious trouble in his performances and music, even showing up to public appearances bloodied and bandaged in his signature red jacket. “I will still incorporate some of the storylines,” the artist shared of his plans to continue his message during Sunday’s performance. “It’s a very cohesive story I’ve been telling throughout this era, and throughout this year, so the story will continue, but definitely, we’ll keep it PG for the families.”

The “Can’t Feel My Face” singer recently explained the significance of the elaborate surgical bandages to Variety, revealing them to be a satire of Hollywood culture. “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,” The Weeknd explained. “It’s all a progression and we watch The Character’s storyline hit heightened levels of danger and absurdity as his tale goes on. …I suppose you could take that being attractive isn’t important to me but a compelling narrative is.”