Will The Weeknd Be Paid For His Super Bowl Performance? Here’s His Net Worth & Halftime Show Salary

Take one look at The Weeknd’s net worth and you’ll realize his song “Earned It” suddenly takes on a whole new meaning.

The Weeknd—whose real name Abel Tesfaye—is among the most successful pop artists today, having sold over 75 million records worldwide since he got his start in the music industry in 2010. Just over a decade later, the Canadian-born singer is both a three-time Grammy winner and Academy Award-nominee. And in February 2021, he also added playing at the Super Bowl to his laundry list of accolades when he was named the halftime performer for Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Bucs and Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl LV championship game.

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The Weeknd clinched his spot at the Super Bowl after a record-breaking year that saw the release of his 2020 album, After Hours. His lead single, “Blinding Lights” nearly broke the internet alone, after it vaulted up the charts in March 2020 thanks to a viral TikTok challenge that used the song’s instrumental opening as its soundtrack. A music video for the song released just months earlier in January 2020 kicked off a new era for The Weeknd—one where his face transformed from bruises and bandages to faux plastic surgery.

But how, exactly, has all of this impacted The Weeknd’s net worth in 2021? For everything we know—from how much The Weeknd earned from his Super Bowl performance, to how much he made from “Blinding Lights”—just keep on reading.

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What was The Weeknd’s Super Bowl 2021 Halftime Show salary?

As it turns out, the National Football League doesn’t actually pay artists for performing during the halftime show—so, The Weeknd isn’t earning a dime. A spokesperson for the NFL told Forbes in 2016, “We do not pay the artists. We cover expenses and production costs.” Instead, the NFL considers the halftime show as free advertising for artists, as they can expect to see extra sales and streams following their performance.

That said, there’s nothing preventing an artist like The Weeknd from kicking up his own cash to make the moment extra-memorable. The “Blinding Lights” singer reportedly kicked up $7 million of his own money to fund his show-stopping performance. And there are still other perks to being a halftime performer: While he may not be getting a paycheck for his appearance during the Super Bowl, it can be expected that he earned a pretty penny from his appearance and featured song in Pepsi’s official Super Bowl LV commercial.

What is The Weeknd’s net worth?

According to multiple net worth estimators, The Weeknd’s net worth is $100 million as of February 2021. In 2017 alone, Forbes reported that he earned a whopping $92 million thanks to his Starboy: Legend of the Fall world tour. The magazine also reports that he earned a massive $40 million in 2019 alone, making him one of the 100 richest celebrities that year.

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