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We knew that Super Bowl Halftime performances don’t come cheap. But we didn’t know that this year’s Super Bowl Halftime show will consist of The Weeknd spending his very own money to make it happen. Talk about dedication to your craft!

According to reports, The Weeknd – real name Abel Tesfaye – wanted to put on a spectacular halftime show next month, and has chosen to spend $7 Million of his own money to do so. After all, performing at the Super Bowl’s halftime show is pretty much every artist’s “dream”…

“We all grow up watching the world’s biggest acts playing the Super Bowl and one can only dream of being in that position,” The Weeknd said in a statement when the news was first announced.

“I’m humbled, honored and ecstatic to be the center of that infamous stage this year.”

The Super Bowl will still go ahead this year, but as expected, things are going to be a little bit different…

The Halftime show will still (hopefully) be a sensational musical performance, as always, but will be in front of a very limited crowd. Instead, more focus will be on making it a spectacular show for the viewers at home…

“We’ve been really focusing on dialling in on the fans at home and making performances a cinematic experience, and we want to do that with the Super Bowl,” the 30-year-old performer told Billboard.

“We always had the Super Bowl on our bucket list, and we’ve always had timelines for all of our goals,” his manager, Amir ‘Cash’ Esmailian, also told the publication.

“It came a few years earlier than we expected,” he added.

Although performers don’t usually get paid for performing at the Halftime show – as the exposure alone is considered payment enough – the production costs are usually taken care of by the organizers.

However, The Weeknd wanted to go above and beyond to “make this halftime show be what he envisioned”.

We don’t blame him – after the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Shakira last year, Lady Gaga in 2017, Coldplay, Beyoncé, and Bruno Mars in 2016, and Katy Perry in 2015, he’s got some very stiff competition.

We can’t wait!

Catch The Weeknd’s performance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show on February 7, as the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers compete for the Super Bowl title.

His greatest hits album, The Highlights, goes on sale just two days before on February 5.