Justin Bieber said to be paid $13.5m to perform at wedding gala
MUMBAI – Canadian pop star Justin Bieber entertained some of India’s biggest celebrities in the latest instalment of months-long wedding celebrations thrown for the son of Asia’s richest man, Mr Mukesh Ambani.
Bieber, 30, who shot to prominence as a teenage heart-throb, is among several global celebrities who have jetted into India for the marriage festivities of Mr Ambani’s younger son Anant and fiancee Radhika Merchant.
The couple, both 29, were childhood friends and are set to marry in a three-day Hindu ceremony beginning on July 12.
Bieber, who flew in from Los Angeles, was pictured at the Mumbai airport on the morning of July 5 wearing an oversized pink T-shirt and a bucket hat.
Footage of his concert in the financial hub that night shared on social media showed him performing his 2015 hit Sorry in front of hundreds of VIP revellers.
Bollywood star Salman Khan and former India cricket captain M.S. Dhoni were among the celebrity guests in attendance on July 5.
Indian media reports said Bieber was rumoured to have been paid up to US$10 million (S$13.5 million) for the performance.
Anant Ambani and Merchant have staged two elaborate and star-studded parties ahead of July’s main event, including a three-day gala in February in Gujarat state.
There, Rihanna performed her first concert since 2023’s Super Bowl for guests including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and former US president Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka.
In June, the couple embarked on a four-day Mediterranean cruise, where singer Katy Perry performed at a masquerade ball at a French chateau in Cannes.
The Backstreet Boys, US rapper Pitbull and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli also provided entertainment.
Billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani is no stranger to throwing a costly wedding.
He held the most expensive wedding in India for his daughter in 2018, which reportedly cost US$100 million and saw US singer Beyonce perform.
Mr Ambani, 67, chairman of Reliance Industries, has a fortune of more than US$113 billion and is the 11th wealthiest person in the world, according to the Forbes billionaires list.
He is also a key ally of India’s right-wing Hindu nationalist leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr Ambani inherited a thriving industrial enterprise spanning oil, gas and petrochemicals.
He grew it into a commercial behemoth with lucrative interests in retail, telecommunications and an Indian Premier League cricket team.
Merchant is the daughter of prominent pharmaceutical moguls. – AFP
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