U2’s Bono, The Edge perform surprise show in Kyiv metro
- Irish rock star Bono praised Ukraine’s fight for ‘freedom’ during a performance in a metro station in downtown Kyiv
- The singer also referenced past conflicts in the band’s native Ireland and the troubles it had with a more powerful neighbour
Members of U2 performed a surprise show in Ukraine on Sunday, playing in a Kyiv subway station that has been used as a bomb shelter during Russia’s invasion.
With the Edge playing an acoustic guitar, Bono sang With or Without You, Desire, Angel of Harlem and other hits for a crowd reeling from more than two months of war.
“The people in Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom; you are fighting for all of us who love freedom,” Bono was quoted as saying by The Irish Times newspaper.
He spoke about his native Ireland’s historic struggles with the UK and how those countries enjoy peace today.
“We pray that you will enjoy some of that peace soon,” said the multiple Grammy Award-winning artist.
Bono invited one of the soldiers in the audience to join him for a rendition of Ben E King’s Stand by Me, and they replaced the word “me” with “Ukraine” for the rendition.
“It’s some good emotions, that’s all,” a troop in the audience told The Irish Times.
Bono’s show came at the invitation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, U2 tweeted on Sunday.
“President @ZelenskyyUa invited us to perform in Kyiv as a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people and so that’s what we’ve come to do,” the band said, adding the hashtag “StandWithUkraine”.
The music community has reached out to Ukrainian performers since Russia’s invasion. Earlier, Antytila received an invitation from English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran to work together on a remix of Sheeran’s 2step.
Another Ukrainian rocker, Andriy Khlyvnyuk, the frontman of BoomBox, inspired Pink Floyd to perform and record a new song for the first time in over 20 years. The classic rockers and Khlyvnyuk recorded Hey Hey Rise Up, sung in Ukrainian, which they said symbolised the nation’s resistance.
Russia, which calls its action in Ukraine a “special military operation”, continues to carry out missile strikes across Ukraine. However, some life has returned to Kyiv even though air raid sirens sound regularly.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg and Agence France-Presse
