Springsteen, Martin Fill In for Injured Bono

They join rest of U2 for World Aids Day gig
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 2, 2014 1:26 AM CST
Springsteen, Martin Fill In for Injured Bono
Chris Martin and U2 perform during the World AIDS Day concert in Times Square.   (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Bono has some top-notch understudies: Bruce Springsteen and Chris Martin of Coldplay acted as the U2 frontman, who is recovering from a bike accident, at a New York City concert last night honoring World AIDS Day. Springsteen performed "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" alongside U2's Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen Jr. in Times Square. Martin, who wore a T-shirt that read "Substitu2," sang "Beautiful Day" and "With or Without You."

The concert, billed as "U2 Minus 1—Live in New York Tonight," also featured Kanye West and a pregnant Carrie Underwood. Bill Clinton opened the event, saying he was doing so at Bono's request. President Obama appeared in a video that played on a large screen. "We're closer than we've ever been to achieving the extraordinary—an AIDS-free generation," he said. "We got to keep fighting, all of us." In a statement, Bono said this year marked "a tipping point in the fight against AIDS—more people were newly added to life-saving treatment than were newly infected with the virus," and he thanked Springsteen and Martin for helping save the event from cancellation. (More Bono stories.)

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