Irish rock band U2’s singer Bono and guitarist The Edge have performed a 40-minute concert in a metro station in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in support of Ukrainian forces fighting Russia’s invading army.
Bono gets lambasted for performing in Ukraine
The Cure keyboardist Roger O’Donnell took note of it and blasted Bono.
Roget claimed in a Tweet that the U2 member was taking advantage of the situation. However, he later deleted the tweet, and made a claim about U2 and Bono paying taxes. He wrote: “I thought they had their own tax office in Dublin?”
I thought they had their own tax office in Dublin?
— Roger O'Donnell (@RogerODonnellX) May 8, 2022
On its Twitter account, the world-renowned band said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited the band “to perform in Kyiv as a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people and so that’s what we’ve come to do”.
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. — Bono and The Edge #StandWithUkraine
— U2 (@U2) May 8, 2022
“Your president leads the world in the cause of freedom right now… The people of Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom, you’re fighting for all of us who love freedom,” Bono told a crowd of about 100 gathered inside the Khreshchatyk metro station.
“We pray that you will enjoy some of that peace soon.”
Bono, alongside The Edge, sang the Ben E King classic Stand By Me. The set also included performances of With or Without You, Desire, Angel of Harlem, and Vertigo. Ukraine musicians and soldiers also joined the duo on stage at times during the show.
“I am grateful to [Bono, U2] for supporting our people and drawing even more attention to the need to help our people,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. It was noted that on his trip, Bono also visited Bucha, a town near Kyiv where hundreds of bodies were found last month after Russian troops withdrew from the area. Ukraine and its allies have accused Russia of war crimes in the city.
However, Moscow has rejected the allegations that Russian forces were responsible for killing civilians in Bucha and suggested images of corpses were “fakes”.
