Sometimes rock โnโ roll history happens because somebody spends months planning the perfect collaboration.
And sometimes it happens because Bono falls off a bicycle. ๐ฒ๐ฌ
Yep. Seriously.
Back in December 2014, U2 found themselves in a rather unusual situation. The band were due to perform at a special World AIDS Day event in Times Square, New York, but their legendary frontman Bono was unable to take part after suffering serious injuries in a cycling accident.
So what do you do when your singer is temporarily out of action?
Cancel?
Postpone?
Stick an instrumental version of Where the Streets Have No Name on and hope nobody notices?
Nah.
You phone Chris Martin from Coldplay. ๐ค๐ฅ
And for one night only, the bloke behind Yellow, Clocks and Fix You effectively became the singer of U2.
Only in rock โnโ roll, mun.
๐ฒ THE ACCIDENT THAT RULED BONO OUT
Bonoโs absence wasnโt because of a dodgy throat or a touch of the dreaded tour lurgy.
The U2 frontman had suffered a nasty cycling accident in New Yorkโs Central Park in November 2014, leaving him with significant injuries that required surgery and a lengthy recovery.
That meant when U2 were scheduled to appear at the (RED) World AIDS Day event in Times Square on 1 December 2014, Bono simply wasnโt fit enough to perform.
But the event was bigger than any individual musician.
So the remaining members of U2 โ The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. โ carried on.
And they brought in some rather impressive reinforcements.
๐ค ENTER CHRIS MARTIN
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin stepped up to perform with U2โs remaining members.
And this wasnโt some half-hearted celebrity cameo where somebody wanders onstage, sings half a chorus and disappears again.
Martin actually took the microphone and tackled some of U2โs biggest songs.
The temporary collaboration was cheekily billed as:
U2 MINUS 1
๐๐ค
Absolutely brilliant.
Martin performed โBeautiful Dayโ and โWith or Without Youโ alongside The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.
Think about that for a second.
With or Without You is one of THE Bono songs.
That voice.
That emotion.
That enormous slow-burning chorus.
And suddenly youโve got Chris Martin standing in Times Square singing it while three quarters of U2 are playing behind him.
No pressure then, butt. ๐
โค๏ธ CHRIS MARTIN WAS CLEARLY A FAN
What made the performance work was that Martin wasnโt trying to be Bono.
That wouldโve been ridiculous.
You donโt replace one of rockโs most recognisable frontmen by sticking on some sunglasses and wandering around dramatically.
Instead, Martin approached the songs in his own style.
His lighter, more delicate vocal delivery gave With or Without You a slightly different atmosphere while the unmistakable U2 instrumentation remained underneath.
The result was this strange but genuinely lovely combination of two gigantic bands from different generations.
Coldplay have never exactly hidden U2โs influence on them either.
Both bands became masters of taking relatively simple musical ideas and making them sound absolutely bloody enormous inside stadiums.
You can hear the connection.
Big choruses.
Atmospheric guitars.
Songs designed to travel all the way to the bloke holding a ยฃ9 pint in Row Z.
๐บ๐
๐ธ BUT CHRIS MARTIN WASNโT THE ONLY GUEST
This is where the evening gets even better.
Because U2 didnโt just call Chris Martin.
They also brought in Bruce Springsteen.
Yes.
THE BOSS. ๐๐ฅ
Springsteen joined U2 Minus 1 to perform โWhere the Streets Have No Nameโ and โI Still Havenโt Found What Iโm Looking For.โ
So within the same event youโve effectively got:
U2 + Coldplay + Bruce Springsteen.
Thatโs not a concert.
Thatโs somebody accidentally selecting the cheat codes for stadium rock.
๐ค๐
The event also featured performances connected with the wider World AIDS Day campaign, bringing major artists together in support of the fight against HIV/AIDS.
๐ WHY THE NIGHT MATTERED
Behind all the superstar collaborations was a serious purpose.
The Times Square concert took place on 1 December โ World AIDS Day and was connected with the (RED) campaign, an organisation co-founded by Bono that has worked to raise awareness and money in the fight against AIDS.
So while seeing Chris Martin fronting U2 was undoubtedly a massive rock curiosity, the reason everyone was gathered in New York mattered far more.
It was musicians using one of the biggest stages imaginable to draw attention towards something important.
And Times Square isnโt exactly subtle.
Huge screens.
Thousands of people.
Lights everywhere.
Basically Cardiff on international rugby day after somebodyโs accidentally discovered electricity.
๐๐
๐ถ โBEAUTIFUL DAYโ WITH A VERY DIFFERENT VOICE
Of the Chris Martin performances, โBeautiful Dayโ is particularly fascinating.
The original is pure Bono swagger.
Martin naturally sounds completely different.
Rather than attempting to imitate Bonoโs delivery, he brings that instantly recognisable Coldplay tone to the song.
Meanwhile The Edgeโs guitar is still there.
Adam Claytonโs bass is still there.
Larry Mullen Jr.โs drums are still there.
Your brain knows itโs U2.
But your ears are simultaneously going:
โHang onโฆ thatโs Chris bloody Martin!โ
๐
Itโs one of those performances that initially feels slightly surreal before everything clicks into place.
๐ THEN CAME โWITH OR WITHOUT YOUโ
If Beautiful Day was the big celebratory moment, With or Without You allowed Martin to lean into the more emotional side of U2.
And letโs face it, the bloke knows his way around a massive emotional anthem.
This is Chris Martin weโre talking about.
The man could probably sing the Greggs breakfast menu over piano chords and somehow have 70,000 people waving their phone lights around.
๐ฅ๐ฑ๐
The restrained nature of With or Without You suits his voice surprisingly well.
And with The Edge playing that instantly recognisable guitar part behind him, the whole thing becomes one of those fascinating little alternative-universe moments in rock history.
For a few minutes you get to hear:
What would U2 sound like with Chris Martin as their singer?
Turns out?
Pretty damn good.
๐ค THE BEAUTY OF ROCK COLLABORATIONS
This is exactly why unexpected collaborations are so much fun.
Nobody was pretending Chris Martin had suddenly joined U2 permanently.
Nobody was replacing Bono.
It was musicians helping each other out when circumstances demanded it.
Bono couldnโt perform.
His bandmates still wanted to honour the event.
Chris Martin stepped forward.
Bruce Springsteen stepped forward.
And suddenly a difficult situation produced a completely unique night of music.
Thatโs rock โnโ roll community right there.
Different bands.
Different generations.
Different styles.
Same stage.
๐ฒ AND WHAT HAPPENED TO BONO?
Thankfully, Bono recovered and eventually returned to performing with U2.
But the accident was clearly far more serious than the phrase โcycling accidentโ might initially suggest.
His recovery took time, and Bono later spoke about the uncertainty he experienced over whether heโd be able to play guitar again.
Considering the circumstances, U2 continuing with the Times Square appearance becomes even more meaningful.
Their frontman was recovering.
The cause still mattered.
So the show went on.
๐ค ONE NIGHT. ONE VERY DIFFERENT U2.
More than a decade later, footage of the performance still regularly pops up online โ and every time it does, people rediscover one of the strangest and coolest temporary line-ups in modern rock.
The Edge.
Adam Clayton.
Larry Mullen Jr.
And standing where Bono would normally beโฆ
Chris Martin.
Coldplay fronting U2.
Bruce Springsteen joining them later.
Times Square packed with people.
All supporting World AIDS Day.
Not bad for a gig created partly because somebody had an extremely unfortunate encounter with a bicycle.
๐ฒ๐ค๐
And somewhere in the great imaginary archive of rock bands that existed for approximately five minutes, U2 Minus 1 deserves its own little chapter.
Because for one night in New York, the frontman of Coldplay stepped behind the microphone with U2โฆ
โฆand With or Without You suddenly sounded very different indeed.
Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud. ๐ค๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ
What do you reckon, riffers?
Could Chris Martin have survived an entire U2 gig, or is there another singer youโd love to hear fronting the band for one night?
Crank up Beautiful Day, get arguing in the comments and keep those riffs alive. ๐ธ๐ฅ
