Watch: Bruce Springsteen Fronts U2 at World AIDS Day Performance

Rob Slater on December 2, 2014

Last night in Times Square, U2 headlined a performance as a part of World AIDS Day and in support of RED. While the band was without frontman Bono, who is recovering from a bicycle accident suffered in Central Park, Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay’s Chris Martin filled in, performing a pair of tunes with the rest of the band.

Martin kicked things off, taking on the anthemic “Beautiful Day” and the more somber “With or Without You.” What we learned with both of these sit-ins is that Bono has some impressive pipes as both singers, accomplished in their own right, stretched to hit the high notes.

Springsteen came later, entering to “Where the Streets Have No Name.” Bruce leaned into the tune with his signature growl, making it more his own than Martin did. The Boss then dedicated “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” to Bono before closing the proceedings. The weird thing? Fallon and The Roots may have delivered the best U2 fill-in of the week.

Replay the full concert below, which also includes performances from Kanye West and Carrie Underwood. U2’s sets occur at the 7:00 (Martin) and 38:30 (Springsteen) marks.