U2 has been added to the Grammys‘ Feb. 4 telecast, and the band won’t have to be leaving Las Vegas to do it.
U2’s socials and the Recording Academy joined Friday afternoon in announcing that the group will perform from the spectacular Sphere venue in Sin City, where the band’s months-long residency, “U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere,” is set to wrap up March 2.
U2 does not currently have a show booked for Sphere that night. Whether there will be a live audience on hand for the remote Grammy performance, if live, or if the appearance is being pre-taped was not immediately revealed.
The only detail given was that the segment will feature “a special awards presentation,” also yet to be revealed.
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The band has a long history with the Grammys, having won 22 trophies from the Recording Academy to date.
U2 joins a long list of performers already announced for the CBS telecast, with Billy Joel, Olivia Rodrigo, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Travis Scott, Luke Combs and Burna Boy previously announced as set to take the stage at Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles.
The CBS telecast begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Feb. 4.
U2 was last seen performing on the Grammys six years ago. The band’s Bono and U2 opened the telecast with a collaborative performance with Kendrick Lamar, and then later the entire band performed in a segment filmed on a barge in New York Harbour with the Statue of Liberty in the background.
The band’s performance at Sphere will mark the first televised appearance from the venue, or officially released video content at all. With a wrap-around screen that extends around the audience and towers more than 350 foot high, no camera could take in the entirety of the interior when it’s being used to its fullest, so how the Grammys’ cameras are able to take in its full spherical-ness will be of great interest.
Only one other music act has been named to play Sphere after U2’s hard exit, a four-night engagement by Phish April 11-21 that is promised to consist of a completely different setlist each night. Tickets for the Phish run sold out immediately. U2’s 50-show run was also an easy sellout.
U2’s Sphere engagement began Sept. 29. Variety‘s review of the opening night said it “lived up to the hyperbole.” Read our review here and a report on the making of the show and its grandiose host venue here.
