Jimmy Kimmel’s studio audience thought they were just coming to enjoy a live show, but they transformed into a live gospel choir before the night was through.
The Irish rock band U2 appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live for a surprise, emotional performance of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” in honor of the Manchester terror victims.
The band members live only an hour’s flight away from the city and were deeply affected by the horrific attack.
“They hate music. They hate women. They even hate little girls,” lead singer Bono said of the terrorists during his interview with Jimmy Kimmel. “They hate everything that we love. And the worst of humanity was on view in Manchester.”
So, U2 decided to fight the hate with a little gospel music.
“We want to play for you now a gospel song with a restless spirit,” Bono said as he introduced the song.
Choir members were planted throughout the studio and joined in to turn the entire studio into a moving gospel performance.
The audience sang about Christ’s deliverance through the cross:
“He will lift you higher and higher/He will lift you up when you call/He will bring you shelter from the storm/I believe in the kingdom come/Then all the colors will bleed into one/Bleed into one/But yes, I’m still running/You broke the bonds/And you loosed the chains/Carried the cross of my shame/Oh my shame, you know I believe it,” they sang.
Bono has never been shy about his faith in Christ.
He spoke about the impact of music in a recent video series with David Taylor, a theology and culture professor at Fuller Theological Seminary. To Bono, music is more than a simple tune, it’s “prophetic.”
“If the job of the prophet is to describe the state of the soul, the soul of the city, if we want to know what’s really going on … you’ve got to really go look at the art,” he told Taylor.
Bono says the power of art is especially seen when tragedy strikes. He fell in love with music when his mother tragically died.
“I became an artist through the portal of grief,” Bono told Taylor. “My mother died at her own father’s gravesite. As he was being lowered into the ground, she had an aneurysm. I was 14.”
It was an event that changed his life forever and motivates him to touch the families of Manchester and the rest of the world with his music. {eoa}
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