U2’s Bono joined Imelda May for a version of Darlene Love’s ‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)’ at a Dublin busking gig on Christmas Eve.
The event on Grafton Street has been an annual tradition for 15 years and was held this year to raise funds for the Dublin Simon Community, a charity that supports people at risk of homelessness in Ireland.
Among those taking part this time around were Oscar-winning singer-songwriter and event organiser Glen Hansard and The Script’s Danny O’Donoghue, while Bono and May performed the 1963 festive staple as a duet.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin city centre for the event, which also saw performances from The Riptide Movement, Danny O’Reilly from The Coronas and Shobsy, while the night culminated with a performance of The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl’s ‘Fairytale Of New York’, with May wishing Shane MacGowan a “happy birthday for tomorrow”.
Watch Bono and May sing ‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)’ here:
Previous years have seen Bono play ‘The Joshua Tree’ classic ‘Running To Stand Still’, Shane MacGowan perform ‘Dirty Old Town’ and Hozier play his hit ‘Take Me To Church’.
Earlier this year, U2 were the recipients of the Woody Guthrie Prize, being celebrated as “a champion for the voiceless with an understanding of how a platform can be used to shine a light on our world, showing us what needs to be fixed and how to fix it.” Bono and The Edge performed ‘One’, ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ and Guthrie’s ‘Jesus Christ’ at the event.
Bono also shared his thoughts on what he believes is the best way to achieve freedom earlier this year in an op-ed for The Atlantic, which he wrote ahead of receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the US.
The singer has also said that he is “ready for the future” with U2, and the band have “25 great songs for a new album“.
May, meanwhile, is one of the guests on Jools Holland’s ‘Hootenanny’ this year, alongside Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, Olivia Dean, Lulu, Jessie J, Craig David, Heather Small, The Kooks, Joe Webb, David Hermlin and Ruby Turner.
