Bruce Springsteen Joins U2 (minus Bono)

Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen Jr. will be joined by Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay’s Chris Martin at a special gig to celebrate World AIDS Day in Times Square in New York.

The singers will each take a turn as frontman on a selection of U2 songs, at a special gig this evening in New York – that had been jeopardised by Bono’s November 16 bike accident in Central Park.

Kanye West and Carrie Underwood will also perform at the event – which takes place tonight at 7.30pm – but it is the combination of Chris Martin and Bruce Springsteen with the 'rebranded' U2 Minus 1 that will really capture the imagination. Appearing at the personal invitation of U2, Springsteen and Martin have graciously donated their time and talents to save the World AIDS Day event from cancellation. Bono had hoped to participate in the event, but the singer remains under doctors' orders to refrain from performing until fully recuperated from his injuries.

"This year is a World AIDS Day like no other," said Bono, speaking from Dublin. "The world reached a tipping point in the fight against AIDS – more people were newly added to life-saving treatment than were newly infected with the virus. A lot of people are calling it the beginning of the end of AIDS.

"We wouldn’t be at this point without American leadership, people from the left and the right. Today, 13 million people have access to life-saving treatment, up from 300,000 just over ten years ago. Americans don’t know the role they’ve played in this fight. Tonight’s event is to inform them and thank them.”

A (RED) Thank you Presented by Bank of America + (RED) will be broadcast live on YouTube, and on radio across the US, including iHeart Radio – which is becoming iHeart (RED) for World AIDS Day and as part of ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown.

The World AIDS Day event starts at 7.30pm EST at Duffy Square in Times Square, on Broadway between 46th & 47th Streets. Attendees should enter at 50th Street and Broadway.