U2 and Kendrick Lamar Plan for the Grammy Awards

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2018-01-23)

Updated: January 23, 2017

Word has reached us via a reliable source in the entertainment industry that U2 and Kendrick Lamar will be performing together at the upcoming Grammy Awards. The Awards are being held next Sunday, January 28 in New York City.

The show will be opened by a performance by Kendrick Lamar of his song “XXX” from last year’s chart-topping album DAMN. Bono, and possibly the rest of U2, will join Lamar for the performance of this song. On the album version of the song, Bono sings a number of lyrics which he would later use in “American Soul.” The entire band, U2, is credited on the song, although only Bono actually appeared on the Kendrick Lamar recording. This performance of the song by Kendrick Lamar and U2 would mark the first time they have performed the song together. This song will be performed live.

On “XXX” Bono sings “It’s not a place, This country is to be a sound of drum and bass, You close your eyes to look around.” The same lines repeat in U2’s own “American Soul” released on Songs of Experience which features an introduction by Kendrick Lamar.

Later in the show U2 will return to perform their own song, “Get Out of Your Own Way” which may feature Kendrick Lamar as a special guest. On the album version of the song, Kendrick Lamar is featured on the outro of the song. Last Thursday, January 18, U2 released a video for this new song which is also being promoted at Modern Rock Radio in North America this week. The video version of the song does not feature Lamar’s outro, nor does the version that has been delivered to radio. A remix of “Get Out of Your Own Way“ was released commercially on December 29, 2017. U2 will not be performing this song live at the ceremony and this will be a pre-taped appearance, although the band will be in attendance at the awards. This is likely the performance previously mentioned by Craines New York Business which mentioned “a performance by Bono floating on a barge in the Hudson River during the telecast”.

Don’t tune out after the two performances, as U2 are also possibly giving out an award late in the show, and we are told it may be the final award of the night.

This year is the 60th anniversary of the Grammy Awards. They are being held in New York City and telecast on CBS stations on Sunday January 28. The broadcast will be from 7:30 – 11pm ET, or 4:30 – 8pm PT. The awards are being held at Madison Square Garden, which is the first time the Grammy Awards have returned to that arena since 2003, and the awards show has been held in Los Angeles for the past 14 years.

U2 are not nominated for any awards in this years categories. The only song from their new album eligible for nomination was “You’re the Best Thing About Me” as it was released before the Grammy cut off, but failed to garner any nominations. To date U2 have won 24 Grammy Awards, including the special Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2014 for The Joshua Tree.

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