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U2 will be honored as the 2027 MusiCares Persons of the Year at all-star concert

George Varga, The San Diego Union-Tribune on

Published in Entertainment News

SAN DIEGO — U2, the groundbreaking Irish rock band that this year celebrated its 50th anniversary, has been named the 2027 MusiCares Persons of the Year. The four members of the band — lead singer Bono, guitarist the Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. — will be honored at an all-star concert at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Feb. 5, two days before the 69th annual Grammy Awards takes place at the adjacent Crypto.com Arena.

The concert will be open to the public, with tickets now on sale.

MusiCares, like the Grammy Awards, is presented under the auspices of the nonprofit Recording Academy and honors artists for their artistic legacies and their charitable work. In the four decades since its inception, MusiCares has raised more than $100 million to provide assistance to musicians and other music-industry workers facing financial, medical and personal hardships, including addiction recovery and disaster relief.

Nearly all of the previous 35 MusiCares honorees have been solo artists, including Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Luciano Pavarotti, Carole King, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney. The format for the MusiCares concerts features an all-star lineup of musicians performing songs by the artist or group being honored. In most instances, the evening culminates with a performance by the awardee.

U2 will become only the fourth band in the event’s history to be honored, following in the footsteps of Fleetwood Mac, Aerosmith and the Grateful Dead. Moreover, U2 will become the first band to be honored with a member who was previously a MusiCares honoree on his own. Bono, U2’s charismatic singer and a longtime social activist, was the 2003 MusiCares Person of the Year.

“We are honored to celebrate and recognize U2 as this year’s MusiCares Persons of the Year,” Recording Academy and MusiCares CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said in a statement released Thursday morning. “Their impact goes far beyond the stage. Not only has their music defined generations, but they’ve been equally exemplary in their dedication to humanitarian work and using their platform for good. We are so excited to come together to honor their collective artistry and commitment to giving back on this special night.”

The members of U2, in turn, sang the praises of MusiCares in a statement released Thursday.

“We are huge fans of MusiCares and the lifelines they provide across the incredible pool oftalent that is the music industry,” the band said. “We’ve been recording and touring for 50 years because of that pool, from producers and engineers to carpenters and riggers. “Persons of the Year” couldn’t be a better title as it’s the people we’ve been so fortunate to work with, and of course our indomitable audience, that have given us the opportunity to keep making music and keep rocking the boat on things we really care about. It’s such an honor, and we’re very excited to be in the front row of our first ever U2 gig… we know we’re gonna be outplayed.”

 

The 2027 edition of MusiCares will mark the first time the event has been held at the Peacock Theater. Its 7,100 capacity is more than double that of the previous location, the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center, which is currently undergoing an expansion and renovation.

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2027 MusiCares Persons of the Year benefit concert, featuring U2

When: Feb. 5

Where: Peacock Theater at L.A. Live, 777 Chick Hearn Court, Los Angeles

Tickets: musicares.org/events/person-of-the-year/

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©2026 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Visit sandiegouniontribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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