Watch: U2 Play 'Sunday Bloody Sunday,' 'Scarlet' With Jay-Z

Last week U2 began their 10-date tour of New Zealand and Australia by having opening act Jay-Z come out to join them for "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and their 1981 super rarity "Scarlet" at Auckland's Mt. Smart Stadium. "Scarlet" (shown below) was played to celebrate the release of Burmese political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi, and was mashed up with Jay-Z's "History," which he wrote after President Obama was elected.

U2: The Rolling Stone Covers

The collaborations seemingly went off without a hitch, but the next night Jay-Z didn't come out during either of the songs. The tour continues December 1 at Melbourne Australia's Etihad Stadium.

Look back at three decades of U2, onstage and off

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
• 
  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz | 2008

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."

More Song Stories entries »

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