U2 Unveils First Stadium Dates Since 2019

(Viviane Sassen)

After a spectacular stint at Sphere and on the cusp of a new album, U2 will be back on tour next year for the first time since 2019 as part of Carnaval de Luz Presents: The Greatest Show on Earth, a 2027 Live Nation stadium run beginning in Latin America before expanding to Europe and North America.

Beck will provide support on the six announced dates, which open Feb. 23 at Mexico City’s Estadio GNP Seguros, with a second show there Feb. 26. U2 then heads to São Paulo for performances March 10 and 12 at Estádio MorumBIS, followed by two nights at Buenos Aires’ Estadio River Plate, March 23 and 25.

The Full Stop-managed group—Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.—also has an Irish homecoming in the works, details of which have yet to be announced.

The tour comes in support of the band’s 16th studio album, Carnaval de Luz, due Nov. 13 on Interscope. New single “The Greatest Show on Earth” is out now alongside an Anton Corbijn-directed video.

The album bears the imprint of longtime collaborators Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois as well as new faces including Martin Garrix and Ryan Tedder. Its closing track, “Torn,” features Dolly Parton in what has been reported as the final vocal recording made before her death.

In a statement, U2 described the tour’s title as “a dare, to ourselves as much as anyone, to try and have the best night of anybody’s life.”

U2 hasn’t been out since The Joshua Tree tour concluded in Mumbai on Dec. 15, 2019, after playing to nearly 3m fans worldwide. The band subsequently mounted a sold-out run of 40 shows at Sphere, opening the venue with one of its most ambitious live productions to date. Carnaval de Luz Presents: The Greatest Show on Earth reunites U2 with Arthur Fogel, its promoter since 1997.

Having marked its 50th anniversary Sept. 25 with a surprise performance on Dublin’s Grafton Street, the band will be honored as MusiCares’ Persons of the Year at a Feb. 5 ceremony in Los Angeles.

(Homepage photo: Michael Schwartz)