U2 perform unique cover of 'Don't Dream It's Over' during final Sphere show

At U2‘s final Sphere show, they played a cover of “Don't Dream It's Over” by Crowded House. This wasn't a new development, but they went about covering it in a unique way that harkened back to their “ZooTV” tour days.

Neil Finn of Crowded House joined the band via prerecorded vocals. It was already reported that Finn had heard the band's cover of his hit song and he was pleased with it. In turn, Finn recorded vocals for the song in the same arrangement the Irish rock stars are playing it in at the Sphere.

“The other day, we got a beautiful email from Neil Finn, who wrote this bewilderedly beautiful song,” Bono revealed. “Attached to the email [was] a version of the song that he said we could play on, or whatever we wanted. It's a new version that he did.”

Bono then revealed that the band wants to record their cover with the fans in attendance. He instructed them to sing along with the chorus. Bono also dedicated the song to Alexei Navalny’s widow, Yulia.

Before officially kicking into the song, Bono joked that neither U2 nor Crowded House spoke to their respective record labels. “Neither party have spoken to our record labels,” he joked. “So, this may be the only recording that ever exists. Please take out your phones and send it to whoever loves freedom that you know. And maybe send it to some people who don't… there's a few of them around.”

This was the first time U2 played the song in this manner. The song began with Bono introducing Finn. He subsequently let the original singer take the majority of the vocals for the performance as The Edge strummed the song's chords.

“Don't Dream It Over” and U2

“Don't Dream It's Over” is a single from Crowded House's self-titled debut album. It's one of the band's signature songs.

U2 began covering it during their Sphere residency. This began on January 26, 2024, when the band first covered it. They would subsequently play it at eight more shows, including their final one of the entire residency.

The cover on the final night was akin to what the band would do on their “ZooTV” tour. They would cover Lou Reed's “Satellite of Love” with a prerecorded version of Reed singing.