“I’m the only Irishman on this stage with no talent,” joked Vice President Joe Biden at Carnegie Hall after Bono and The Edge performed with Irish singer Hozier.
The night celebrated the 10th anniversary of Bono’s ONE and (RED) campaigns to fight global poverty and AIDS.
Biden praised the U2 singer’s power of persuasion, noting that, during his Senate days, when his proposed legislation for African debt forgiveness went nowhere, “Bono walked in, met Jesse Helms, and convinced him in one fell swoop to forgive $6 billion in Third World debt … That’s when I became a disciple of the church of Bono.”
But he quipped he still needs Bono to perform more “political miracles … I only have 14 more months, so I need you, buddy.”
The veep honored Michael Bloomberg before a crowd including Bill and Melinda Gates and Bill Clinton. Miley Cyrus and Jessie J performed.
When Cyrus was about to debut a tune, she knelt down onstage and unplugged a phone.
“That’s a phone charger,” she said. “My phone is dead, and I wrote a new song, and my lyrics are on here. I may be the only one to ever perform at Carnegie Hall, singing and charging her cellphone at the same time.”