Bono and Imelda May Bring ‘Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)’ to the Streets of Dublin

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Bono and Imelda May Bring ‘Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)’ to the Streets of Dublin

The musicians participated in the city’s annual charity event, the Busk

 

By Kory Grow

 

December 26, 2025

Bono and Imelda May take part in the annual Christmas Eve busk on Grafton Street in Dublin, in aid of homeless charity, the Simon Community. Picture date: Wednesday December 24, 2025. (Photo by Conor O Mearain/PA Images via Getty Images)

Bono and Imelda May at the Busk on Christmas Eve.

Conor O Mearain/PA Images/Getty Images

Bono revisited a classic holiday song he knows intimately, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” with Imelda May during Dublin’s annual Christmas Eve charity event, the Busk.

 

Imelda May sang the first verse with some extra Christmas spirit, delivering the “Christmas” refrain at the end before harmonizing again with Bono for the final notes. About midway through the song, “Mr. Bono,” as he was introduced, added some words of his own to the song, acknowledging the unity of the event and asking everyone there to lift their hands up in jubilation.

 

Darlene Love first recorded “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” in 1963, while U2 covered the track for the 1987 benefit compilation A Very Special Christmas. While performing on the Busk, Bono summoned the same panache he did in ’87, when he was singing to help raise money for the Special Olympics. Maybe it was the Irish flute that fueled him this time.