“With or Without You” is one of U2’s most beloved and classic songs. their one thousand nine hundred eighty-seven album The Joshua Tree, it was the Dublin band’s first-ever number-one hit in the US and Canada, leading the Billboard Top one hundred for three weeks in a row. The song is a pretty meditation on like and on Bono’s own conflicted thoughts on his dual lives as both a rock star and a husband/father. The song is U2’s most frequently covered hit, but at the two thousand sixteen Irish America Corridor of Fame induction ceremony, held in NY City, Irish violinist Gregory Harrington, joined by cellist Eleanor Norton, wowed the crowd with an adaptation of “With or Without You” for violin and cello.

Harrington, a world-class soloist and chamber musician Dublin, is known for his unique combination of classical influences of the likes of Bach and Beethoven with new arrangements of contemporary favorite songs. At the Corridor of Fame event, he specifically chose “With or Without You” to play for Bill Clinton as he was honored with a lifetime achievement award beca, as he explained, U2 is the former president’s favorite band. It’s extraordinary to hear how, even without the lyrics, the song retains its poignancy and emotional impact.