The rescheduled 2020 European Championships will commence today with U2 stars Bono and the Edge teaming up with Martin Garrix to create the official song for the tournament.
The 25-year-old Dutch DJ, along with the legendary band members, will perform the song at tonight's opening ceremony.
The ceremony will start at around 7pm in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico and will be broadcast on RTE2 with a streaming option through RTE Player.
Martin Garrix, Bono and The Edge will virtually perform the song at the opening ceremony on Friday ahead of Turkey and Italy’s clash.
The performers set will be recorded in a state-of-the-art motion control studio in London and will be broadcast ahead of the match.
The performance is believed to include a digital recreation of the Stadio Olimpico.
Garrix said: "Creating the music for one of the biggest sports events in the world together with Bono and The Edge has been an incredible experience.
"I'm very proud of what we did together and excited to finally share it with the world!"
Speaking on the Jeremy White Podcast, Garrix explained how he ended up working with the two U2 rock stars.
He said, “I had this demo, and it sounded a bit like the Edge and Bono, and we were talking about who would be incredible to have as part of the song and for me, Bono and the Edge they looked so impossible that they were not even on the list that I was not thinking of reaching out to them.
"UEFA and the team said if you don’t ask you will always never know for an answer, so we send over the demo, and then I think a few hours later I was on the phone to Bono, and he was singing along with the melody lines, and I had to mute myself because I was screaming!"
The song titled ‘We Are The People’ has been kept under wraps for two years due to the tournament being postponed.
UEFA's Marketing Director, Guy-Laurent Epstein, said he hopes the song will bring "people together".
He said, “Football and music have the power of bringing people together. They are vectors of passion and emotion, and combining them will extend further the fan celebration of the tournament, as well as reaching out to new audiences."
