MONTREAL – It was a dream come true for 23-year-old Ryan Luxenberg when he got a once-in-a-lifetime chance to sing a song with Irish rock band U2 during a concert at the Bell Centre on Tuesday.
He’s not quite a rocker in his regular life — Luxenberg is a second year dentistry student at Université de Montréal.
All the same, he’s a self-proclaimed music lover and a passionate singer.
Now, he’s perhaps the only Montrealer who can say he’s rocked out with U2 as 22,000 fans cheered him on.
Luxenberg was there “pretty much alone,” he said.
He had originally invited his father and three siblings to go with him.
“My Dad said ‘I would hate it if for some reason you went on stage and I missed it,'” he laughed.
“And he did.”
It all started when lead singer Bono saw him in the crowd waving a sign that said “23 years old: Can I play?”
Bono took him up on the challenge, brought him on stage, took The Edge‘s guitar and gave it to Luxenberg to see if he could play “Desire.”
“Edge is not sure,” Bono said to him. “I think you have to show him.”
The rest, as they say, was epic.
After singing the first half of the song together, Bono gave Luxenberg the mic.
“I went over this a million times in my head,” said Luxenberg — and the band loved him.
“You get one chance to really make a moment, make an impact like that at the Bell Centre. I think that really resonated with the band.”
BELOW: Watch Luxenberg’s full performance.
rachel.lau@globalnews.ca
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