Chicago Bar Patrons and Internet Fooled by Bono Impersonator Singing Christmas Carols

Stacey Ritzen
·2 min read
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Patrons of a local Chicago bar thought they were dining and getting treated to an impromptu Christmas carol session by none other than U2's Bono. So did most of the internet (including this publication). But it all turned out to be a ruse.

Historian Liz Garibay posted a selfie to X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday night, writing: "Just your average Thursday evening in Chicago hanging out with Bono at Twin Anchors Restaurant & Tavern. Soon after, she shared a video of him leading the bar's patrons in a singalong of "O Holy Night." "He also sang Christmas carols with my buddy and the bar," Garibay wrote.

It was even reported that he ate an entire slab of ribs while he was there.

But many began to question why exactly the singer decided to take a break from his residency at the Las Vegas Sphere to travel to Chicago for just one day. It was Dec. 7 that "Bono" ate ribs and sang with locals in Chicago, but as another user pointed out, U2 had bookended gigs at the Sphere on both Dec. 6 and Dec. 8.

As it turned out, he had not. Book Club Chicago notes that longtime Bono impersonator Pavel Sfera admitted to the publication via email that he was the one in the bar that night. “I didn’t have the heart to tell them that I wasn’t the real Bono,” he told the publication. “I think a moment of, ‘is it or is it not him?’ lends itself to a fun story to tell at dinner parties.”

“We’re thinking we were duped,” said Twin Anchors co-owner Gina Manrique to Book Club Chicago. “He never broke character. He had a full house of people fooled he was Bono.”

Garibay later shared that he had apologized to the bar for the "tomfoolery."

While Bono himself wasn't out there spreading Christmas spirit, it still makes for a good story. And hey, he was good enough to fool more than just a bar full of U2 fans.

Correction: This story originally stated that Bono appeared. Although many were fooled into thinking so (including this publication), it was a Bono impersonator.