Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Aviv Geffen To Open For U2 in Greece

A former bad boy of Israeli rock is set to perform his first concert pro Bono.

Aviv Geffen, one of Israel’s top-selling musicians, will open for the Irish megastar band U2 at its September 3 show in Greece, singing for an audience of up to 70,000 at the Olympic Stadium, in Athens. The performance marks a new level of international visibility for the singer, a star in Israel since his teen years and at times one of the country’s most controversial performers.

Now 37, Geffen has focused in recent years on building an international profile, releasing his first English-language album in 2009. Written and recorded mostly in England, the self-titled collection drew on the talents of such producers as Grammy-winner Trevor Horn, who previously worked with Paul McCartney and Tina Turner, and Ken Nelson, a three-time Grammy winner best known for his partnership with Coldplay. Geffen downplayed the announcement of his U2 gig on his website, describing himself simply as “proud,” and instructing fans on where to buy tickets.

As the warm-up act for U2, Geffen joins the ranks of American pop band OneRepublic, which will open for the group at many of its other European tour stops and has enjoyed radio ubiquity all summer with its recent single “Secrets.” Geffen will share the stage in Athens with fellow opening act Snow Patrol a band from Ireland that has sold millions of records, and will be followed later in the year by rap superstar Jay-Z, who will perform with U2 and its front man, Bono, at shows in Australia and New Zealand.

His reputation still growing outside Israel, Geffen long served as the enfant terrible of the Israeli music scene, inspiring controversy in the 1990s with his lyrics, political statements and androgynous style of dress. The singer has mellowed in recent years, with his website now noting that he “comfortably outsells Madonna, Coldplay and U2 in his home country.”

Even after watching his Athens show, Israelis are likely to view a 1995 performance in Tel Aviv as Geffen’s most significant. Then 22, the musician sang at a peace rally onstage with Yitzhak Rabin, minutes before the Israeli prime minister was assassinated.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.