Aussie Emmanuel Kelly Joins Coldplay At FIFA Club World Cup Final Halftime Show

Australian singer Emmanuel Kelly joined Coldplay on the world stage on Sunday (13 July), performing at the first-ever FIFA Club World Cup Final Halftime Show.

The halftime show was produced by Global Citizen and curated by Coldplay singer Chris Martin. It featured international stars performing at the event, all while raising money for children accessing quality education across the globe. The performances were streamed live around the world yesterday and can be rewatched on DAZN.com or on DAZN’s YouTube channel.

Coldplay performed the anthemic pop tune A Sky Full of Stars with Kelly, while Doja Cat brought an energetic performance of her song Woman, J Balvin brought Latin culture and music to the stage with his hits Mi Gente and Reggaeton, and Nigerian Afrobeats star Tems performed Love Me JeJe.

“Today we witnessed something truly historic – artists representing the Americas, Africa, Europe and Oceania coming together on football’s biggest stage for the first ever FIFA halftime show,” said Hugh Evans, Co-Founder & CEO, Global Citizen.

“This international line-up perfectly embodied the idea that music and football can unite the world, and when we take action together, we can make an outsized impact to help children around the world access quality education.”

You can watch the performances below.

This wasn’t the first time Emmanuel Kelly shared the stage with Coldplay. On the British band’s recent Australian tour, Kelly was the special guest on all shows and joined the group for a stunning performance of Everglow in Melbourne in November. In 2017, Kelly and Coldplay performed the John Lennon classic, Imagine.

In interviews, Kelly revealed that he was found abandoned in a box by soldiers in Iraq as an infant. After being cared for by the nuns of the Mother Teresa Orphanage in Baghdad, it was discovered that Kelly was born with underdeveloped limbs due to prenatal exposure to chemical warfare.

Emmanuel and his brother, Ahmed, were adopted by Australian woman Moira Kelly in 1998 and immigrated to Australia. After undergoing surgery, Kelly was able to wear prostheses. He became an Australian citizen in 2009.

Beyond finding fame on The X Factor Australia in 2011, Kelly has released music and toured nationally and abroad.

Chris Martin is an ambassador of the Moira Kelly Creating Hope Foundation (MKCHF), which brings children with medical conditions unable to be treated by local doctors overseas to Australia for life-saving treatment.