U2 mark final night of Joshua Tree tour with live cross to present Best Group at the ARIA Awards

There will be boosted bragging rights for whichever act wins the ARIA for Best Group with U2 booked to present the gong during the last concert of their Joshua Tree tour.

There will be boosted bragging rights for whichever act wins the ARIA for Best Group this year with U2 booked to present the gong.

It will be the world’s biggest group’s final night in Australia, performing their last show on the triumphant Joshua Tree tour in Perth.

U2 will present ARIAs Best Group ahead of their final concert in Australia. Picture: David Swift.

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They will cross live via video to present the aware to the winner with 5 Seconds Of Summer, Birds Of Tokyo, Hilltop Hoods, RÜFÜS DU SOL and The Teskey Brothers nominated for the 2019 Best Group award.

U2 were an obvious choice to present the award as they hold the record for the most ARIA No. 1 albums by a group, having reached the chart summit 11 times.

Bono last featured at the ARIAs in 2006 when he made an impassioned speech to induct his friends Midnight Oil to the Hall of Fame.

Hilltop Hoods have been nominated for Best Group four times. Picture: Matt Turner

The Teskey Brothers are up for Best Group. Picture: Mushroom Group

The international presence at the Australian equivalent of the Grammys is significant this year as YouTube will be streaming the ARIAs live to the world.

Organisers hope the star power of pop performers Halsey, Dua Lipa and Khalid and presenters including U2 and Carly Rae Jepsen will boost the streaming ratings and social media reach of the ARIAs.

The labels with nominated artists are also counting on those eyeballs winning more fans for Australian music heroes performing their hit songs on the night, including chartslayer Tones and I, Hilltop Hoods, Teskey Brothers, Thelma Plum, Morgan Evans, Guy Sebastian and Hall of Fame inductees Human Nature.

Could 5 Seconds of Summer win Best Group for the second year running? Picture: Justin Lloyd

“A YouTube live stream is available to our two billion logged in users, so there’s huge potential for Aussie artists to reach global audiences,” said Ruuben van den Heuvel, Head of Music Content Partnerships (South East Asia, AU/NZ).

“Tones and I is finding success and taking on the world with Dance Monkey the top song on YouTube’s global music charts and was last week named as the first Australian to be added to our Artists on the Rise program.

“Tones and I has been an incredible example of an artist that is working with YouTube to find new audiences.”

The 2019 ARIA Awards will be broadcast tomorrow (Wed) in Australia on Nine from 7.30pm.

Originally published as U2 mark final night of Joshua Tree tour with live cross to present Best Group at the ARIA Awards