Update: U2's Bono, the Edge to Perform on 'American Idol' Season Finale

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After winning the Top Touring Artist Award at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night (May 22), U2 members Bono and the Edge are set to perform on the American Idol season 10 finale this Wednesday. An announcement posted on U2.com confirms that the bandmates will appear alongside cast members of the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which is currently back in revamped form and running in previews with one new song, and classic hits from the band, woven into the production. Bono and the Edge are the show's composers.  

While backstage at the Billboard Music Awards, U2's longtime manager, Paul McGuinness, affirmed that the "Idol" season finale rehearsal was the next stop on the schedule, followed by a performance at Salt Lake City's Rice-Eccles Stadium on Tuesday and the live finale on Wednesday.

While the four members of U2 took the stage at the Billboard Music Awards to accept the Top Touring Artist Award for its record-breaking 360° tour, McGuinness said that the group's mammoth trek -- which will have played to more than seven million people by the time it wraps -- presented a combination of both quality and quantity. "It's more important to be the best rather than the biggest," said McGuinness, "but I think they've managed to be both."

U2 guitarist the Edge admitted that it was a unique honor among the group's many career accolades during a backstage Q&A. "It's always a thrill to win an award, but something about this really connected when I realized that more people had come to this tour any previous tour. Seven million people -- I still can't quite get my head around that figure. It's so astonishing, and just feels really good."

U2's "Idol" performance will be part of the episode that reveals whether Scotty McCreery or Lauren Alaina is the season 10 champ. After the appearance, the group's 360° tour will continue to rock stadiums in North America through July 30, with support from the Fray, Lenny Kravitz, Florence & the Machine and Interpol during various dates.