The Edge becomes first rock star to play the Sistine Chapel

The U2 guitarist played three of the band's songs and a Leonard Cohen cover

The Edge performed in front of just 200 members of a regenerative medicine conference (Getty Images)

The Edge has become the first rock star to play beneath Michelangelo’s stunning painted ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.

The U2 guitarist performed an acoustic set alongside a small Irish choir on Saturday, singing his band’s hits “Walk On”, “Ordinary Love” and “Yahweh” as well as a cover of “If It Be Your Will” by Leonard Cohen.

The lucky audience gathered in the 15th-century chapel was made up of around 200 members of the Cellular Horizons regenerative medicine conference taking place at the Vatican over the weekend. The conference had personal meaning for The Edge, real name David Howell Evans, after his father died of cancer last month and his daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2006.

Elsewhere, U2 are working on the follow-up to 2014’s Songs of Innocence and reportedly have over 50 songs vying a spot on the tracklist. The new album’s title is yet to be announced but the band is rumoured to be considering Songs of Experience.