U2

Wyclef Jean is confident his group The Fugees are solidified in history, even with their lack of albums ... they've been perfecting their craft since childhood.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the 'Carnival' creator at LAX right before his L.A. leg as a part of Lauryn Hill's "Miseducation" 25th-anniversary tour (more on that later) ... and he told us flat-out the trio's legacy surpassed all his expectations!!!

Clef recalled starting the group with Lauryn and Pras all the way back in high school in Jersey in the '80s ... the precursor to their monumental, 22x Platinum-selling album "The Score," which dropped in 1996.

Wyclef says U2's Bono told him The Fugees were "Hip Hop's Beatles" at the height of the album's success, a compliment lost on him at the time but says the years of having fans sell out their shows -- or wait for them at airports -- validated the honor for him.

He's hinted at them finally preparing a release after all this time ... a topic Pras played coy with us when we spoke to him last. Something big's obviously on the horizon!!!

Fast forward to the present day, the trio is still seeing their fans attend their droves .... with some special provisions added to the fray.

Lauryn defended her historic lateness during her first L.A. show on Friday, basically telling fans they should be grateful she's onstage to begin with.

Despite Ms. Hill's shade, fans were still treated at the 2nd L.A. set -- Lil Wayne surprised and performed to The Fugees' "Ready or Not" beat while rocking his own "A Milli" classic.

Nas also showed up to congratulate Lauryn for earning a Diamond plaque for her "Miseducation" album ... and stayed to perform their duets "Nobody" and "If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)."

Their track record speaks for itself ... now seems like the perfect time to add to it!!!

Lady Gaga just made her own special debut at the Sphere in Las Vegas ... performing her hit track from "A Star Is Born" during a surprise appearance at U2's show.

The singer joined Bono and co. at the one-of-a-kind venue Wednesday night to sing "Shallow" -- a true treat for the massive crowd.

Those in the audience even joined in, with LG and Bono giving the crowd a chance to belt out the chorus for the Oscar-winning track.

That's not all, though -- Gaga also performed with U2 for the band's 1988 song, "All I Want Is You" ... making fans go nuts once again.

This ain't the first time the 2 forces of music teamed up, BTW ... you'll recall, she made a surprise appearance in 2015 during U2's "Innocence + Experience Tour," jamming out to "Ordinary Love."

Gaga's recent Sphere pop-in comes on the heels of her jumping on stage with the Rolling Stones in New York last week ... not to mention her brief appearance on Bad Bunny's episode of "Saturday Night Live."

Lady Gaga acaba de hacer su especial debut en la esfera de Las Vegas, interpretando su éxito de "A Star Is Born" durante una aparición sorpresa en el show de U2.

La cantante se unió a Bono y compañía en el extraordinario lugar la noche del miércoles para cantar "Shallow", un verdadero placer para la multitud.

Lady Gaga y Bono le ofrecieron a la multitud la oportunidad de corear el estribillo de la canción ganadora de un Oscar.

Pero eso no es todo: Gaga también actuó con U2 para la canción de 1988 de la banda, "All I Want Is You", haciendo que los fans se volvieran locos una vez más.

Por cierto, esta no es la primera vez que las dos fuerzas de la música se unen, como recordarán la cantante hizo una aparición sorpresa en 2015 durante la gira "Innocence + Experience Tour" de la banda, improvisando con "Ordinary Love".

La reciente aparición de Gaga en la esfera viene tras su salto al escenario con los Rolling Stones en Nueva York la semana pasada, por no hablar de su breve aparición en el episodio de Bad Bunny en "Saturday Night Live".

Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and Ed Sheeran treated themselves to a Saturday night performance of U2's out-of-this-world "Sphere" Residency ... and we caught the trio rockin' out like there was no tomorrow.

The A-listers were watching Bono and Co. crank out their hit "It's a Beautiful Day" onstage inside the humongous planet-like arena created for the band's three-month Las Vegas Residency called "U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere," which kicked off in late September.

Check out this video, obtained by TMZ  ... Tom and his wife, Rita, are standing side by side in an elevated seating area, while Ed is hanging out nearby. All three are engrossed in the show, bopping to the beats of the tune.

Suddenly, the song hits a crescendo and Tom/Rita go totally nuts, putting their dance moves into high gear and singing along to the lyrics.

Turns out Tom, Rita and Ed are just the latest in a long line of Hollywood's elite to enjoy the iconic rock group's Vegas Residency.

The Sphere in Vegas -- a remarkable architectural and technological wonder -- is finally open for business Friday night in Vegas!

The Sphere -- which took 4 years to build at a cost of $2.3 BILLION -- will open its doors to 17,500 lucky fans who will watch U2 christen the venue.

The stats are breathtaking ... it's 360 feet tall and 516 feet wide ... the largest spherical structure on planet Earth. Another record -- its 580,000 square-foot LED exterior, which can be programmed to display the coolest images y'all have ever seen.

There are 167,000 speakers in the joint, and they say the sound is just incredible.

Of course, there's a big AI presence ... 5 AI humanoid robots will greet visitors as they gawk at what's inside.

The venue will not only host concerts, there will be super cool events like a feature called "Postcard from Earth" directed by Darren Aronofsky.

2:06 PM PT -- Bono has issued a statement on his condition, saying ... "I’ve seen a great doctor and with his care I’ll be back to full voice for the rest of the tour. So happy and relieved that anything serious has been ruled out." He also apologized to his fans who missed out on his Berlin show, and promised to return on November 13th.

Bono pulled the plug on his concert Saturday night after his voice started sounding like a scratched-up LP.

U2 hit the stage in Berlin and after they were a few songs deep into the show ... Bono waived the white flag.

What was weird ... Bono sounded fine at the beginning of the concert, so whatever happened happened super quick.

The folks at the Mercedes-Benz Arena were understanding as Bono seemed to give the crowd options. Either reschedule, or take a 10 to 15 minute break. It's unclear what he meant by the break, since it was obvious his voice wasn't coming back anytime soon. It sounds like he was hoping his voice would come back, but that was clearly a pipe dream. In the end, the stage went dark.

Tom Brady can cross sixth member of the Backstreet Boys off his post-football plans ... 'cause AJ McLean says the Pats QB's singing is way too garbage for that.

We brought you the story last week ... TB12 had a date night with Gisele out at U2's concert in Boston when he screeched out the words to "Vertigo" and "Pride (In The Name of Love)."

When we showed AJ the clips ... his reaction was the same as mostly everyone else's ... "Not everybody is supposed to be a singer."

McLean did give props to Brady for sharing his, um, voice with the world ... saying it took "cajones" for Brady to do that.

U2 cancelled a SRO concert in Paris scheduled for tonight in the wake of the deadly Paris attacks.

The cancellation appears to be a reaction to safety concerns. A rep for U2 said, "As a result of the ongoing state of emergency across France, the U2 Paris concert scheduled for 14th November will not be going ahead as planned."

Ditto Coldplay, which cancelled a livestream concert set for the day of the attacks in L.A. Rather than expressing safety concerns, the band said the concert would not go on "out of respect for all the terrible events in Paris."

Penelope Cruz is still hot enough to get U2 to play an entire concert ... JUST FOR HER -- at least that's what 24,000 people must have thought was happening in Barcelona.

Bono and co. played to a packed arena there this week, and when they made the mistake of inviting Penelope and hubby Javier Bardem on stage -- chica snapped pic after pic after pic as the band played on. She even had the lads pose for shots with Javier!

Imagine ... you pay through the nose to see 4 old Irish dudes rock out, and instead you end up with Penelope's bunny-ears-sporting-ass in your face.

Actually ...

Security at a U2 concert in Sweden couldn't find what they were looking for ... a guy with a weapon -- so the band was forced to cancel their show.

Swedish authorities tell TMZ ... Stockholm's The Globen venue was evacuated Sunday night after security lost track of the guy who somehow got inside.

The band was regretful, saying, "The organizers apologize for the inconvenience caused and thank the audience for their understanding. Their safety is the priority."

Chelsea Clinton got wanded just like everyone else at the U2 concert in NYC.

The daughter of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and hubby Marc Mezvinsky showed up Friday night at Madison Square Garden, and she flashed a faint smile as guards looked for contraband.

It's even more amusing because Chelsea was also there with Eve Hewson, Bono's daughter.

U2's longtime tour manager died early Wednesday morning in Los Angeles ... just as the band kicked off a week-long string of concerts in the city.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Dennis Sheehan was found unconscious in his room at the Sunset Marquis Hotel. We're told paramedics were called to Sheehan's hotel room around 5:30 AM for a reported cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

Sheehan -- who was in his late 60s -- has been U2's tour manager for more than 30 years.

His death came just hours after the curtain went down on U2's first of 5 concerts at the Forum in L.A.

The Edge still can't find what he's looking for ... in this case, the rest of the stage.

U2 opened up its "Innocence + Experience" world tour Thursday in Vancouver. As the band played its iconic hit, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" ... Edge went flying offstage.

After the show he posted he was fine, writing, "Didn't see the edge, I'm ok!! #U2ieTour." Looks like his arm is badly scraped.

The band is already operating at less than 100% -- Bono suffered a terrible bike accident in NYC last November that required two surgeries.

For months, U2 fans have been waiting for the release of a new album reportedly produced by Danger Mouse.

Wonder who was on the receiving end?