Six Other Musicians Who’ve Had an Audience With Pope Leo

After Bob Dylan's hooded huddle with Pope Leo on Wednesday (Nov. 4) we look at other musical visits to the Vatican to commune with the American-born pontiff. 11/5/2026 Bob Dylan performs onstage during the 17th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards held at The Hollywood Palladium on January 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. Christopher Polk/Getty Images for VH1 It was the bizarre photo that somehow managed to cut through all the dissection and celebration surrounding the Blue-nami Democratic wave wins in the midterm elections on Wednesday (Nov. 4). Bob Dylan, dressed in his by-now-familiar dark hoodie, hood up, meeting with the first American-born pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, at the Vatican. Minnesota native Dylan — who performed for and met Pope John Paul II in 1997 — had a private audience with Chicago-bred Pope Leo during which he wore his hoodie, along with a black jacket, black zip-up, loosely tied polka dot black tie and black pants. According to the Vatican, the pope gave the Nobel Prize-winning folk icon a rosary and Dylan in turn gave the leader of the Catholic Church a copy of his Chronicles: Volume One memoir. Though the sight of the two men launched hundreds of memes and quips about their big mismatched crime-solving duo energy, it was not the first time the American Pope has met with a popular musician or hosted them at the Vatican for a special event. In fact, the 71-year-old religious leader whose papacy began on May 8, 2025 has met with a number and hosted special events with a number of rock, pop, opera and Latin artists since ascending to the papacy last year. From meeting with punk legend Patti Smith, Bad Bunny and Italian singer Laura Pausini, to attending concerts by crooner Michael Bublé and Italian conductor Riccardo Muti, Pope Leo has enjoyed audiences with a number of bold-faced names, in addition to overseeing (but not attending) last September’s Grace for the World show in St. Peter’s Square that featured Bocelli, Karol G, Pharrell Williams, John Legend and Jennifer Hudson. Check out a list of six of Pope Leo’s top musical encounter moments below. Laura Pausini Italian pop singer Pausini received Billboard Italy’s prestigious Global Icon award on Nov. 12, 2025 during a historic Vatican ceremony with Pope Leo. “I’m very excited and honored to have received the Global Icon award in the presence of the Pope,” Pausini told Billboard Italy. “It was a moment and an encounter that I will remember forever. I wanted to offer Him what represents my very soul, my voice and my music.” In addition, Pausini presented the pope with a unique, unreleased song, her rendition of “Brother Sun, Sister Moon,” which was inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Creatures.” Patti Smith Punk godmother Smith found herself at an uncharacteristic loss for words when she met with Pope Leo on July 31, 2026. “This is a moment that shall forever produce a smile,” Smith, also a Chicago native, said afterwards of her sit-down with Leo at his desk at the Apostolic Palace. Wearing her trademark braids and a crucifix necklace, Smith, who is not Catholic, also marked the first anniversary of Leo’s papacy whens she kicked off the Holy See’s Pavilion at the 61st international art exhibition of the Venice Biennale on May 8, where she performed a sound prayer created in collaboration with the Soundwalk Collective. Andrea Bocelli Italian tenor Bocelli and a 164-member international children’s choir and a group of young people from crisis-impacted regions met up with the pope to dedicate a prayer for peace at Borgo Laudato si’ on July 29 in Castel Gandolfo, Italy during the event marking the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi’s death. During the gathering, they sang a musical rendition of the saint’s “Canticle of Peace,” as well as “Amazing Grace” and Bocelli performed the Latin hymn “Panis Angelicus.” Bocelli and his son, Matteo, also sang at the Sept. 2025 inauguration of Borgo Laudato Si’, a center dedicated to promoting ecology and sustainability rooted in Catholic teaching. Bad Bunny Pope Leo received Bad Bunny at a private meeting in Madrid, Spain on June 8, 2026 at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, where the pontiff held a series of get-togethers after his massive gathering with the diocesan community. The short meeting between the Puerto Rican superstar and some members of his family with the pontiff took place while the pope was in Madrid as part of an official visit to Spain and Benito was in the city for a 10-concert residency at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on his Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour Louis ‘Blue Lou’ Marini Pope Leo’s Chicago roots go deep, from his loyalty to his beloved Chicago White Sox to his favorite pizza joint, Aurelio’s Pizza in Homewood. So it makes sense that he’s also a fan of the 1980 John Belushi/Dan Aykroyd irreverent Chicago-located religious musical comedy The Blues Brothers. Which is why it was no surprise that the pontiff quoted the film’s signature line when he met Lou “Blue Lou” Marini, a saxophonist in the movie, at a religious gathering in Rimini, Italy in August 2026. According to reports, the pope shook Marini’s hand and surprised the musician by telling him that he was “still on a mission from God,” a reference to Aykroyd’s signature line in the film. Marini gave Leo a pair of Ray-Bans similar to the ones worn by the film’s two stars and said if he’d had time he would have inscribed “Papa Cool” on them; Leo returned the favor by gifting Marini two rosaries. Karol G Colombian superstar Karol G sang her Mañana Será Bonito song “Mientras me curo el cora” and performed a duet with Andrea Bocelli on his 1995 song “Vivo Por Ella” at the Grace for the World concert in Vatican City in September 2025. While Leo was not in attendance at the event that marked the closing of the third World Meeting on Human Fraternity, he was feted at the concert by a group of performers that included Pharrell Williams, John Legend, Angélique Kidjo, Jennifer Hudson, Karol G and Bocelli at the gathering in St. Peter’s Square. “When [Bocelli] invited me, I said no, because I was super nervous,” Karol said on the Jennifer Hudson Show after the event. “It’s the Vatican, we’re going to sing in La Plaza San Pedro, I’m going to perform for a lot of people and with Andrea Bocelli. I don’t know if I’m ready, and I was doing a lot of stuff at the same time, so maybe it wasn’t the moment to do this? So, I said no. My mom got crazy, [and said], ‘How is this possible? Karol, this is an opportunity that you have every 25 years, because the jubilee is every 25 years.’ So I was like, ‘OMG that’s true, so maybe the opportunity came to me because I’m ready. I’m actually ready.’” Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up