{"id":7979,"date":"2026-07-19T19:36:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T19:36:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/07\/19\/iraqi-born-singer-emmanuel-kelly-among-world-cup-half-time-show-headliners\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T19:36:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T19:36:56","slug":"iraqi-born-singer-emmanuel-kelly-among-world-cup-half-time-show-headliners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/07\/19\/iraqi-born-singer-emmanuel-kelly-among-world-cup-half-time-show-headliners\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraqi-born singer Emmanuel Kelly among World Cup half-time show headliners"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><a target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\" aria-label href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/fifa-world-cup-2026\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"22.5\" width=\"222.75\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Post-Label-Image-Option-1-1780213226.png?fit=396%2C40&#038;quality=80\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"World Cup 2026 post label\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Abandoned as a baby with severely underdeveloped limbs and brought up by nuns in Baghdad, Kelly will be performing at the World Cup final alongside some of the biggest global stars.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Among the headline performers at the first-ever <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/7\/19\/world-cup-2026-final-closing-ceremony-and-half-time-show-what-to-know\">FIFA World Cup half-time show<\/a> alongside Shakira, BTS, Justin Bieber and Madonna is a man with a remarkable life story \u2013 Iraqi-born singer Emmanuel Kelly.<\/p>\n<p>Kelly says he was found abandoned in a box as a baby, and was brought up by nuns at Mother Teresa\u2019s orphanage in Baghdad. Some of his limbs were severely underdeveloped, and at the orphanage he became friends with another boy called Ahmed, who had a similar condition.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/7\/19\/world-cup-2026-final-closing-ceremony-and-half-time-show-what-to-know\">World Cup 2026 final: Closing ceremony and half-time show \u2013 what to know<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/7\/19\/gaza-cheers-for-spain-as-world-cup-final-anticipation-mounts\">Gaza cheers for Spain as World Cup final anticipation mounts<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/7\/19\/fifa-admits-hydration-breaks-may-not-continue-after-world-cup-criticism\">FIFA admits hydration breaks may not continue after World Cup criticism<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>In 1998, when Emmanuel was around four years old, the Australian Catholic humanitarian worker Moira Kelly visited the orphanage and witnessed the plight of Emmanuel and Ahmed.<\/p>\n<p>She was determined to bring the boys to Australia for medical treatment, and after two years, she succeeded.<\/p>\n<p>Emmanuel and Ahmed arrived in Australia in 2000, and both underwent multiple surgeries to enable them to wear prosthetic limbs. They were adopted by Moira the same year, and in 2009 they officially became Australian citizens.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview published on the FIFA website in 2025, Emmanuel said the surgery and prostheses enabled him and his brother to be self-reliant for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe learned all the basic things I think that humans take for granted sometimes, like walking and feeding themselves and things like that,\u201d he said. \u201cEventually I decided I wanted to pursue entertainment and music.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4785672\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4785672\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/getty_6a5ca92dec-1784457517.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C1155&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Emmanuel Kelly attends the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards 2025 October 19, 2025 in London, England\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4785672\">Emmanuel Kelly attends the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards 2025 October 19, 2025 in London, England [Shane Anthony Sinclair\/Getty Images]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In 2011, at the age of 17, Emmanuel was a contestant in the Australian version of television talent show The X Factor. His rendition of John Lennon\u2019s song Imagine captivated the live audience and was viewed millions of times online. Although he was eliminated relatively early in the series after forgetting the words to a song he was performing, this was the start of his musical career.<\/p>\n<p>His brother Ahmed, meanwhile, became a competitive swimmer, representing Australia multiple times and winning the silver medal in the men\u2019s 150-metre individual medley at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.<\/p>\n<p>In 2016, as the band Coldplay were preparing for concerts in Australia, lead singer Chris Martin saw a video of Emmanuel Kelly performing and resolved to meet him. Kelly was invited onto the stage at the Coldplay concert in Melbourne and sang Imagine in a duet with Martin.<\/p>\n<p>The two became friends, and in 2024 Kelly was invited to be the headline opening act for Coldplay for their four concerts in Australia during their Music of the Spheres tour.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChris has been my brother, Chris Martin, for eight years or so, and he said to me, \u2018Hey, come on tour with me and join me on a stadium tour.\u2019 I did that, and that was pretty epic,\u201d Kelly said in his FIFA interview.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Martin was asked by FIFA to curate the half-time show at the Club World Cup final at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Kelly was one of the singers Martin asked to take part in the performance. He was described by organisers as \u201cthe first differently abled artist to headline a FIFA half-time show\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday\u2019s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina is taking place in the same stadium. Once again, Martin is curating the musical performance, and Kelly will be one of those on stage for what FIFA hopes will be the most viewed half-time show in history.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat an exciting opportunity to get to represent true full-scale global unity,\u201d Kelly said in a video on Instagram ahead of the show. \u201cNo matter how different you are, you will still be seen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Abandoned as a baby with severely underdeveloped limbs and brought up by nuns in Baghdad, Kelly will be performing at the World Cup final alongside some of the biggest global stars. Among the headline performers at the first-ever FIFA World Cup half-time show alongside Shakira, BTS, Justin Bieber and Madonna is a man with a &#8230; <a title=\"Iraqi-born singer Emmanuel Kelly among World Cup half-time show headliners\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/07\/19\/iraqi-born-singer-emmanuel-kelly-among-world-cup-half-time-show-headliners\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Iraqi-born singer Emmanuel Kelly among World Cup half-time show headliners\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}