From

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/neilm...en-of-all-time/

 

The greatest front men of all time

 

 

By Neil McCormick

 

 

Is Liam Gallagher of Oasis really the greatest front man of all time?

 

Readers polls are a bad advertisement for democracy.

 

The new issue of music Q magazine has a list of the best front men of all time, as voted for by their readers.

 

Here’s the top 20. Gird your loins

1) Liam Gallagher :rolleyes:

2) Bono

3) Freddie Mercury

4) Damon Albarn :unsure:

5) Chris Martin :blink:

6) Matt Bellamy

7) Jim Morrison

8) Bob Marley

9) Paul McCartney

10) John Lennon

11) Robbie Williams

12) Debbie Harry

13) Mick Jagger

14) Morrissey

15) John Lydon

16) James Brown

17) Bruce Springsteen

18) Robert Plant

19) Tom Meighan

20) Joe Strummer

 

So there you have it. It’s the triumph of Britpop. Not only is Liam Gallagher of Oasis the greatest frontman of all time (official) but we’ve got Blur and Coldplay in the top five. Of all time! And the current crop of Brit rockers Muse and Kasabian see off the claim of Roger Daltrey (with The Who) and Jimi Hendrix (The Experience).

 

Anyway, the criteria seem quite confused. Not sure if Debbie Harry ever considered herself a frontman. And if she counts, where’s Janis Joplin? Which throws up the whole slightly confusing issue of solo artists. If Robbie Williams and James Brown can be counted as frontmen, then where’s David Bowie and Prince? Or for that matter Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson? And if you start counting them, where do Lady GaGa and Beyonce fit in? And if we’re talking all time, what about Louis Armstrong, Al Jolson and Frank Sinatra. And that’s only going back a century

 

So, to restore some sanity to this, I have provided an alternative top ten of the greatest band front men and women in the history of rock, only including those solo artists who perform as part of a regular group. And we’re talking live performance here and really fronting the music, which, I think, discounts The Beatles, as obviously great as they were.

 

Think of this as a public service (and pray that Q’s readers are too young to vote in the general election).

 

1) Mick Jagger

2) Bruce Springsteen (with the E Street Band)

3) Jimi Hendrix (with The Experience)

4) Bono

5) Jim Morrison

6) Freddie Mercury

7) Liam Gallagher

8) Janis Joplin (with Big Brother & The Holding Company)

9) Robert Plant

10) Roger Daltrey

 

And actually I accept that Prince and James Brown may be better frontmen than the lot of them, but they are both really solo artists. And hovering at the edges of my list were Johnny Rotten (with The Sex Pistols), Bob Marley (with The Wailers), Iggy Pop (with The Stooges), Peter Gabriel (with Genesis), Joe Strummer (with The Clash), Morrissey (with The Smiths) and David Byrne (with Talking Heads). And I love Debbie Harry too, but I saw Blondie quite a bit back in the day, and believe me, she went a hell of a long way on sex appeal …

 

OK, I’m battening down the hatches now. You can tell me what you think. Just remember … this is NOT a democracy!

 

From

http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?...281474978129077

 

 

Bono of U2 Named "Worst Investor in America"

March 25, 2010 12:10 PM EDT

 

 

You stayed away from buying No Line on the Horizon, now stay away from Bono's financial advice. The singer's investments into his Elevation Partners have made him the "worst investor investor in America," according to online publication 24/7 Wall Street.

 

Via large investments in Palm, Forbes, and Move.com, which the site calls "an unprecedented string of disastrous investments which even bad luck could not explain," Elevation stands as "arguably the worst run institutional fund of any size in the United States."

 

A few of those high-minded deals that went kablooey: Elevation purchased 25% of Palm in 2007, after which shares of the mobile phone company's stock went from $18 to $3.65; after its 2006 investment of $300 million in Forbes' online operations, the firm's total value has gone from $750 million to "perhaps $100 million"; following its $100 million investment into Move.com, the company's shares have dropped by 50%; and after throwing another $100 million at business review website Yelp, that company has been the subject of several lawsuits claiming it tried to extort money from businesses in exchange for favorable reviews. (A charge, needless to say, that Yelp yelps is untrue.)

 

It's enough to give those dealing with Elevation -- whose other leaders include a former Apple CFO -- a severe case of vertigo. Har har har, thanks I'll be here all week.

 

Unless Bono buys a stake in Gather.com, of course.

 

:cry:

 

Gavin Friday 'saved U2's first hit'

 

Sunday, April 4 2010, 14:05 BST

 

By Sarah Rollo, Entertainment Reporter

Gavin Friday 'saved U2's first hit'

 

Gavin Friday has reportedly been credited with rescuing U2's first American number one - by identifying its missing component.

 

According to guitarist The Edge, the band were struggling to complete 'With Or Without You' and had considered abandoning the 1987 track before Bono's childhood friend arrived at the studio.

 

Read full article here

 

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a21...-first-hit.html

 

U2's Bono set for multi-million pound Palm windfall

 

 

U2’s Bono looks set to collect a multi-million pound windfall from the sale of Palm, the beleaguered smartphone maker.

 

 

Full story here

 

From

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8640003.stm

 

 

U2 top Irish music millionaires rich list

 

The Irish band and their manager have a combined wealth estimated at £429m :o

 

U2 and their manager Paul McGuinness top the Irish Sunday Times Music Millionaires Rich List.

 

Their combined wealth is estimated at £429m, a rise of 1% on 2009.

 

In second place is Lord of the Dance star Michael Flatley, with his total wealth calculated at £241m.

 

The paper said his fortunes have dipped by 2% in the past year because of a fall in the value of the The Lord of the Dance brand.

 

Dublin-based singer Enya is third in the list, with a fortune believed to be, £85m.

 

All three retain the same top three positions from the 2009 list.

 

Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison is fourth with his wealth listed at £50m.

 

Newcomers to the list of Ireland's 250 richest people are the four members of the band Westlife - Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan and Nicky Byrne, who debut with a combined fortune estimated at £31m. :angry:

 

They share fifth place with Chris de Burgh. :lol:

 

Singer Katie Melua, who spent part of her childhood in Northern Ireland has seen no change in her fortune which remains at £10m.

 

Londonderry born Nadine Coyle, who found fame with Girls Aloud makes it onto the paper's list of young music millionaires with a fortune believed to be, £5m.

 

The 22nd annual Sunday Times Rich List is published in a special 104-page supplement on Sunday.

 

It profiles the 1,000 richest people and families in the UK and the wealthiest 250 in Ireland.

 

From

 

http://www.chartattack.com/news/81241/u2s-...f-last-25-years

 

 

U2's Achtung Baby Named Best Album Of Last 25 Years

 

 

Well, at least it wasn't Pop.

 

Spin has decided U2's Achtung Baby, which was released in 1991 after being recorded in Dublin, Ireland and Berlin, Germany just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, is the best album of the last 25 years.

 

Spin is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and its June 2010 issue features a list of the top 125 albums of the last 25 years.

 

The top 10 is pretty predictable: Prince's Sign O' The Times comes in at #2, followed by The Smiths' The Queen Is Dead. Nirvana's Nevermind and Radiohead's OK Computer round out the top five.

 

Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, Guns N' Roses' Appetite For Destruction, PJ Harvey's Rid Of Me, Pavement's Slanted And Enchanted and Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral complete the top 10.

 

U2's The Joshua Tree also made the list.

 

U2 will return to the road in June to play another leg of dates in support of last year's No Line On The Horizon.

From

http://www.gigwise.com/news/56818/U2-Bob-D...-Intensive-Care

 

 

U2, Bob Dylan Producer Daniel Lanois In Intensive Care

 

After serious motorcycle accident...

June 11, 2010 by Jason Gregory

 

 

U2 producer and singer Daniel Lanois has been seriously injured in a motorcycle accident, it’s been reported.

 

Lanois is in intensive care in hospital after the crash near Los Angeles last weekend.

 

The Canadian producer, who also fronts the band Black Dub, has been forced to call off all “promotional activity” for the next two months, reports The Guardian.

 

Lanois’ studio work includes producing U2’s ‘Joshua Tree’ and ‘Time Out Of My Mind’ by Bob Dylan in 1997.

 

He also produced U2’s most recent album, 2009’s ‘No Line on the Horizon’.

 

Looks as if Bono's making a pretty decent recovery from his emergency back surgery a couple of months back....U2 have started rescheduling their postponed tour dates....the stop in Miami, Florida, has been rescheduled to 29 July 2011.....

Video message from them here:

 

http://www.u2.com/news/title/were-coming-back

 

 

http://www.mtv.co.uk/artists/u2/news/23087...-s-richest-band

 

U2 Are World’s Richest BandBeyonce, AC/DC and Lady GaGa also make music rich list...

17:15, Saturday, 17 July 2010

U2 have been named the highest-earning music act of 2010 by Forbes magazine. The band earned £84.9m in the last 12 months to take the title.

 

Heavy metal rockers AC/DC were second with earnings of £74.5m – the band’s Black Ice tour was the highest grossing tour in the world in the first six months of 2010. Beyonce was the highest paid female, though Forbes reports that more than half the Halo singer’s £56.8m earnings came from endorsement deals with companies such as L’Oreal and Nintendo. Beyonce’s husband Jay-Z ranked sixth with earnings of just over £41m.

 

Others in the Forbes’ Top Earning Musicians of 2010 list included Bruce Springsteen, Britney Spears and Madonna. Lady GaGa made her first appearance on the annual list, raking in over £40.5m for her 106-date Fame Ball and Monster Ball world tours, but on the whole the list was crammed with established artists who have been around for well over a decade.

 

The only Brits in the top 10 were Coldplay, at joint 10th place with Black Eyed Peas – both bands earned £31.3 million in the last year.

 

In other U2 news, the band have confirmed they will reschedule tour dates they cancelled when Bono hurt his back earlier this year, and are keen to have another crack at Glastonbury. "I'm going to be fighting fit next summer in the US (and) looking forward to this summer in Europe,” the frontman said.

 

“I'm ready, rebuilt by German engineering,” he told E Online. “Better design, I'm told. I'm very well. I can sit. I can stand. I can move around a bit. Feeling strong, feeling confident, know what I'm saying?"

 

Forbes’ Top Earning Musicians of 2010:

 

1. U2 - £84.9m

2. AC/DC - £74.5m

3. Beyonce - £56.8m

4. Bruce Springsteen - £45.7m

5. Britney Spears - £41.8m

6. Jay-Z - £41.1m

7. Lady GaGa - £40.5m

8. Madonna - £37.9m

9. Kenny Chesney - £32.6m

= 10. Black Eyed Peas - £31.3m

= 10. Coldplay - £31.3m

=10. Toby Keith - £31.3m

 

Mostly the ones with major tours last year then? :unsure:

Yeah, just goes to show, that's where the money is now

 

 

TT will be in that list next year!

Maybe :unsure:

 

Although it might need to be 200 concerts in the UK and Ireland unless they sell it around the rest of the world as Robbie Williams and his new backing band :huh:

From

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story...ecovery_1158851

 

 

 

U2 - Bono Sparked Up Again During Back Op Recovery

 

 

U2 rocker BONO was left frustrated with his lack of willpower while recovering from emergency back surgery earlier this year (10) - he took up smoking again to deal with his boredom.

 

The Irish band had to postpone the North American trek of its world tour and scrap its headlining slot at Britain's Glastonbury festival in June (10) after Bono was admitted to hospital for the operation in May (10).

 

He returned to the stage earlier this month (Aug10) for a gig in Italy.

 

But the rocker - who has smoked on-and-off throughout his life - admits he lit up again while he was in bed recovering.

 

He tells Britain's The Sun, "One of the things you can do when you're lying down like that is to write, so I wrote. Lying motionless I also had time to think about the future, because I never think about the past.

 

"The other thing I did was to eat ice cream and I also started smoking again."

 

 

:nono:

From

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/a...BY1dPaiZn6O4ufg

 

 

U2's Bono in plea to Sarkozy

 

 

 

U2 frontman Bono is wooing French president Nicolas Sarkozy to get his backing in the fight against poverty and Aids.

 

Bono said Mr Sarkozy's leadership "is vital on all the things that I care about" because he will head the G8 and the G20 next year and said: "France is going to be the most important country on the planet."

 

Bono met Mr Sarkozy and left the presidential palace upbeat. He said the president does not plan to cut back on development as others are doing. The meeting came ahead of a UN summit on Millennium Development Goals to fight world poverty.

From

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/u...ar-2352579.html

 

 

U2's city hotel made loss of €1.6m last year

 

By Gordon Deegan

 

Saturday September 25 2010

 

LOSSES continued to mount last year at the Clarence Hotel in Dublin's Temple Bar, owned by U2's Bono and The Edge, with pre-tax losses increasing by over 50pc to €1.64m from €1m in 2008, accounts just filed show.

 

This followed the hotel recording a pre-tax loss of €237,293 in 2007 -- the last year in which the hotel made a profit was in 2006 when its operating profits totalled €148,800.

 

The accounts lodged by the 48-room Clarence Hotel show that last year the hotel's turnover dropped by 34pc from €5.2m to €3.3m.

 

The losses recorded last year put the company's accumulated losses at €2.5m at the end of December last year.

 

Loans

 

Other listed shareholders along with Bono and The Edge include financier Derek Quinlan and developer Paddy McKillen, and the returns show that the shareholders have advanced interest-free loans to the business totalling €1m in the past two years.

 

The numbers employed by the hotel dropped by 21pc from 98 to 71 last year.

 

The directors' report states that Bono and The Edge, who bought the hotel in 1992, "plan to take the necessary measures to improve operating performance through cost efficiencies as well as continued focus on marketing".

 

<_<

Not surprised it's running at a loss given the price they charge for a room.... -_-

From

http://www.liveoddsandscores.com/news/pres...-be-a-car-crash

 

 

Bono Auction Tipped To Be A Car Crash

 

Posted in Press Releases on November 2, 2010 @ 12:42 pm by Sarah Preece

 

(02 November 2010) A car once owned by U2 front man Bono is going under the hammer but despite current owner Dave Lawlor ploughing €20,000 worth of restoration into the vehicle Paddy Power are betting the metallic bronze Mercedes will fetch no more than between €30,000 and €35,000.

 

Bono owned the car for twenty years before Pepsi snapped it up in a charity auction for €61,000 in 2000. The 450 SEL boasts cowhide-patterned interior, a sound system worth €15,000 and the all important log book which lists Paul Hewson as its first owner.

 

Sharon McHugh, spokesperson for Paddy Power explained: “The car fetched €61,000 in 2000 but in the current climate we think it’s unlikely to fetch as much this time around – unless of course Bono comes with the car!”

 

Paddy Power have also chalked up a few celebrities who could be interested in buying Bono’s wheels. They include the Hard Rock Café at 5/1, U2 manager Paul McGuinness at 8/1 and R&B star Mary J. Blige at 10/1, while Bono himself is the 3/1 favourite to snap up the vintage piece himself. There are even 100/1 odds available that the Catholic Church will make an offer for the luxury car!

How much will Bono’s Mercedes sell for?

 

* 4/1 €25,000 or less

* 5/1 €25,001 to €30,000

* 9/4 €30,001 to €35,000

* 3/1 €35,001 to €40,000

* 5/2 €40,001 or more

 

Who will buy Bono’s former Mercedes?

 

* 3/1 Bono

* 5/1 Hard Rock Café

* 6/1 Keith Duffy

* 8/1 Paul McGuinness

* 10/1 Mary J. Blige

* 12/1 Amanda Brunker

* 12/1 Bill Gates

* 14/1 Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

* 16/1 Andrea Corr

* 20/1 Bob Geldof

* 20/1 Sinead O’Connor

* 50/1 Michael Fingleton

* 50/1 Sean Fitzpatrick

* 80/1 Paddy Power

* 100/1 The Catholic Church (to make it the new Pope mobile) :lol:

 

From

http://www.irishcentral.com/ent/U2-guitari...-106601579.html

 

 

U2 guitarist brings rock to new dance

By

DARA KELLY

,

 

Rock legend The Edge, who catapulted U2 to greatness, has collaborated with his choreographer wife Morleigh Steinberg to create a striking new music and dance piece inspired by the work of the artist Louis le Brocquy, the foremost Irish painter of the 20th century.

 

'Cold Dream Colour', will receive its world premiere in Dublin's Pavilion Theatre on November 12, to mark the 94 birthday of the Dublin-born artist.

 

Steinberg married the Edge in 2002, and became fascinated by Le Brocquy's work since moving to Ireland 15 years ago.

 

"I asked le Brocquy if he had ever seen his paintings danced? His face lit up and he replied, 'It would be an honour'," she told the press.

 

The show will be presented by Steinberg herself, along with other dancers including her sister Roxanne Steinberg. Le Brocquy himself, although elderly and frail, may attend the show's opening.

 

:huh:

http://www.u2mart.com/u2-news/u2-news.cfm?...;content=546565

 

Bono has written a song for the Italian singer Zucchero -- at least the third time we know of where Bono has collaborated like this with his longtime friend. The new song is called "Someone Else's Tears," and it appears on Zucchero's new album, Chocabeck, which was released on November 3rd

 

Lyrics here: http://www.zucchero.it/testi/?act=scheda&id=999767