From

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/wor...h-15001968.html

 

 

U2's Bono married to Cher ....according to George Bush

 

Friday, 12 November 2010

 

 

 

Former US President George W Bush has paid a warm tribute to Bono, describing him as a very impressive man who really understood the issues facing the Third World.

 

In his book ‘Decision Points', Mr Bush tells how he was wary of do-gooder rock stars before their first meeting in the White House on March 14, 2002 — shortly before St Patrick's Day

 

“I was sceptical of celebrities who seemed to adopt the cause of the moment as a way to advance their careers,” he writes.

 

But he says in the book that Bono came bounding into the Oval Office with his “high voltage personality and signature shades” and “quickly dispelled the notion that he was a self-promoter”.

 

“He knew our budgets, understood the facts, and had well informed views about the challenges in Africa.” Mr Bush says that Bono brought him “a thoughtful gift — an old Irish Bible”.

 

Mr Bush says that his respect for Bono grew over time.

 

“Do you know that 2,003 verses of Scripture pertain directly to the world's poor?” Bono asked Bush.

 

“People are quick to point out the obvious sins like marital infidelity.

 

“But sometimes we ignore the most serious ones.”

 

The President was impressed with Bono's knowledge of scripture, saying he was “a man of genuine faith”.

 

However, when one of his staff asked if he knew who Bono was, Mr Bush said that of course he did — he was the rock star who “used to be married to Cher”.

 

 

:rolleyes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

From

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showb...-leukaemia.html

 

By COLIN ROBERTSON

 

Published: 11 Nov 2010

 

THE wife of U2 guitarist THE EDGE has spoken for the first time of their "hell" as their daughter battled leukaemia.

 

Dancer MORLEIGH STEINBERG told how SIAN, now 13, was diagnosed with the life-threatening cancer a few years ago.

 

She said: "You're in shock then you just go into survival mode.

 

"The whole thing is hell but at the same time you stay positive and you really live. You live more because you don't take anything for granted."

 

News of Sian's illness broke around the time U2 axed their 2006 Vertigo tour but the exact details were kept secret.

 

She was treated in Dublin and LA and Morleigh said: "She's through it and she's fine." The couple also have a son.

 

The Edge, 49 - real name David Evans - has three other daughters from a previous marriage.

 

 

 

From

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story...or-duet_1183007

 

 

Akon Willing To Kidnap Bono For Duet

 

 

R&B superstar AKON has set his sights on a duet with U2 - joking he'll go as far as kidnapping frontman BONO to ensure the rocker sings on his next album.

 

The Smack That hitmaker is renowned for teaming up with top talent and has previously worked with Lady Gaga, Whitney Houston and Quincy Jones. His duet with the late Michael Jackson, Hold My Hand, has been announced as the first single from the tragic Thriller superstar's upcoming posthumous album.

 

But Akon still has a list of dream collaborators - and Irish rockers U2 are his top priority.

 

He tells America's OK! magazine, “U2 is the only one I haven’t collaborated with. That’s my next goal. I will kidnap Bono. Trust me! I will hold him hostage for his vocals.”

 

:blink:

Mc Cartney, Bono, and Sting invited to sing in Machu Picchu, Peru

 

From

http://www.livinginperu.com/news-13526-cel...chu-picchu-peru

 

 

 

Mc Cartney, Bono, and Sting invited to sing in Machu Picchu, Peru

 

Ex Beatle Paul McCartney, U2 singer Bono, and Sting have been invited by Peruvian entrepreneurs to sing in Machu Picchu in July 2011.

 

The world-known rock stars would sing during the centenary celebrations of the scientific discovery of Machu Picchu.

 

The announcement was made yesterday by Carlos Canales, chairman of the Tourism National Chamber (Canatur).

 

Canales said that McCartney has shown interest but confirmation will depend on scheduling since the ex Beatle is currently world touring.

 

Sting, ex singer of The Police, and Bono, leader of Irish band U2, have also been invited to participate in the anniversary celebrations.

 

“We want to show the mixture, the syncretism of Peru’s millenary culture with modernism, bringing an international singer that is admired in the world and that can perform in a scenario that also belongs to the world,” said Canales to Andina.

 

Canales added the concert would take place on July 7, 2011.

 

:wacko:

Doubt it. U2 playing Montreal July 8....

From

http://www.nme.com/news/u2/53828

 

 

U2 frontman Bono hails the release of Aung San Suu Kyi

 

 

 

U2 frontman Bono has hailed the release of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

 

The singer, who has heavily campaigned for her release throughout the band's 360° Tour, said he was "feeling great" for the Nobel Peace Prize winner who was released yesterday (November 13) after serving 15 of the past 21 years in detention.

 

"I'm very excited, very thrilled at the possibility that this might be the beginning of some sort of rational discussion," Bono said.

 

"At the same, it's sort of a cautious joy, because though she's out in the world, in a way we need her to be, she's perhaps more vulnerable, if they should want to take advantage of her being outside her own four walls."

 

Suu Kyi was the subject of the Grammy award winning single 'Walk On', taken from U2's 2000 album 'All That You Can't Leave Behind'.

 

She won the Burmese elections in 1990 with the National League for Democracy, but was never allowed to take power.

 

Although Suu Kyi has previously been released twice by Myanmar's ruling junta, she has been under house arrest for the past 21 years.

 

"She is kind of the Mandela of our moment," Bono told CNN, referring to Nelson Mandela, who spent decades in prison during South Africa's apartheid era prior to his release and political ascent.

 

"She's a character of great grace. Her struggle has become a symbol of what's best about our humanity and worst."

From

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad-applicati...a-1225958943230

 

 

U2's Bono to paint Sydney icons RED

 

* Andrew Clennell

* From: The Daily Telegraph

* November 23, 2010 12:00AM

 

http://i56.tinypic.com/vyaa93.jpg

 

Making a mark ... Bono will turn the Opera House and Harbour Bridge red as part of World AIDS Day. Picture: Eric Lalmand. Source: AFP

 

 

U2 SUPERSTAR Bono will turn the Opera House and Harbour Bridge red next Tuesday as part of commemorations to mark World AIDS Day.

 

He will press the button to turn the two famous landmarks crimson in a ceremony involving Premier Kristina Keneally and Governor-General Quentin Bryce.

 

Bono is founder of the organisation RED, which has provided $150 million worth of assistance, including AIDS medicines, to sufferers in Africa.

 

Other global landmarks to get the RED overhaul include the London Eye and City Hall in Dublin, Bono's home city.

 

Technical experts will take advantage of the rigging on the Bridge for the New Year fireworks to light the eastern arch and pylons. NSW Health will also erect a large red ribbon on the south pylon.

 

World AIDS Day is held on December 1 to raise awareness of victims and to remember those who have died from the disease.

 

 

U2 will begin the Australian leg of their 360 tour on December 1 - the night after the RED ceremony - in Melbourne and play Sydney's ANZ Stadium on December 13.

From

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad-applicati...6-1225957367690

 

 

 

The U2 guide to survival

 

* Nui Te Koha

* From: Sunday Herald Sun

* November 21, 2010 8:15AM

 

 

http://i55.tinypic.com/mjs19s.jpg

U2 belts out another classic rock hit. Source: Supplied

 

REAL guitar heroes don't play games. Certainly, U2 guitarist The Edge lasted five minutes on the video game Guitar Hero.

 

"Oh, it was good for a laugh," The Edge - born Dave Evans - smiles.

 

"The strange realisation, for me is, in the 21st century, Guitar Hero is one of the ways kids discover music.

 

"I found music on the radio or went to the record shop for that sacred piece of vinyl.

 

"I'm not sure what that says about where we are today.

 

"In the end, it's better that kids find out about music, rather than not find out."

 

The Edge's take on videogame dominance in pop culture doesn't mean U2 is struggling for a place in modern times.

 

On the contrary. We are backstage at U2-360, the world's biggest rock show and a technological game-changer.

 

The production - with a 50m-high, bug-like claw as its centrepiece - takes the rock spectacle as far as it can go.

 

 

And U2, soon to enter its 35th year, plans to take it further.

 

"I think it's remarkable that we're creatively relevant and still doing it," Adam Clayton says.

 

"Nobody ever says you'll have great creative insight and understanding of your own ability in your 40s and 50s.

 

"Maybe it's because, at this point in the career, most 50-year-olds are playing at the Holiday Inn.

 

"But you start to value how far you've come. You realise you've come a long way, learned a lot of lessons and done it together.

 

"That has real value."

 

The Edge says U2 has lasted because the personalities are different.

 

"It's the secret of why this band is what it is," The Edge says.

 

"Our strengths are different and our weaknesses are different.

 

"We enhance each others strengths and cover the weaknesses."

 

Clayton compares U2 with a precious gem.

 

"Let's say U2 is a diamond," he says.

 

"Bono is at the front, asking questions, pushing buttons, doing things - sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing.

 

"The Edge brings technical, intellectual and scientific thinking to what we're doing and where we're going.

 

"I bring something emotional and instinctive to the band.

 

"And Larry is at the back, making sure nobody sneaks up on us."

 

Famously, in the only incident to threaten U2, alcoholism crept up on Clayton in 1993.

 

The problem caused him to miss a show at the SCG that year.

 

It is the only time U2 has performed without all four members.

 

Clayton sought treatment and got sober soon after.

 

"I couldn't remember how I'd got into a situation where I couldn't perform a show. So something had to change," Clayton says.

 

"The world we live in, it's hard not to become addicted to something. And for a long time, I didn't know what it was.

 

"But it got in the way of my personal development and my musical and creative life.

 

"When it was time to deal with it, I didn't look back.

 

"I've done everything I wanted.

 

"I've done all the drugs and alcohol, I've done all the crazy situations.

 

"I'm glad I did it. But I'm glad I don't have to do it anymore."

 

It's true. U2 have never faked their moves.

 

"We still have swagger," The Edge says, laughing.

 

"The best of rock and roll is a combination.

 

"You need to be a showman with an ability to open up, be soulful and emotionally vulnerable in your work.

 

"That's where it can be powerful.

 

"People aren't impressed with only showmanship.

 

"They are impressed by an artist who is revealing.

 

"It requires a split personality. On the one hand, you need a lot of front. And you have to be revealing. That's the trick."

 

U2 has two new albums in the works: a pop record with producer Danger Mouse and a clubbier effort with Will.I.Am.

 

Bono and The Edge have also written a musical based on the superhero Spider-Man.

 

It opens on Broadway in December, with previews starting next week.

 

"Broadway is another world," The Edge says.

 

"Most people have been welcoming.

 

"There have been a few cynics, too. But you get those everywhere."

 

The contrasting theatrics of U2-360 and a musical are evident. But The Edge says it comes from the same place.

 

"We came out of the crowd," he says.

 

"We were kids who went to shows, saw great live acts and decided we wanted to be a band.

 

"We've never lost that connection of what it is to be a fan.

 

"It's never been, 'Come and see U2 - the great masters'.

 

"There's a certain amount of self indulgence that goes into any creative work. You're an artist.

 

"But there is a healthy side of us that never loses sight of what it is to be in the crowd of a U2 show.

 

"That memory - of being a fan - is hard wired."

 

U2, Etihad Stadium, December 1 and 3.

From

http://www.nme.com/news/u2/54018

 

 

U2 and Jay-Z pay tribute to dead New Zealand mine workers

 

Both acts dedicate songs to the 29 dead

 

 

U2 and Jay-Z have paid tribute to the 29 workers killed by an explosion in a New Zealand coal mine.

 

Both acts honoured those lost in the blast at the Pike River mine on the South Island on Wednesday (November 24), during a gig at Auckland's Mt. Smart Stadium last night (25).

 

"People have ways of dealing with grief, in Ireland we sing," Bono told the crowd as the band launched into 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' and a rare outing for 1987's 'One Tree Hill'.

 

The names of the 29 dead miners scrolled across big screens as the band performed the two crowd favourites, reports the New Zealand Herald.

 

Earlier Jay-Z, supporting the band on their tour of the country, paid his respects by dedicating 'Young Forever' to the miners. "They will always be in our hearts and they will always be forever young," he said.

 

The dead miners, which included 24 New Zealanders, two Australians, two Britons and a South African, died after a second explosion on Wednesday. They became trapped after an initial blast in the mine last Friday.

 

:(

 

Sad story that. The 2 Britons were both Scots which brings it even closer to home. :cry:

From: http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/id...E6AT2VH20101130

 

U2's Bono says financial woes hurting AIDS fight

Tue Nov 30, 2010 2:37pm GMT

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Financial tough times in developed economies are undercutting efforts to stop the global spread of AIDS, U2 lead singer Bono said on Tuesday.

 

"Times are hard in the Western world," the Irish rock star and campaigner told Reuters after launching World Aids Day, marked around the world on December 1, at Sydney's Opera House.

 

Bono said agencies established to arrest acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) "were fighting hard for funding" nearly three decades after the disease was first diagnosed.

 

He added that more money was needed to meet a target set by the Global Fund to eliminate the transmission of HIV from pregnant mothers to their unborn children by 2015.

 

According to the United Nations children's fund UNICEF, over a thousand babies are born each day in Africa with HIV and about half of the HIV-positive women in Africa do not get the drugs they need to prevent transmission of the virus to their babies.

 

"In recessionary times, people have to tell their politicians this is important to them," Bono said.

 

An estimated 33.3 million people worldwide had the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS in 2009, according to the latest figures issued by UNAIDS. There were 26.2 million in 1999.

 

There is no cure and no commercially available vaccine but combinations of drugs called antiretrovirals can keep patients healthy. However, the virus stays in the body forever and can reactivate if people stop taking the drugs.

 

"Some people think that the pandemic is on its way out and it's job done," Bono said. "It is really not so."

 

 

U2 Serenade Hamish and Andy

 

 

Austereo were given a rock royalty serenade for their final radio program when U2’s Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr strolled on stage to sing a few songs in Melbourne yesterday afternoon.

 

The band, who started their 360 degree tour in Australia on Wednesday, surprised the crowd when they came on and sang the 1989 U2 hit ‘Desire’ followed by ‘Vertigo’.

 

Hamish Blake and Andy Lee announced they would not continue their weekday show on Austereo in 2011, opting for a Friday special instead.

 

U2 performed their second Australian show last night at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium where they sang Happy Birthday to Jay-Z. The members of Blondie and The Pretenders were also at the show.

 

For last night’s show, they added ‘Stuck In A Moment’ and dedicated the song to Michael Hutchence. It was the first time they have played the song live in 2010.

 

U2’s next show will be December 8 in Brisbane. Check out all of their dates in the Undercover tour guide.

 

Read the Undercover review of the first show here.

 

Look at the Jay-Z photo gallery from the 360 tour here

 

VIDEO: Like U2, then check out the Undercover video interview with Paul Weller.

 

http://www.undercover.fm/news/

 

 

Edited December 4, 201014 yr by Cleo

AS far as strange celebrity luncheons go, this is up there among the oddest.

 

 

http://i53.tinypic.com/11i205f.jpg

 

 

U2 rockers BONO and THE EDGE got stuck in to some fine Sydney cuisine in the company of the frontman's 20-year-old daughter JORDAN — and Hollywood star JAKE GYLLENHAAL.

 

 

The unlikely quartet certainly weren't short of banter, no doubt helped by the quantity of wine they consumed throughout the multiple-course meal at posh eatery Sean's Panorama on Bondi Beach.

 

 

Bono's girl appeared most awestruck by the occasion as she locked eyes on the handsome big screen leading man.

 

 

At one point, the One singer lay a calming hand on Jordan's shoulder as she stared intensely at Jake.

 

 

The foursome rounded off lunch with a glass of brandy each.

 

 

If Jake wasn't enough to make Jordan's head spin, the booze sure would have been...

 

 

 

Source..The SUN

Edited December 7, 201014 yr by Cleo

Ooooooh Jake. I quite like him. :naughty:

From

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/8750514.Ro...to_Southampton/

 

 

U2 lead singer Bono and Muse at Southampton Airport

 

4:14pm Tuesday 21st December 2010

 

 

 

SOME of the biggest names in rock were in Southampton today, after their flight was diverted due to the weather.

 

Lead singer of U2, Bono and British band Muse had their flight from Dubai to Dublin redirected to Southampton because of snow in the Irish capital.

 

U2 have just finished the Australian leg of their U2:360 World Tour, which began in 2009.

 

Muse have also been playing Down Under on their Resistance tour.

 

The private jet carrying the passengers spent 90 minutes in Southampton, before being redirected onto Shannon, on Ireland's west coast.

Snow in Dublin! Again! Scotty will be overcome with excitement! :w00t:

From

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showb...n-in-the-a.html

 

Bono: I can be a pain in the a***

 

Published: 21 Dec 2010

 

BONO understands why some folk "projectile vomit" when he preaches about humanitarian issues.

 

The U2 rocker - who's become as famous for his campaigning as he has for his music - admits he can sometimes be a "pain in the a***".

 

In a brutal scrutiny of his character, the One star also reveals he infuriates himself at times.

 

However, he insists his passion for raising awareness of the world's injustices stems from all he's witnessed with his own eyes.

 

Writing about U2's relationship with Australia, Bono said: "Sydney 1993 was a low point in our long career: the only time one of us didn't turn up for a concert. ADAM CLAYTON probably hasn't forgiven himself until this tour.

 

"Australia forgave us that and other indulgences. Among them my sanctimony. I know I can be a pain in the a***. I have an annoying gene; it's in my DNA. I even annoy myself.

 

"When righteous anger turns to self-righteous, projectile vomit is the right response.

 

"All I can say is that you can become traumatised as well as inspired by the lives you meet along the dirt road of extreme poverty.

 

"Sometimes I forget that I'm an artist - but I shouldn't, because that's what I am, a working pop artist in a big F-Off rock band."

Bono and Edge surprise train passengersWednesday 22 December 2010 , You should see Irish Rails first class carraiges :lol:

 

 

Bono and The Edge were forced to land in Cork airport yesterday due to the closure of Dublin airport and they surprised fans and passengers by taking a train home.

 

 

According to the Belfast Telegraph, passengers travelling on Iarnrod Eireann's 14.20 train from Cork to Dublin yesterday were astonished to find themselves sharing a carriage with Bono and The Edge.

 

 

Jetting back into Ireland from the latest leg of their world tour in Australia, the U2 stars were forced to land in Cork when their flight was diverted due to the closure of Dublin airport.

 

 

With roads hazardous due to snowfalls and ice, the group's singer and guitarist contacted Irish Rail to reserve first-class tickets on an early afternoon train from Cork to Dublin.

 

 

Barry Kenny of Irish Rail said: "As far as we understand Bono and Edge [sic] had been delayed and had spent 36 hours travelling from Perth, Australia when they were diverted to Cork.

 

 

"They contacted us and we were delighted to have them as passengers on Irish Rail yesterday."

 

 

Sources claim that stunned passengers on the train leaving Cork yesterday initially mistook Bono and Edge for members of a U2 tribute act.

 

 

 

 

Source...RTE

Edited December 22, 201014 yr by Cleo

A train? :o

 

 

Oh the deprivation! :drama:

 

 

They'll both need therapy. :cry:

What do Irish Rail's 1st class carriages look like then? :unsure: