Honorary Knighthood for Bono
Bono will receive an honorary knighthood. The British Ambassador to Ireland, Mr David Reddaway, announced the news on Saturday.
He will receive the honour, Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order, for “his services to the music industry and for his humanitarian work.” The ceremony will take place in Dublin shortly after New Year’s Day. Bono will not be adding his name to the long list of people who have declined a British honour, like David Bowie, Francis Bacon and John Lennon, who eventually returned his MBE.
Knights and Dames Grand Cross and Knights and Dames Commander who are not not citizens of the United Kingdom or another country ruled by the Queen are not entitled to the prefix “Sir” or “Dame”, but may still use the post-nominal abbreviations: Paul Hewson, KBE.
A statement on U2.com reads:
We understand that Bono is ‘very flattered’ to be honoured, particularly if the honour – like its French counterpart – opens doors for his long standing campaigning work against extreme poverty in Africa.
The sainthood can’t be far off. Though maybe The Mrs has dibs.
- The Independent: Arise, Sir Bono!
- NME: U2 star to be knighted
100,000 Catalonian fans sing Happy Birthday to The Edge
Clad in a red FC Barcelona shirt given to him by Bono during Party Girl, The Edge finished U2′s show at Barcelona’s Nou Camp shortly after midnight… making it his birthday. Earlier during the show, 100,000 ecstatic Catalonian fans had sung Happy Birthday to him and released 17.000 red balloons in his honour. (OK, so maybe 100,000 fans is an exaggeration, but it looked like more than 80,000.)
El Pais: U2 hace estallar ‘la bomba’
La Vanguardia: El Camp Nou se rinde a U2
El Periodico: Un espectáculo de masas abrumador
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