U2′s 12-page interview in Hot Press magazine
Bono talks about taking on characters to write the songs on No Line On The Horizon: “I’d just kind of worn out my own biography or autobiography. The last two albums were very personal. And I’m not sure if I could bear it any more, let alone anyone else. The irony is, of course, as Oscar Wilde taught us, the mask reveals the man. So you end up in fancy dress revealing your true self. You end up in these very emotional places which you shouldn’t understand, but somehow do.”
There’s a 12-page interview with U2 in Ireland’s Hot Press magazine this week. The interview will eventually be available from HotPress.com, after the magazine goes off sale two weeks from now. Here’s a lovely hi-res image of the cover. And you can read an excerpt from the U2 interview on Hotpress.com now.
Irish Independent hosts U2 video premiere
Independent.ie, the website of the Irish daily newspaper, has announced that they will host the video premiere of U2′s new single Get On Your Boots. The video will be available from the website at 4.55pm on Friday, January 30th.
Cuban heels, FTW
Eamon Carr of Ireland’s ‘Herald’ suggests the first single off U2′s new album – with possible title ‘No Line on the Horizon’ will be called Sexy Boots.
Daniel Lanois on The View
Daniel Lanois will appear on a special of The View, this Tuesday May 27th, midnight on RTÉ One television (Ireland).
Lanois is currently working on U2′s new album in Dublin and the South of France,and will talk to presenter John Kelly about the influences that have shaped his influential musical career.
More on the RTE website. And you can view an earlier performance by Lanois on RTE’s Other Voices on the show’s website.
Biggest band builds biggest tower
The Geranger Ltd consortium, including U2 and management, has won the bid to build the 600ft luxury apartment block that is to be the tallest building in Ireland and the location of the band’s new recording studio.
The studio will be egg-shaped and placed at the top of the tower, hanging from a cluster of vertical wind turbines and a huge solar panel.
Although the majority of apartments in the building will be ‘luxury’ and a 5-star hotel will be built in an adjoining building, there’s also room for 34 ‘social and affordable flats’. Fans, start queuing now! Your new digs will be ready in 2011.
Bono plays Dr Robert in Beatles-themed film
Bono plays ‘Dr Robert’ in ‘Across The Universe’, a film based on music by The Beatles. It combines live action, animation and puppetry.
‘Across The Universe‘, directed by Julie Taymor, is the story of a Liverpool doc worker (played by Jim Sturgess), who travels to America to find his long lost father. On his way, he meets an American girl (Evan Rachel Wood) and joins the anti-war movement.
All of the musical film’s main characters are named after Beatles songs. Bono’s character is called Dr Robert. Eddie Izzard and Salma Hayek are also in the film.
The film is set for a UK and Ireland release on September 28.
source: Hot Press
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
U2 part with record label
Geesh! The U2log.com staff go on holiday to follow some of our other favorite bands, only to come back and find that U2 have left Island Records, they will be releasing another Best Of collection, and Bono attended the New York Film Festival. What else happened?! Did Edge grow a beard? We weren’t gone that long, were we?
Metro Ireland reported the gory details about the breakup with Island Records in its free Dublin newspaper (click image for bigger version). The image they used of the New York Film Festival visit was a lot more flattering than the Dirty Old Man shot The Sun used in its report.
‘Happy Birthday, Oscar’, from Bono and Gav
RTE1 (Ireland) will be airing a ‘Happy Birthday Oscar Wilde’ tribute that Bono contributes to with Gavin Friday this Monday 27th at 10.30 pm. Larry Mullen contributes too.
150 renowned public figures were filmed by director Bill Hughes, speaking 150 of Wilde’s finest lines, epigrams and verses. Proceeds will go to Amnesty International. A DVD release is expected.
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- Bono Honors Queen Elizabeth May 24, 2012Bono was in London Wednesday for a Diamond Jubilee celebration of the arts for Queen Elizabeth, who's in her 60th year on the throne. As the Belfast Telegraph reports, Bono praised the Queen about her visit to Ireland last year: "I wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge the extraordinary magic that you made on your trip to Ireland last year […]
- U2 Fan Survey 2012: Third Set of Results Available May 23, 2012The third set of results from the 2012 U2 Fan Survey is now available, and it takes us through your votes on U2's albums and songs. As a reminder, the survey was open from April 5th through April 30th. We received completed responses from 3,530 fans in 79 countries this year, both of which are down from 2010. We think that's likely due to the band […]
- A Look at My U2 Framed Album Cover Wall (PHOTOS) May 22, 2012How would you like to have a wall in your house covered with perfectly framed U2 album cover art? You could just have your favorite U2 albums on the wall or, like me, you could go all the way and put every U2 album on display in order — like this: That’s one of the [...]This is a post from the @U2 blog.A Look at My U2 Framed Album Cover Wall (PHOTOS) […]
- The Resource Miracle May 22, 2012[Note: This essay appeared in the May 28, 2012, edition of TIME magazine.] It's become the go-to cliché of modern economics. Natural resources are a "curse." When a nation is over-reliant on one or two commodities like oil or precious minerals, corrupt government ministers and their dodgy associates hoard profits and taxes instead of properly […]
- Bono Pays One More Tribute to Steve Jobs May 22, 2012Bono made an appearance via video tonight at the Webby Awards, contributing to a tribute to Steve Jobs. A host of tech legends and celebrities each paid tribute to Jobs in five words or less, a Webby Awards tradition. It looks like Bono’s contribution was recorded within the past week, but that’s just a guess. [...]This is a post from the @U2 blog.Bono Pays […]