U2 Joshua Tree Tour 2019
· Night 40 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 2/3/2024
· Night 12 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 25/10/23
· Night 10 & 11 setlists for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 20/10/23 & 21/10/23
· Night 9 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 18/10/23
· Night 6, 7, & 8 setlists for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 11/10/23 - 14/10/23
· Night 5 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 08/10/23
· Night 4 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 07/10/23
· Night 3 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 05/10/23
· Night 2 videos for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 30/09/23
· Night 2 setlist for U2:UV at the Sphere, Las Vegas, 30/09/23
read more...
|
|
U2's Bono steals spotlight at conference
Posted on Monday, February 04 @ 04:20:29 CET by Macphisto
-----------------------------------------------
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- The 31st World Economic Forum came to New York for the first time and political and business heavyweights turned out in force.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill came to the conference. New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, ABC personality Barbara Walters, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa were there, too.
But unquestionably, the biggest star at the conference was the 42-year-old Dubliner, Bono, the lead singer of U2, which has consistently one of the biggest rock and roll bands in the world since its debut in 1980.
New York
In New York, Bono's aura has been the talk of the conference, which started last Thursday and concludes on Monday. Wherever the singer appeared, overflowing crowds followed, underscoring the notion that rock and roll has become the international language of the world.
Once, Bono was content to sing such finger-pointing U2 classics as "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (about the Irish freedom cause) and "Pride (in the name of love)," a tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King. U2 concluded 2001 as the top-grossing concert act.
But lately, Bono has given every indication that he would happily exchange any old award from Rolling Stone or MTV for a Nobel Peace Prize of his own.
He has traveled throughout disease-infested Africa on a quest for relief for the troubled mission. He will soon be going back there, this time in the exclusive company of O'Neill on a development mission.
"I can assure you that O'Neill will be coming back with more than a souvenir spear," Bono told a news briefing on Saturday at the conference.
Bono also said he has gotten assurances from Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien that Africa will be at "center stage" of the upcoming G-8 conference.
Peace on Earth
In the 1950s, musicians got arrested for playing rock and roll music. Now, Bono is being idolized, if not idealized, by people as disparate as Merck Chairman Raymond Gilmartin and the Treasury Dept.'s O'Neill.
Prior to a press conference to promote worldwide investments in health care, Gilmartin was chatting with Patty Stonesifer, the head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Gilmartin and Stonesifer are intelligent, caring people and they couldn't help but discuss His Bononess.
As a further reminder of Bono's shadow, Jeffrey Sachs sat nearby on the panel, too. Not too long ago, Sachs was a garden-variety Harvard professor.
Ever since he started hanging out with Bono, traveling throughout Africa to inspect first-hand the terrible poverty and disease of the region, Sachs became the coolest educator in Cambridge, Mass.
Gilmartin was kidding that he had told his children he'd be seeing "BO-no," putting the emphasis on the wrong syllable (as in "Sonny Bono") --- "I'd met him in London'' and the Merck leader's kids chastised him to pronounce the singer/activist's name correctly.
Stonesifer nodded knowingly and noted that Bono was "very intelligent." She quipped that when her boss, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and Bono met, "both of them were wondering what he was doing sharing a stage with the other."
During the press briefing, Stonesifer, a very serious and well-intentioned philanthropist, was bemoaning the worldwide level of ignorance about the spread of diseases in Africa. Maybe they need more pop stars. Since Bono has Africa locked up, perhaps Sting is available for a jaunt through South Africa.
Beautiful day
His triumph at the World Economic Forum is another highlight for Bono.
The singer has been riding a major winning streak. After a few fallow years and albums, such as "Pop," U2 has roared back. The band's hit album "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and the radio-friendly "Beautiful Day" put the Irish quartet back on top.
To promote the album, U2 appeared live -- or something like that -- on NBC during half time of a National Basketball Association final round game last spring. In a downright weird simulcast, NBC aired U2 while they were playing live at the Fleet Center in Boston. The game between the Los Angeles Lakers and 76ers took place in Philadelphia.
U2 understands how to maximize its fame. The band will appear from New Orleans during the daylong Super Bowl broadcast on Fox in the U.S.
While there is no doubt that Bono is sincere in trying to help change the world, cynics may suggest that his humanitarian work is also good for U2's business, not to mention his own image. Bono has long been able to have it both ways.
Anyone who watched U2 perform during the 1985 Live Aid broadcast on MTV couldn't help but notice Bono's dual interests. He was shown giving frantic hand signals to U2's own cameramen even while MTV captured him in the act of belting out a terrific version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday."
Bono, of course, isn't the first rock and roll star to try to do good while trying to do well. Famously, John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono, for example, staged what they called "bed-ins" for peace in Amsterdam and Montreal in 1969. Lennon, too, was a serious student of the media and the wacky events kept both the peace movement and the Lennons in the headlines around the world.
For his part, Bono seems at ease in every incarnation. He is a talented and charismatic singer. At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, his speeches on behalf of Bruce Springsteen in 1999 and Island Records founder Chris Blackwell last year were highlights of the fun-filled evenings.
And, today, Bono's place in a Humanitarian Hall of Fame is guaranteed.
Now, maybe he can do something about lowering the prices for U2 concerts.
Jon Friedman is media editor for CBS.MarketWatch.com in New York.
|
|
|