Pete The Chop

Earlier today, a friend pointed me to this Twitter account and suggested that it might be the real Bono on Twitter. I checked it out, and the tweets (messages) looked real enough. But there were a couple oddities: Bono never uses “Paul Hewson” anymore and wouldn’t need to on Twitter; he could easily contact Twitter and get them to give him the @Bono account that someone else is currently holding (but not using). And two, why would Bono be following Dolly Parton?!?

I checked with U2’s PR folks, and the answer is “No”, that’s not the real Bono.*

If you’re curious, there’s also an @paul_hewson account on Twitter which is also not the real Bono. (There is an @fakebono account, which is obviously not real.)

The only two official U2-related Twitter accounts are, as far as we know:

• @360FromTheEdge — this is Edge’s account
• @U2_360Tour — this is someone we believe to be associated with the band, but don’t know exactly who; this account was on the road with U2 for much of last year’s European Tour

And, of course, @U2 and many of our staffers are on Twitter, too. You can see our list of Twitter usernames on the main site.

(*Admittedly, there’s a chance the PR folks don’t want us and the world to know if that’s really Bono, but why? Plus, they’ve never … never misled us in the past.)

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

No, That’s Not Bono on Twitter

Tags: Uncategorized by m2
Comments Off

U2360° At The Rose Bowl will be released in the UK on DVD and Blu-ray by Mercury Records on June 7, and in the US on June 3, 2010.

Tags: Uncategorized by U2.COM News
Comments Off

Many fans who attended the U2  Conference last October had the wonderful opportunity to hear Agnes Nyamayarwo, Ugandan nurse and activist,  speak about her life.  She was  introduced by Bono via a taped message. The lucky fans who attended the concert in Raleigh that weekend even heard Bono give a shout out to Agnes directly during an emotional performance of  “One.”

For those fans not able to attend the conference,  I have posted a recent article on Agnes’ life  and her connection to Bono.  I hope you enjoy reading about the woman who inspired him to start the ONE organization.

http://globalpoverty.change.org/blog/view/meet_agnes_nyamayarwo_the_woman_who_inspired_bono

You can also read more about Agnes’ work with her organization,  the Mulago Positive Women’s  Network at:

www.myspace.com/mulago

on Facebook  search  for:
“AGNES  NYAMAYARWO”

or visit the  “Have A Heart For Africa” thread in our forum to learn  more about this remarkable woman.

We get to carry each other,

StrongGirl

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

Meet The Woman Who Inspired Bono

Tags: Uncategorized by StrongGirl
Comments Off

Kasabian, Snow Patrol, OneRepublic and Interpol are lined up to join the band for European dates this summer. Details here.

Tags: Uncategorized by U2.COM News
Comments Off

Irish Central has reported that Britain’s Got Talent finalist (and multi-million selling singer) Susan Boyle has as her financial manager Ossie Kilkenny, who formerly managed U2’s finances until the late-90s.

As studious U2 fans might recall, Kilkenny’s departure wasn’t exactly a friendly one.

Where this gets interesting, as Irish Central is reporting, is that recently, Gerry Boyle (Susan’s brother) contacted Paul McGuinness to ask him his opinion on Kilkenny as they felt their sister’s financial dealings weren’t quite right. The letter to McGuinness and his response reads:

‘Recently, we received a call from **** ****** [the businessman who had tipped them off about Ossie Kilkenny], which indicated that our sister’s “management team” and in particular Mr Ossie Kilkenny were not the ideal people to be in charge of Susan’s affairs.

‘I wonder, therefore, with this is in mind, if you can provide any information in relation to Mr Kilkenny’s past affairs with Bono and U2, as we are naturally concerned as to what is being described.’

Two days later he received a reply from McGuinness. It was short and left no doubt about what McGuinness thought of Ossie Kilkenny, who parted company U2 in the late Nineties.

‘Dear Gerry Boyle,’ he wrote. ‘My late mother used to advise me that if I had nothing good to say about someone, to say nothing. I always take her advice in respect of Mr Kilkenny. I have nothing to say about him.’
The email concluded: ‘I hope your sister has her own lawyer.

The rest of the story on Irish Central goes on to quote further correspondence between family members and those backing Kilkenny. It’s messy to say the least.

That said, it sort takes the pressure off of Bono being called the “worst investor in America.”

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

Susan Boyle’s U2 Connection

Tags: Uncategorized by U2isABLE
Comments Off

The African Well Fund has launched its eighth annual Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday fundraiser. (http://www.africanwellfund.org/Bono-Well-2010.html) To honor the U2 lead singer’s 50th birthday, the nonprofit is aiming to raise $50,000 during the 50-day period of March 22 to May 10. All funds raised will benefit a community water and sanitation project in the Buhera District of Zimbabwe that will be implemented by Africare, African Well Fund’s partner.

“It makes me proud to be a part of the U2 fan community and, in my opinion, there is no other community like it and that’s why this year, in honor of Bono’s 50th birthday, we’ve decided to set our highest goal yet to raise $50,000 in 50 days,” said Rob Trigalet, board chairman for the African Well Fund. “We know that it will not only take people donating but, just as important, we’ll be asking everyone who supports us to help spread the word through Facebook, Twitter and the various blogs and fan sites that our supporters may be involved with. We think this is a great year to try and really get the word out to as many people as possible.”

To reach the $50,000 goal, the African Well Fund is accepting donations through its website , selling a limited-edition print by artist Azalea Millet, selling limited-edition merchandise through Zazzle  (http://www.zazzle.com/africanwellfund), and auctioning U2 live photos and U2 360 Tour concert tickets on eBay.

Millet has donated limited-edition hand-signed and numbered prints that will be sold for $50 through our website beginning Monday, March 29.

“I have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for AWF and its mission to provide villages in Africa with clean water by building wells,” said Millet, whose artwork has also been used as the inspiration for this year’s Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday logo and merchandise. “I want to show my support by doing all I can to help them raise money to meet their goal of $50,000 for Bono’s 50th birthday.”

The U2 live photo auction (http://myworld.ebay.com/theafricanwellfund/), the third auction of U2 concert photos taken by fans and professional photographers that the African Well Fund has hosted, will be held from Sunday, April 18 through Sunday, April 25. The 2007 photo auction raised over $7,000 for that year’s Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday fundraiser; the 2006 photo auction raised over $11,000 for that year’s fundraiser.

General admission tickets for U2 360 Tour dates in Salt Lake City , Anaheim and Philadelphia will be auctioned between Monday, May 3 and Saturday, May 8. In 2009, auctions of U2 concert tickets raised nearly $500 for that year’s Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday fundraiser.

All donors will be invited to add their birthday wishes to a card that will be sent to Bono via Principle Management.

“Bono has referred to this fundraiser as his ‘favorite birthday gift,’” Trigalet said. “I really believe that this year might be the best one yet.”

Donations from the seven previous Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday fundraisers have totaled over $170,000 and have been used to fund water and sanitation projects implemented by African Well Fund partner Africare to benefit more than 28,000 people in Angola, Liberia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Tags: Uncategorized by spun2u
Comments Off

If you go to StubHub right now, you can get some lower level tickets for the U2 360 concert in Philadelphia for the low, low price of …

15 THOUSAND dollars??!!??

How crazy is this seller? You have to be living in some alternate universe to think anyone’s gonna spend that much on a concert ticket. Unbelievable. Quick! Only 102 days left to buy these tickets!

(BTW, this isn’t meant as an anti-StubHub post. I’ve used StubHub in the past and appreciate their site and service. This is just about what one U2 ticket seller thinks his goods are worth. Wow.)

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

Some U2 Ticket Sellers are Crazy

Tags: Uncategorized by m2
Comments Off

Tags: Uncategorized by Jonathan
Comments Off

Not long now. In just a couple of months U2360° takes off again from Salt Lake City, before heading out across North America and back into Europe. Anyone notice that Edge dropped a recent hint about the set list ?

Tags: Uncategorized by U2.COM News
Comments Off

Bono, the Irish rock star, is being hailed as “the worst investor in America” as his five person investment team Elevation Partners reels from a series of unprofitable investments.

It’s believed that the rocker has lost millions by investing with Elevation, although a precise figure has yet to be released.

What’s certain is that the U2 front man has put significant money into Elevation, which investment trade papers are calling arguably the worst run institutional fund of any size in the United States.

Bono is listed as one of the five members of the firm’s investment team, and their fund claims that its “mission is to help media and entertainment businesses develop and market great content.” But in the process it has made an unprecedented string of disastrous investments which, observers say, even bad luck could not explain.

The most well-known of the Elevation investments is in Palm, which made an unsuccessful stab at the smartphone business dominated by Apple’s iPhone, and handsets powered by the Google mobile operating system known as Android.
Investors had hoped that Palm’s new line of Pre handsets would allow the company to be a modest competitor in the smart phone industry but instead it has spent massive amounts for very slim returns and remains in trouble as it tries to reach even fairly modest sales goals.

- IrishCentral.com

Elevation was recently quoted in Reuters saying that it still has faith in Palm, a company in which it bought a 25% stake in 2007. It is astonishing, say Wall Street observers, that Elevation would publicly say it still has faith in a company which is close to non-existence.

Whitney Tilson, managing partner of T2 Partners, a New York-based hedge fund, recently told MarketWatch in reference to Palm, “There is a 90% chance that they go bankrupt or get acquired within a year.

Tags: Uncategorized by spun2u
Comments Off

Legendary producer Steve Lillywhite has released a follow-up video for his very real campaign to replace American Idol judge Simon Cowell.  In this one — which is an all-around more-polished video than his first one — he asserts his reign over “pretty much anyone I’ve ever produced” at table tennis.  Oh, and he talks about coming up with special sound effects for “I Will Follow.”

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

Can Simon Cowell Say He’s Beaten Bono at Ping-Pong?

Tags: Uncategorized by calhouns
Comments Off

Tags: Uncategorized by Jonathan
Comments Off

In case you missed this: Evan Rachel Wood has pulled out of Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark due to a “scheduling conflict,” forcing the role of Mary Jane to be recast. Rolling Stone is reporting that the Broadway production budget has allegedly grown to $50 million, making it the most expensive show on Broadway ever.

Variety reports that previews of the show may begin towards the end of summer with its opening around Halloween.

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

Another Delay for Spider-Man

Tags: Uncategorized by U2isABLE
Comments Off

To millions of U2 fans, Peter Rowen is the child whose mournful face stares out from the covers of “Boy” and “War.” Now, 30 years since he modeled for the iconic images, he still attracts attention.

Peter grew up in Dublin, where his older brother Guggi befriended Bono, when he was still known as Paul Hewson.

“Bono [came] over to our house quite a bit,” Rowen says. “My eldest brother, Clive, says Bono used to eat us out of jam sandwiches! I remember Bono and [his wife] Ali coming, much later, for Sunday dinner.”

U2 first had Rowen photographed in 1979 for the EP “Three.” He later appeared on the European version of “Boy” and the breakthrough third album, 1983’s “War.”

Tags: Uncategorized by spun2u
Comments Off

Bono spent St. Patrick’s Day in Nairobi, Kenya, where he attended a Pan African Media Conference to discuss important issues affecting the continent.

“I am happy to be in Kenya and also participate in the Pan African Media Conference since there is so much to learn, share and speak about in Africa,” the U2 lead singer told The Daily Nation newspaper.

Bono featured as a panelist at the conference, as Africa is a subject that has long been a passion for the 50-year-old Dubliner.

“The conference attracted my attention because I am one of those who believe in brand Africa, a better Africa for Africans,” Bono said as to why he was attending the event.

Bono co-founded the One campaign, which raises funds to fight AIDS and poverty in Africa, and is a vigorous activist for debt cancellation in African countries.

His efforts so far have led to the scrapping on $70 billion worth of debt, and that money has been put to good use in the community.

“The money was used by various governments in keeping more than 35 million children in Africa in schools and that is what I want to see happening more,” added Bono.

- IrishCentral.com

Tags: Uncategorized by spun2u
Comments Off