Even though U2 topped Forbes’ recently released list of top-earning music acts of last year, the band’s insurance firm isn’t quite so lucky.

Bono (and U2) performs at Croke Park

Insurance broker Robertson Taylor incurred a bill of $17 million in the wake of the back injury Bono sustained during tour rehearsals, according to The Sun.

Bono required emergency surgery, and the band had to subsequently table their US summer tour and cancel their first-ever headlining appearance at the Glastonbury festival.

Along with Bono’s pain and suffering, and the band losing millions in tour revenue, the insurance company also took a hit.

Bono is currently focusing on his recovery and the band’s tour is being rescheduled for 2011.

Who is your favorite member of U2: Bono or The Edge? Who has a cooler name?

—Amy Sciarretto

U2 are reworking two of their classic songs in collaboration with Dave Hollister, a member of the American R&B group Blackstreet.

Hollister revealed his involvement with the Dublin band by posting on his Twitter page: “In the studio working with U2! Man I’m excited! Bono baby!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Apparently, the two tracks being reworked are ‘All I Want Is You’, from the 1988 album “Rattle and Hum”, and ‘Grace,’ from 2000’s “All That You Can’t Leave Behind.”

U2 will be returning to their tour next month following Bono’s back surgery. The rock star has declared he’s now “fighting fit” after undergoing the procedure.

- IrishCentral.com

(RTTNews) – U2 frontman Bono and his private equity firm Elevation Partners have reportedly purchased a large stake in social networking giant Facebook. Last November, the firm bought 2.5 million shares in the company and have now added an additional five million shares, says blog TechCrunch.com.

To date, Bono and his crew have invested a whopping $210 million dollars in Facebook. The large purchase comes on the heels of a disastrous investment in failing mobile device maker Palm Inc. last year.

Bono’s big investment in Facebook is not the only business news surrounding the band this week. They were also collectively named number seven on Forbes Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Powerful Celebrities. The list considers each celebrity’s overall standing including income, tv ratings, radio rankings and Internet presence.

by RTT Staff Writer

Another year, another Glastonbury — and another fresh round of what-ifs and maybes for the festival rumour mill.

This year the most-whispered tale involves two of the 2010 festival’s headliners – or, rather, one of the headliners and a band who were supposed to be topping the bill on the Pyramid Stage.

Saturday’s headliners Muse had hinted they were planning something special for their headline slot. On Friday, BBC 6 Music reported that the band might be joined by U2′s guitarist the Edge for their slot.

U2, of course, were supposed to be headlining the festival on Friday night but had to pull out after Bono underwent surgery, leading them to pull a series of dates on their world tour.

Festival organiser Michael Eavis had been asked by the station if the rumours were true, and did not deny the story – though he did not confirm it either.

Whether Matt Bellamy and company are joined by the veteran guitar great, only a time machine or patience will tell. Stay tuned.

- Spinner

Australia’s Triple M Radio is reporting that U2 will bring the 360 Tour down under this December.

Says the report:

Sources have revealed that U2 will bring their 360° tour to Australia in December. The Music Network said the band will officially confirm the news we’ve all been waiting for when they announce new dates of their cancelled US tour.

We’re still hoping for some news about when those postponed (not cancelled) dates will be re-announced, but our contacts are not saying anything at the moment. Consider the above a rumor until there’s some official confirmation.

Via U2tours.com

Irish rockers U2 could lose £100million after pulling out of 17 shows of their US tour.

Bono could cost U2 £100 million.

The lead singer of U2 has been told by doctors to rest for two months following emergency back surgery and will now miss out on the start of the group’s US leg of their 360 Degree tour.

Bono was said to be “heartbroken” after pulling out of 17 US dates and Glastonbury festival in the UK, and now the problem may hit his bank balance too.

A source told The Sun newspaper: “Bono and the band are covered by insurance but the cost of overheads and missed revenue could easily reach £100 million by the time he’s fit enough to perform again.”

Paul McGuinness, the manager of the Irish group – made up of Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. – said: “If we play or not, touring still costs us £500,000 a day.”

Earlier this month bassist Adam Clayton admitted he and his band mates would have been happy to put on a simpler tour, but Bono had other plans.

He said: “It was Bono’s vision. He’s that kind of performer. I think the rest of us would be happy to stand on an old beer crate but he’s the person working the stage.”

New tour dates are expected to be released later this week.

- ContactMusic

Bono may be stuck in a moment that he’d like to get out of, but he can take heart. ESPN struck a deal with his band U2 to use their music exclusively for their World Cup coverage.

Along with using the Irish supergroup’s music, the South African Soweto Gospel Choir also recorded versions of some U2 songs for the network to use, and ESPN took footage from the band’s 2009 concert at the Rose Bowl for some of their ads.

So even though they’ll be away from our shores for a few months, they’ll be inescapable here and all over the world.

- BUZZ BRADY,Irishcentral.com Showbiz Writer

Bono and U2 on stage

The festival spokesperson for Britain’s most famous music festival, Glastonbury, has said that the Irish legends U2 are likely to play in 2011.

A spokesperson for the festival said “They’ve never played here before and we’re very disappointed they can’t perform…but they could well be back next year.”

U2 were to play the headline slot on June 25 until Bono, the front man, was rushed to hospital for emergency back surgery due to a disease which could have left him paralyzed.

The British band, Gorillaz, fronted by Damon Albarn, has agreed to replace U2 as the headline act on June 25 while Muse and Stevie Wonder are also set to play the headline slots at the sold out festival.

- IrishCentral.com

Damon Albarn has spoken about Gorillaz being drafted in to replace U2 as headliners at this year’s Glastonbury.

Earlier today (May 26) the band were confirmed to headline the Pyramid Stage on June 25 following the news that original headliners U2 have been forced to pull out following a back injury sustained by frontman Bono.

Speaking of the change in line-up, Albarn paid tribute to the Irish band. “It’s a terrible thing for U2,” he said. “Glastonbury is magical. Gorillaz will come to life on that stage, but we wish Bono all the best.”

Gorillaz co-founder Jamie Hewlett said that, after the band’s recent performance at Coachella festival, he is confident of delivering a successful show.

“I wasn’t sure how Gorillaz would work in a festival environment, but Coachella was amazing,” he said. “I think Glastonbury will be an unbelievable experience for us.”

The festival headline appearance will be Damon Albarn’s second in as many years, following Blur’s show on the same stage in 2009.

- NME

Following news of Bono’s recuperation period from surgery, Glastonbury Festival have confirmed that the band won’t be able to perform their headline slot next month. Bono and Michael Eavis of Glastonbury spoke by phone this morning.

Said Bono: ‘I’m heartbroken. We really wanted to be there to do something really special – we even wrote a song especially for the Festival.’

Said Michael Eavis: ‘It was obvious from our telephone conversation that U2 are hugely disappointed. Clearly, they were looking forward to playing the Pyramid Stage as much as we were looking forward to watching them. At this point, we have no comment to make about possible replacements for U2′s Friday night slot. Instead, we would simply like to send Bono our very best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.’

- U2.com

(Reuters) – U2 lead singer Bono has undergone emergency surgery on his back in a Munich hospital after being injured while preparing for the next leg of the band’s world tour, a spokesperson said Friday.

Bono Live

The 50-year-old from Ireland had been preparing for the North American leg of the “360 Degree” world tour which is due to kick off in Salt Lake City on June 3.

“Bono has today undergone emergency back surgery for an injury sustained during tour preparation training,” his spokesperson said.

“He was admitted to a specialist neuro surgery unit in a Munich hospital.

“Bono will spend the next few days there, before returning home to recuperate. Once his condition has been assessed further, a statement will be made regarding the impact on forthcoming tour dates.”

After North America, the tour was scheduled to travel to Turin in Italy on August 6. It was not immediately clear how badly the injury would disrupt the group’s tour.

The tour earned around $109 million in 2009, according to music journal Billboard, making it the world’s most lucrative, and the publication also predicted it would end up being the highest-grossing tour in history.

By some measures the band, with hits like “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “Where the Streets Have No Name,” is the world’s most successful. They have sold more than 150 million records, according to unofficial estimates.

- Reuters

More images in the Bono gallery >>

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WHAT: U2’s The Edge, will host the star-studded Icons of Music II Auction at Hard Rock Cafe New York to benefit Music Rising, a campaign founded in 2005 to support musicians, students and parishioners of the Gulf Coast Region affected by the hurricanes.

Music Rising has since aided over 2,700 professional musicians and nearly 50,000 students and parishioners and will soon launch Phase III of the campaign. The event will be conducted by world renowned Julien’s Auctions (http://www.juliensauctions.com).

The exclusive event will include a performance by legendary musician Aaron Neville and a star-studded red carpet. Auction Network, the first 24/7, multimedia network solely dedicated to auctions, will conduct a live webcast in real-time streaming video of The Icons of Music Auction II hosted by Lisa Loeb.

For more information about how to register to bid, etc. please visit http://www.juliensauctions.com or call (310) 816-1818. For tickets, visit http://www.ticketmaster.com.

WHERE: Hard Rock Cafe New York 1501 Broadway New York, NY 10036 WHEN: 5:30 PM Media Check-In 6:00 PM Red Carpet 6:30 PM Performance 7:00 PM Auction About Music Rising Music Rising, a campaign launched in 2005 to replace musical instruments lost or destroyed by hurricanes in the Gulf Region.

It has since launched a second phase dedicated to the aid of schools and churches. Music Rising was formed by U2’s The Edge, legendary producer Bob Ezrin, Gibson Guitar Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz. Partners of the campaign represent the most diverse partnership in the entertainment industry and include MusiCares, Guitar Center, Musician’s Friend, Live Nation, Kennedy/Marshall, Ticketmaster, Hard Rock International, VH-1, MTV, Real Networks, ABC News Now, The NFL, Rolling Stone, Mr. Hollands Opus, Juliens Auctions, ACT and the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund.

Music Rising is the recipient of the prestigious 2005 HALO Award for Cause Marketing and the 2006 Billboard Humanitarian Award, the 2008 PRISM Award and has been recognized around the world by various media organizations. Music Rising is administered by the Gibson Foundation. For more information go to http://www.musicrising.org and http://www.gibsonfoundation.org.

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NME reported that Keio University believes that Bono’s work in raising awareness and promoting research about AIDS and stopping poverty in Africa deems him worthy of the honorary degree. Bono is in the Asian country so that he will be present at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, which is to take place shortly.

As for Bono’s musical endeavours, U2’s last studio effort came out in 2004. It was the group’s eleventh album named How to Dismantle an Atom Bomb. The band is preparing a new album, which is being readied for release this October.

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The music mogul, who also manages the careers of singer PJ Harvey and New York rockers The Rapture, had to be taken to hospital after being thrown from a horse while riding near his estate in County Wicklow, Ireland.
A source tells Ireland’s Sunday World newspaper, “It was a pretty bad fall and Paul broke his collarbone. He was rushed to hospital and was in absolute agony.

“He’s still getting over it and knows he has had a lucky escape.”

- Contact Music

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Although Japan gave the most overseas aid in the early 1990s, its generosity has steadily fallen since then, the U2 frontman told students at Tokyo’s prestigious Keio University, where he received an honorary doctorate of law earlier in the day.

“The world is watching Japan as the G8 (summit) approaches, and it’s not good news,” he said. The summit is scheduled to take place in Hokkaido, northern Japan, in July. Japan’s net official development assistance in 2007 was US$7.7 billion, down 30 per cent from the previous year and dropping the country to fifth place among foreign aid donors, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Bono, in Japan this week for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, called it a “monumental error” to ignore Africa or write the continent off as a lost cause. Japan’s development model for Southeast Asia led to the emergence of the so-called ’Asian tigers’ and could prove similarly successful in Africa, he said. “I believe in this country,” he said to an auditorium of nearly 900 students.

“The world needs your involvement.” Bono said his interest in Africa extends back to the Live Aid concert in 1985. Since then, he has become one of the most effective, though sometimes controversial, crusaders against poverty and AIDS in Africa.

The Irish rocker and Nobel Peace Prize nominee is scheduled to speak at the African development conference Thursday and meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda later this week. Michitake Watanabe, a first-year graduate student at Keio, said Bono’s words opened his eyes to issues he had never considered.

“He is an amazing person,” said Watanabe, who admitted he isn’t a fan of Bono’s music. “It’s really incredible that he doesn’t seem to be confined by traditional frameworks like race or religion.”

- ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Bono hams it up with a shovel on Tuesday while planting a tree as part of the Tokyo metropolitan government’s “Green Island” project at Odaiba, part of a sprawling man-made island in Tokyo Bay.

More photos in the gallery >>

(ITN - Tuesday, May 27 02:05 pm) U2 singer Bono has taken part in a tree-planting project with schoolchildren in Tokyo. The rocker, who’s known for his humanitarian and philanthropic work, led the event which is part of the city’s environmental initiatives project.

He encouraged the attendees to become more environmentally friendly, saying: “I do believe that politicians like Governor Ishihara need to hear from you that this is important to you. It’s your money that they are spending. “That is what I’ll be doing over the week as well as planting this tree today. Finding out how much support there are for these issues of environment and extreme poverty.”

Nearly 100 children sang together with the legendary rock singer at The Sea Forest where a total of 480,000 trees are due to be planted, creating an 88 hectare forest floating off Tokyo bay. The city hopes the forest when completed in 2016 will help cool the city down during the hot summer months.

Bono also plans to attend the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, where he will be among 43 leaders of African nations to discuss poverty, conflict, the food crisis and disease in the continent.

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The weather bordered on sleet and rain all day — hardly idyllic conditions for a video shoot that included countless cameras and three giant torches sitting atop the rocks.The promoters were in California until the afternoon of the show, and when they flew into a blustery Stapleton Airport, they called the mountain amphitheater’s backstage to see where the show had been moved.

But the band wasn’t about to move the concert.

“I asked them why they didn’t call me, and the people said, ‘The band wouldn’t let us, because they knew you’d want to move the show,’ ” retired promoter Barry Fey remembered.

“Then Paul McGuinness, their manager, got on the phone, and then Bono got on the phone, and then Chuck (Morris) and I headed home to change out of our sunny California gear into something much heavier before heading up to Red Rocks.”

As fans, local and abroad, mark the 25th anniversary of the legendary show — captured dramatically on video and record under the title “Under the Blood Red Sky” — record companies will also use the occasion as their opportunity to remaster the music on a CD (with a bonus disc), due in stores June 24, and finally release the remarkable performance on DVD, due in August.

The video, a venture among the band, their label and Feyline Concerts, captures the enduring image of U2’s early years. It was played heavily on MTV, and it’s been credited as the single piece of media that solidified U2’s reputation as an epic live band — and Red Rocks’ status as the world’s premiere outdoor amphitheater.

It was no accident that U2 chose Red Rocks as the location for their live video experiment, an outing that cost the band their life savings, they said at the time.

In the summer of 1981, U2 played two shows in Colorado, at Fort Collins’ Lincoln Center and Denver’s Rainbow Music Hall. The day after the Rainbow show, promoter Morris, working with Fey at the time, loaded the band in his Jeep for a field trip.

“I took them up to Red Rocks so they could see it,” Morris said. “I told them they were going to play there some day. But their second record wasn’t doing that well, even though it got great reviews, and they weren’t so sure. But I was. I drove them to the top. We walked down to the stage, and they were, like, ‘Oh my God, this is the greatest place we’ve ever seen.’ “

Years later, McGuinness was sitting in Fey’s office, setting up a partnership with the band, the promoter and the label, Island Records, to shoot a live video at Red Rocks. Everybody was happy.

Until the morning of the show, when the weather was so foul. A group of 15 or 20 hard-core fans sat in the front rows at Red Rocks under their ponchos, and around 10 or 11 a.m., Bono found his way to the catering room backstage, where he met Nancy May, who was running errands for Fey at the time.

“(Bono) was suddenly in the food room, and he said, ‘It’s really cold out there. Can we get these people some coffee and tea?’ I said sure, and we made it up, and then Bono went out and served the fans some coffee and tea. He was out there chatting over tea with 10 or 20 people, and we were like, ‘Wow.’ I’d never seen a rock star do that in all those years.”

The day progressed, and the weather worsened. Morris and Fey arrived, and Bono called a Denver radio station, telling his fans that the Red Rocks show would go on — but there would also be another indoor show the following night at the CU Field House in Boulder for those who didn’t want to brave the elements.

And after a short introduction from Fey, the show was on. Red Rocks, which holds nearly 10,000 people, was about half-full with 4,400 in attendance. The venue has never looked more mystical, alluring. Red Rocks was ready for its close-up.

“For years, when I told people in L.A. that I worked at Red Rocks, people would always say, ‘Did you see the U2 video?’ ” said May, now a production manager for the Denver Performing Arts Center. “When I went to Los Angeles to work for Dick Clark, everybody knew that video. And everybody knew Red Rocks because of that video.”

Looking back at the 25-year-old footage, it’s amazing how powerful it remains. The band couldn’t have purchased those kinds of special effects: The sleety mist softened all the edges, and the steam coming out of Bono’s mouth with each word gave the footage an otherworldly feel.

And they were just kids. The Edge still had hair, and you could hear his towering backup vocals waver as he nervously looked down at his guitar. Alternating between a little girl’s skip and a soldier’s march, Bono had never looked stronger. “This song is not a rebel song,” he said at one point, wearing a sleeveless shirt and looking like an ’80s movie star. “This song is ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday.’ ” The band’s 6-minute take on their beloved anthem was capped with Bono planting a white flag of truce in the crowd, and it’s one of the most iconic moments in rock history. And it was a Sunday.

“One person remarked that it was a religious experience, and it was,” said Greg Wigler, one of three professional photographers at the show. “The show was way beyond anything I’d seen before.”

Fans agreed. “Under a Blood Red Sky” is the all-time best-selling recording in the U.K. Fey jokes that he recouped his investment very quickly.

“But had it been another 78 degree day, it would have been just another concert,” Fey said. “Instead it was an amazing concert. You knew you were seeing some kind of history. I stood alone at the side of the stage, and my feet were locked. I couldn’t go anywhere.”

Morris calls it “one of my finest hours of promoting.”

“The way Bono played with the crowd, getting all into the audience, and the way the fire looked up on the sides with the rain coming down, and everyone was freezing, but they couldn’t care less. In my long career, nothing has come close to that.”

A popular rumor every other summer is that U2 is coming back to Red Rocks. But for 25 years now, that’s been nothing but a rumor.

“I can’t speak for the band on something like that,” Morris said. “Would I love it? Absolutely.”

Added Fey: “I asked them many years ago, ‘You wanna give Red Rocks another try?’ They said, ‘Absolutely not.’ And you can’t blame them. They couldn’t do anything that would be comparable to that. This is the 25th year, and I asked them if they wanted to do it again. But you can’t duplicate that. You’d be foolish to try and duplicate that. It would be like going to Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman and saying, ‘Hey, let’s shoot “Casablanca” over again.’ “

By Ricardo Baca, Denver Post Pop Music Critic

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The soccer star decided to undertake the gruelling six day climb to raise money for children’s charity Unicef after being asked by U2 frontman Bono.

A source close to the LA Galaxy player told Britain’s The Sun newspaper: “The 19,340ft peak is a bit outside of David’s normal comfort zone but he is absolutely set on making the climb.

“He was a bit uncertain at first but he found out, like many celebrities before him, that Bono can be very persuasive.

“No date has been fixed yet because David is very busy with his LA Galaxy commitments   but he is absolutely set on doing it.”

The 33-year-old football hero could also be joined by another British soccer star, West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green, as he climbs Africa’s highest peak in north-east Tanzania.

David previously teamed up with Bono at the Live 8 concert in 2005 when he introduced British singer Robbie Williams.

- BANG! SHOWBIZ

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“I’m heading out to France to begin working with them on it,” Joe
tells hotpress.com. “They decided they needed a few rays while they
were working on the new songs. But things are in full swing working
towards a new album. We’re hoping to have something in the can come
September/October. We’ll know in the next couple of months how things
shape up but that’s what they’re aiming for. All things being equal
they will more than likely tour in 2009. They love it. It’s their life
and it’s what they do.”

Joe has more to say about U2, The Undertones and his beloved Cork in
the next issue of Hot Press, out on Thursday.

- Hot Press

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There was a time when one might have expected a meeting with a rock star’s wife to be attended by a certain amount of mayhem - temper tantrums and trashed hotel rooms, perhaps, or at the very least a retinue including a drug dealer, masseuse, hair stylist and personal astrologer.

But the softly spoken 47-year-old woman sitting opposite me in a suite in Claridge’s is anything but the cartoon version of a hell-raising, hard-drinking rock chick; she is wearing a black calf-length Comme des Garçons skirt with a Victorian bell-sleeved blouse; raven hair neatly brushed, porcelain skin unadorned by make-up.

She is, in fact, very much her own woman - Ali Hewson rather than Mrs Bono - and as such it is not wifely duties that have brought her to London today, but a meeting with her business associates in Nude, a thoroughly modern, impeccably ethical skincare brand. And, as befits her role as a long-term environmental campaigner, she has travelled here from her home in Dublin not by private jet but by scheduled airline, and she won’t be partying in the suite tonight, but returning in time to see her four children before they go to bed this evening.

When I arrive she is concluding a conversation with two of the aforementioned business associates - Bryan Meehan, the Irish entrepreneur who set up Fresh & Wild (and is therefore a major player in the green business world), and Julietta Dexter, the founder of the Communications Store, one of this country’s most effective and influential PR companies. They make a formidable trio (backed up by Christy Turlington, who also has a say in the company, having tested each and every one of the Nude products) and, as a result, the range has none of the hippy-dippiness that has sometimes been an ingredient in organic skincare.

But, as Hewson makes clear, Nude lives up to its green promises, with recycled (and recyclable) pots and biodegradable packaging, right down to the non-toxic, water-soluble inks. ‘We have to maintain the integrity of the brand,’ she says. ‘That is the first requirement.’ Meehan nods his head. ‘It was Ali who insisted on the packaging,’ he says. ‘We could have done it cheaper, but it had to be distinctive.’

Spend a little time in her company, and you begin to realise that Ali Hewson has a quietly distinctive way of getting things done, not only with Nude, which was launched last year, but also its sister company, Edun, an ethical clothing company established in 2005 that has been at the forefront of bringing Fairtrade into fashion. Thus, for all the gentleness of her demeanour, Hewson is also a force to be reckoned with, possessing the strength of character that has doubtless played a part in the success of her marriage to one of the most famous men on the planet.

They are generally regarded as having an unusually stable relationship - surviving an industry notorious for wreaking havoc on marital life - that has remained rock-solid for over three decades, since they met at Mount Temple school in Dublin, when Ali was 15, and Bono (who had already shed his real name, Paul Hewson) just a year older. ‘He was my first real boyfriend,’ she says, and when I ask her if she ever wanted to go out with anyone else she laughs and shakes her head. ‘He’s enough man for any woman.’

Clearly, U2 was part of their lives from the very start. ‘It was 1976 that we got together - the same year that the band formed. I saw their first gig, in our school gym.’ By 1982, when the couple married, Bono was already a fledgling rock star, with a touring schedule that kept him away for months at a time; a pattern that continued after the birth of their four children, as he conquered the globe, while she stayed at home.

‘There is something to be said for those periods apart,’ she says. ‘It’s a great way not to take someone for granted. Mind you, according to him, when he gets home after being on tour I just keep trying to tidy him up. When he climbs up on the kitchen table at 11 o’clock at night to play a gig, I have to tell him, “I’m not 60,000 people!” But it’s never boring, that’s for sure.’

As a way of life, it might seem to be a world apart from her own upbringing - her father worked nine to five in the electrical trade, her mother was a housewife, ‘we were a good Protestant family, just the two children, me and my older brother’ - but there are similarities. She remains very close to her own parents, who live nearby and have helped look after her children (’There’s no one better than your parents - you can trust them to love your children just as you do’), and says she can’t imagine a different kind of marriage to the one she has: ‘I’ve never lived in any other way.’

Not that she put her own life on hold while her husband travelled the world: she studied for a degree in politics and sociology at University College Dublin, sitting her finals two weeks after the birth of her first child, Jordan, in May 1989 (the couple have two daughters, now 19 and 16, and two sons, aged eight and six).

‘When I got pregnant with Jordan I thought, “Oh, God, she’s due in May,” which was ten days before my finals. So I could have been in labour during my exams. And it was my first baby - I had no idea what to expect. But a very wise woman said to me - when I was fretting about whether to put off my exams - “You’ll have an unbelievable sense of calm when you have a baby. The hormones kick in, and you’re breastfeeding, and you’re actually very relaxed.” I took her at her word, and it worked out. I did really well.’

But before you begin feeling annoyed at Hewson’s apparently effortless take on motherhood, she adds, ruefully, ‘I had two exams together on the last day, I’d had no sleep, and I couldn’t get home to feed the baby, so I had to express my milk in the car. I drove to the furthest end of a car-park, expressed the milk, and had to throw it out of the window. There was nowhere to store it. Anyway, when I tried to drive back for the exam, the car wouldn’t start. So I had to get out and run. I was five minutes late. I read the exam question - it was an essay question on moral philosophy - and everything went black. I literally couldn’t see the paper - my vision had gone. I had to try to write what I thought was in a straight line. I think it was caused by dehydration and lack of sleep. But it was my best exam! Sadly, I haven’t had a brain cell since I had children.’

Those who know her well do not agree, citing her ability to grasp crucial political issues at the same time as responding on an emotional level. The Irish broadcaster and U2 biographer Eamon Dunphy, has said, ‘The best thing about Bono is Ali. She is calm and rational and able to see beyond individuals to policies.’

Hence her long-term activism - including spearheading a campaign to send 1.5 million postcards from the Irish people to Tony Blair, highlighting the risk of radioactive pollution from Sellafield drifting across to Ireland - and her involvement in charities to help the child victims of Chernobyl. In a neat illustration of her ability to make the personal political, she asked her husband to donate the substantial proceeds of the U2 hit single, Sweetest Thing - a song he wrote for her as an apology for forgetting her birthday - to the Chernobyl Children’s Project.

‘I know how I want to try and live my life,’ she says, when I ask what motivates her campaigning. ‘I know I don’t want to leave any darkness behind me. I think we should all have a responsibility not to affect other people in a negative way. It starts with your children - you see how trusting they are, so small and so innocent. That’s why I got involved in the Chernobyl project, because of what happened to the children there.

‘Similarly, I realised that Sellafield is just across the water, and it’s useless, pointless - pumping all that low-grade radioactive material out into the sea, not admitting to the leaks they have. The Sellafield reprocessing plant is downwind of us. If there was an accident - well, I’ve seen the results of Chernobyl, I’ve been to Belarus and the Ukraine, where they got 90 per cent of the fall-out. There are no nuclear plants in Belarus - but radiation fall-out doesn’t stop at national borders.

‘There are no borders, and there ain’t no compensation. And when you see the children there - they’re just so vulnerable. Their thyroid absorbs the radioactive iodine. So you have all these children in Belarus who have had their thyroids removed, but with no medication to help them to continue to grow, because they can’t afford it. And some of them are having the operation in the wrong circumstances - it’s just wrong, all of it is wrong.’

As she speaks, her voice remains calm, but her impassioned conviction is evident, just as it is on the subject of Africa; in particular, the need for trade as well as aid, which is the credo behind Edun (and therefore why the company uses African organic cotton, and manufactures in Lesotho, redistributing its profits to the local communities).

‘Africa had six per cent of the world trade in the 1980s, which has dropped to two per cent now. If they were to gain back one per cent of world trade, that’s the equivalent of $70 billion dollars a year, which would be twice what they get in aid. That’s why we had the idea of trying to do something in Africa that would put our money where our mouth was - to actually make a difference by developing Edun.’

Such is her heartfelt fluency and faith in the potential for change that you can see why there are a number of commentators in Ireland who are speculating that Ali Hewson might be a realistic candidate for Irish president. When I put the idea to her she sidesteps it gracefully by saying, ‘I can’t speak Irish properly - and that’s a requirement - but I wish I could. Though my husband always said he wouldn’t move into a smaller house or walk behind me!’

What about in ten years time, I say? Surely she could learn Irish by then? ‘That may happen! It would be a huge honour. I think Mary McAleese is a great president, and Mary Robinson was a great president. You know when you see a woman coming into a position that was previously held by a man, that they will take the job on…’

She looks me straight in the eye as she speaks, with her steady, level-headed gaze, and as she does so a picture comes into my mind of Mr Ali Hewson, walking a few paces behind his wife, Her Excellency the President. Perhaps he’s still humming Sweetest Thing, but she’s looking good centre stage, taking her turn in the spotlight.

- Telegraph Media Group Limited 2008

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Vid courtesy of Guardian News and Media Limited

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The ‘Fight Club’ star joined the U2 frontman and his wife Ali Hewson for an intimate dinner party at Sass’ Café, where they enjoyed an elaborate meal washed down with red wine and champagne on Friday night.

Although Brad’s pregnant partner Angelina Jolie didn’t join them, Bono’s bandmate The Edge was there along with Monaco’s Prince Albert.

The cafe’s maitre de said: “It was really quite a surprise. It wasn’t organised in advance. We only got called on it that afternoon.”

The meal, which began at 10pm, was finished off with a strawberry cake lit with candles.

A staff member described the party as “tres speciale”.
Last week, Angelina – who is rumoured to be pregnant with twins – and Brad took their four children, Maddox, Pax, Zahara and Shiloh, to visit Bono’s home in Eze, France.

The superstar couple are currently in France to prepare for the birth of their rumoured twin daughters.

Brad and Angelina have forged a close bond with Bono and his family as they only live 15 minutes away.

- Tonight & Independent Online (Pty) Ltd.

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Well, well, well, another year older!!

Happy Birthday, Bono.

Your tireless efforts in making a difference in Africa is inspiring. You haven’t hitched yourself to a cause, the cause has hitched itself to you. Lead the charge!

God bless you time & efforts.

All the best from your friends at U2Exit.com

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Rhinestone Cowboy is trying on some more fashionable threads.
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Country singer/guitarist Glen Campbell is following in the footsteps of artists such as Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond by recording a new album designed to inspire a new generation of fans.

“Meet Glen Campbell,” due in stores on August 19, features covers of tunes originally performed by the likes of the Foo Fighters (”Times Like These”), U2 (”All I Want Is You”), and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (”Walls”), his Capitol Records label said on Tuesday. (more…)

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