After requiring emergency back surgery last week, Bono is expected to return full health. U2’s massive U2 260 Tour of North America had to be called off for 2010, as the rock star will need to undergo a involved rehabilitation process. With more than one million tickets already sold for the tour, the dates are expected to be rescheduled for the summer of 2011. In 2009, the 360′ Tour raked in $311 million dollars, and was expected to break the Rolling Stones all-time tour gross of $558 million. Their concert DVD U2360: Live at the Rose Bowl will be released early on in June, so fans we’ll be able to at least be able to watch U2 that way. Gorillaz will replace U2 as the headlining act at the UK festival Glastonbury.   

Ireland might of got cheated out of the World Cup by French, but at least their most famous rock band will play some part in the festivities this summer. ESPN will be using various tracks recorded by U2 and the Soweto Gospel Choir together for their World Cup coverage in South Africa. A commercial using “Where the Streets Have No Names” is currently airing depicting the soccer league that formed at Robben Prison amongst political prisoners during their fight against the Apartheid. Clips from U2’s concert at the Rose Bowl with the Soweto Gospel Choir will be shown between highlights during the coverage during and in the lead up to the World Cup.The American-based sports media giant, ESPN, will be rolling out unprecedented World Cup coverage. The five U2 songs that will be used besides “Where the Streets Have No Names” include “City of Blinding Lights”, “Magnificent”, “Out of Control”, and “Desire”.

Did you miss out on seeing U2 this past summer? Well, in June you will have the chance to purchase their DVD, U2 360′: At The Rose Bowl, and see witness the band’s biggest show of all time in the United States. Filmed entirely in HD, the concert film is one of the best U2 has ever made. You will feel like you’re actually in the crowd with 27 different camera angles and 97,000 screaming U2 fans. The band plays songs from their most recent release, No Line on the Horizon, as well as hits from their previous 11 albums. There is also a Blue Ray version and a double disc version to be released that includes a documentary on how the concert was put together featuring interviews with the band. The double disc version includes a bonus track from the performance and a few music videos and other performances. At The Rose Bowl is a must have for any die-hard U2 fan.

When the Police broke up in 1986 the mantle of the biggest band in the world shifted across the British Isles to Ireland and U2. Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. released The Joshua Tree in 1987 and the rest is history. Over the years, Sting has always had a tight bond with U2. From working on Live Aid together to the Edge making fun of Sting’s stage name on the Tonight Show with Dave Letterman, the relationship between Sting and U2 has always been interesting. Few musicians have experienced the kind of fame and success that the Police and U2 have experienced. Americans will have the chance to buy Sting tickets this summer when the 58-year-old running through June and July. Who knows? Maybe U2 and Sting will cross paths at some point this summer stateside? Should be a great summer for music either way.

Rumored to have a budget of over $50 million dollars, Turn Off the Dark,  the Spiderman musical featuring music written by Bono and the Edge took another blow when lead actress Evan Rachael Wood backed out of the production this week. The show was already been delayed for a lack of cash flow and some are beginning to wonder if the show will ever actually be performed. The musical doesn’t have any exact dates planned, but it was thought that the show would open sometime this year. Alan Cummings also signed on to Turn off the Dark, but the loss of Wood could send the producers back to the drawing board. The musical features a number of songs by Bono and the Edge including “Turn Off the Dark”, “Bouncing Off the Walls”, and “If the World Should End”.

In reaction to the terrible earthquake Bono and The Edge performed along with Jay-Z and Rihanna at the world-wide telethon “Hope For Haiti Now” a newly written song ”Stranded”. The telethon was organized by actor George Clooney featuring other performances from Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, Madonna, Beyonce, and more. “Stranded” was one of the highlights of the night as the telethon raised $57 million dollars to aid the recovery in Haiti. Producer Swizz Beats co-wrote the song with Bono, The Edge, and Jay-Z with recording artist Rihanna adding vocals to the song’s chorus. The Edge told the media that Jay-Z and Swizz Beats approached them with the idea of doing something for Haiti and they came up with the base of the song before sending it back to Jay-Z. In other news the band is working on a new album that is yet to be named with a tour in 2010 already planned.

There has been news filtering through that the much awaited new album from the house of U2 titled “No Line on the Horizon” will be tentatively released on
November 14th, if everything falls in place by that time. The album will be released by the Universal Music Group and reports are that the band is working day in and day out in order to complete the album on time. This will be U2’s first studio album in four years and the expectations are really very high on this new album. There are also reports that the shoot of a song from the new album will be taking place in Cadiz, a small city in Spain.

The lead singer of the world famous U2 band, Bono, celebrated his birthday last Friday night at Sass Café in Monaco and it was not an ordinary birthday party at all. The list of the invited guests to the birthday party goes like this: Brad Pitt, the U2’s lead guitarist The Edge and Prince Albert II of Monaco. The café manager said that it was a surprise party as they received a call to organize the same late on that afternoon. The dinner was all arranged by Bono’s wife Ali Hewson and the guests were treated with red wine at the dinner table. A champagne toast for Bono and a candle lit strawberry cake followed right after the meal.

The concert promoting company, Live Nation Inc. has signed a 12 year deal with U2 which gives the company the exclusive rights for the production of concerts for U2 and to manufacture and trade its merchandise, to run the U2 website as well as the online fan club. The new deal will guarantee the required inventory for the ticketing service which will be launched in 2009. The deal will not involve the distribution and publishing of the U2’s recorded music.

The Live Nation and its allies had produced and publicized almost all the world –tour of U2 from the year 1997 and a subsidiary of Live Nation was managing the fan club and website of U2 already. U2 has the potential to draw large number of fans to the concert and their last world tour grossed about $ 389.4 million which is the highest grossing tour in the history of box-office. The U2 fans believe that the new deal will remove the problems that the group faced during last tour.

The Edge, a popular guitarist of the U2 band and one who will be easily recognized by any ardent U2 fan, has revealed that it is the friendship that each of the band mates have among themselves that is a major contributing factor to the longevity of the U2 band. The guitarist has said that the camaraderie among the band members is the sole reason for the band to last for three decades and this has led to the band coming up with distinct music and sounds in their albums.

The U2 guitarist feels that it might be due to the fact that all the members of the U2 band were friends before forming the band group that they have succeeded for three decades in this challenging music world. He felt that the bonding among the band members were so strong that even in terms of adversities and huge conflicts, they were able to evade off the big conflicts very easily.