A few tidbits about U2, in case you wanted to know some trivia.
1. U2 has been actively involved in human rights and social justice campaigns over the years, including Amnesty International and the ONE Campaign.
2. U2 has won 22 Grammys over the course of the group’s decades-long career.
3. The band comes from Ireland orginally.
U2 is the first band slated to perform at the new revamped Point, O2. Owner Harry Crosbie has big plans for the Dublin venue and wanted to reopen the venue with a bang. And after being revealed that he was close with both the band and the manager Paul McGuinness, it was little surprise as to who would play first. U2 has been using this venue for rehearsals before it even opened, so the history should set in nicely with their plans to grab the headlines in December. Fans in the Dublin area are very excited for U2 to perform and it should be another amazing performance from the legendary band.
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.
There are news filtering through that the construction of the proposed landmark U2 tower Liffey high-rise is all set to commence by the end of the year after plenty of discussions, deliberations and rowing between the U2 members and the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA). The DDDA spokesperson said that the negotiations between the DDDA and the potential bidders are nearing completion and Geranger Ltd, a conglomerate of developer Paddy McKillen, Ballymore Properties and members of the U2, has been chosen as the preferred bidder. Geranger Ltd will be building a skyscraper that is about 60 m higher than the Spire and Dublin’s U2 fans will soon be able to see the landmark tower erected.
The U2’s lead guitarist David Howell Evans who is popularly known as The Edge and the lead man of the U2 band Bono spent the last weekend at a beach in Southern France with one of
The U2 musicians were staying in a shared villa in a place called Eze in
The Edge, U2’s guitarist extraordinaire has emerged to announce that he will be hosting the Icons of Music Auction II on the coming May 31, 2008. This auction is expected to feature some of the most sought after music collectibles ever to provide much needed help to MusicRising.org, a charitable campaign that was also co-established by The Edge himself. This organization was created with the aim to assist musicians who originate from the Gulf Coast Region to get back on their feet after the terrible Hurricane Katrina and Rita tragedies. Aaron Neville, renowned for winning the Grammy four times throughout his career, will also be doing his part to support the auction by performing at the high profile event.
Among items belonging to The Edge that are up for auction include a 1976 Gibson Explorer Guitar and a blue colored Gibson Les Paul. Bidders are also expected to take home a bass guitar belonging to Kurt Cobain, Slash’s Gibson Les Paul guitar as well as a Johnny Cash guitar.
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.
U2’s third album “War” is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and the producer of the album Steve Lilywhite is talking about his experience with the band while making the album. Steve remembers that he was hesitant to take up the third album with U2 as he has already done “Boy” and “October” with them and believed that it was good for the band to work with different producers. After, the bad performance of “October” they needed to come back and was well supported by Chris Blackwell. Steve remembers that the band members were more focused in the “War’ sessions and Bono wanted Edge to be more sharp and aggressive.
Steve said that, he tried to make War as different as possible from the two earlier albums as it was the same band and same singers. Steve is proud that he was able to do the Remix of “New Year’s Day” within 15 minutes. Steve has high regards for Bono and his ability to market his band. He believes that U2 has the power of making use of their inadequacies to their advantage. War, one of the best albums produced by U2, contained all the major ingredients for success of an album like commitment, passion and the power of music.
Ireland’s spiritual singing group Clannad is preparing for comeback to the spot light. The group member Sally Williams remembers the help of Bono in creating the super hit song “In a Life Time” by lending his unique voice about 20 years ago. Now, the Irish band is visiting Wales as part of their first U.K tour, but the fans will miss the U2 lead singer with this group. Bono was never comfortable in giving the live performance of this hit song said vocalist and guitarist Duggan.
The Clannad’s has performed it in Top of the Pops without Bono. Duggan informed that Bono is not ready to sing it because he feels that he doesn’t possess the voice to sing it anymore. In this U.K tour, the singer Bryan Kennedy is expected to perform it in Belfast. Duggan says that Bono is a real down to earth kind of man and he is very proud of his friend. The group Clannad consists of Duggan, his niece, Moya Brennan the lead singer, Ciaran Brennan and Padraig, Duggan’s twin brother. Duggan is now 60 years and still loves to perform on stage. The come back concert will give a rare chance for their fans to hear all the chart breaking songs.
The lead singer of the famous rock band U2, Bono, who is always in the news, has said that the new album that the U2 band is recording in their Dublin studio will be totally uncompromising as well as a far-reaching album. Bono said that he could not reveal much about the album right now, but opined that the album that the U2 band is currently producing will be no less than a great album. He says that the new album will be enjoyed by both the young and the old alike and that the band is working day in and day out to produce an album that is totally extraordinary.
Bono is pretty confident that the new album will definitely shock many people once it is released. Bono has hinted that the upcoming album will have Moroccan influence in some songs and also said that the listeners can feel a bit of the trance and the metal in the album. Bono felt that this new album will bring a few people on to the dance floor. The producer of the U2’s new album has confirmed that the Irish rockers have already started work on the follow up of the U2’s 2004 album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
