Bono, frontman of U2, will write 6-10 opinion columns for the New York Times in 2009.  He will write about a bunch of topics, and the details have still not been worked out.  But is the Times the place that Bono belongs?  Sure, why not?  It’s an open forum, and it’s going to be less than once a month on average, so it’s not a big deal.  It’s not like he’s gotten a huge public forum. He will have a busy year, because he will probably go on tour with U2 and the group will be releasing at least one album next year.  So it will be a big year, but at least he wont be bored!

Bono recently travelled over to the UK (Liverpool specifically) to award Paul McCartney and the rest of the Beatles with MTV Europe’s “Ultimate Legend” award. While handing the award over he stated, “In the universe of rock and roll, the Beatles were the Big Bang.” Then he… I’m sorry. Hold on a second. Isn’t Ireland in Europe? Why didn’t Bono get something too? Or better yet, just take that award…

The Canadian music producer Daniel Lanois is saying that U2’s work-in-progress album is “fantastically innovative” and “some of their best work”.   He says that Bono is singing and writing better than he ever has, and has really broken a barrier into even better music.  They just finished a couple weeks of recording and now are on the road together, where Lanois says that his ability to produce their records gets even better.  “You just get a sense of what works with an audience.”  This is definitely good news for any U2 fan.  We’ve heard stories about how difficult it’s been to record this newest album, but now that we hear that all the hardship is paying off, we can look forward to next year’s release.  They aren’t yet sure when it will come out but it shouldn’t be long.

Plans to build the tallest tower in Ireland were cancelled today, to the disappointment of U2.  The top floors of the building in Dublin were to be a recording studio for the famous Irish band. Unfortunately, with the economic downturn, especially in real estate issues, the building was considered ill-advised at this time. They plan to go back into building the tower in the next year or so, but they will have to renegotiate with various people to do so.  The building was designed by architect Norman Foster and was to be triangular.  U2 fans everywhere will have to wait, then, to get their U2 tower.

No no, I’m not talking about the presidential election.  I’m not even talking about any other government election.  The voting that you have to do is for your favorite band, U2, which is up for the MTV music awards.  They have been nominated for “Best Act Ever.”  They are against such competition as Green Day, Tokio Hotel, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears… and Rick Astley. Who knows which one of these groups might win, but of course U2 deserves it more than these other groups.  Do your part today! Go vote at the MTV website.

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.

The word has finally gotten around the world that U2 is simply one of the best, most rocking rock bands in the world. Proof, you ask? Ahem. The film “U23D” (that’s U2 in 3-D) was voted “Best Movie” at the MTV Premios in Latin America (Premios means awards, as in accolades for awesome U2). Anyways, it’s good to know that U2’s fan base is expanding. Learn more at U2.com!

Bono and The Edge are set to honor both BB King and Paul Allen on October 26th at the Kodak Theater in LA. BB King will be receiving the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Founders Award while Allen will be presented with the 2008 Herbie Hancock Humanitarian Award. Awards plus Edge/Bono? These are two of the luckiest guys in the world!

Much of the world has always wondered why the Edge never spoke about his guitar and were almost angry that he didn’t. So when he finially broke his guitar silence, the entire world shut down to hear him speak. Stating that he fell in love with his guitar and that no one else was using the gibson explorer at that time, listeners nodded their heads and collectively sighed “That’ll do Edge…that’ll do.” To read more about the Edge and his amazing guitar stories, visit U2.com.