Bono helped convince Facebook to pick Dublin for its European HQ

One thing that comes up frequently whenever you talk to people in Ireland is the level of influence that U2 frontman Bono has. Indeed, it turns out that he played a pivotal role in Facebook choosing the country’s capital city as its HQ for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Today at an event organised by IDA Ireland to coincide with the Dublin Web Summit, Facebook’s Director of User Operations for EMEA, Latin America and Asia-Pacific, Sonia Flynn discussed the story behind the company choosing Dublin. Apparently COO Sheryl Sandberg had Switzerland at the top of her list but her friend (and Facebook investor through his Elevation Partners fund between 2010 and 2013), Bono, persuaded her to consider Dublin.

Of course, a generous (and now partially under threat) taxation system helped alongside other factors, but according to Flynn, Facebook would probably have been in Switzerland instead of Dublin if it hadn’t have been for the intervention of the pop star.

http://thenextweb.com

Happy Birthday, Larry Mullen Jr!!!

For many, many beats more!!!

R.I.P. Lou Reed (1942-2013)

"Conspiracy of Hope" Concert, U2 and Lou Reed, 1986

Lou Reed was a massively influential songwriter and guitarist who helped shape nearly fifty years of rock music.

"Every song we've ever written was a rip-off of a Lou Reed song," Bono once announced from the stage, while bringing Reed up to sing on a duet of "Satellite of Love," a staple during U2's Zoo TV tour. What Bono said reconfirmed what many fans think about Reed, who died Sunday: He was a giant among rock stars, and a good deal of the punk and indie bands that followed in his wake were happy to be orbiting objects.

More on Lou Reed and his influence on music.

BONO & THE EDGE SING HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Bono and The Edge made an appearance via video  during a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Harvard School of Public Health.  Bono delivered a few congratulatory words before he and Edge sang "Happy Birthday" to the audience.


http://www.atu2.com

Larry Mullen Jr on Norwegian TV

Larry went to Oslo to talk about the premiere of the film " A thousand times goodbye", but the interview turned out to be something else. A funny twist to a TV interview!!!

U2: Want a 99?

U2 queues for ice-cream on Bray seafront. Photograph: Jason Forde

Film-producer Jason Forde had no camera, only his iPhone, to hand when he came upon four men (Bono, Edge, Larry and Adam) casually enjoying 99s by the seafront of his hometown this week.

Forde, from Bray, Co Wicklow, saw some activity and a film crew along the shore on Tuesday and realised it was U2. “Nobody was stopping. They did not realise it was U2 as it was very small and low key,” he said.

U2 had been in Bray Head Hotel when they came out and did a song and a shoot along the shore, Forde said.

There were “no photo journalists there it was all under wraps”, said Forde. He got a few shots but “did not want to take too many” or infringe too much.

“They moved from the sea front to the shelters and utilised the backdrop,” he said.“Larry had a snare drum, The Edge and Adam had guitars and there were a few people passing in the background used as extras,” he said.

They had brought in a nice old 1950s ice-cream van in for the shoot. Forde snapped them with his phone enjoying the traditional 99s on a typical overcast grey Irish day and even got in one of the photographs himself. He said Bono even bought some ice-creams for passersby. “For real U2 fans it was a golden opportunity,” he said.

He reflects that having only an iPhone may have been best. “They mightn’t have let big cameras take photos, the way it all happened,” he said.

http://www.irishtimes.com

U2 at Bray: Shooting for their new album?

U2 was seen at Bray, near Dublin. Shooting pics for their new album? 

“U2 spotted shooting their new album cover on Bray seafront today”


@AndrewJDMcNulty

U2 Slip New Song 'Ordinary Love' Into 'Mandela' Trailer

U2 hope to finish making their next album by the end of this year, but the band has a new song, "Ordinary Love," to tide fans over in the new trailer for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, a biopic about former South African leader Nelson Mandela starring Idris Elba.

The Irish rockers wrote "Ordinary Love" specifically for the movie. Based on the snippets in the trailer, the track builds from a stark beginning featuring keyboards and Bono's vocals to a stadium-sized tune with a chorus of voices backing Bono.

U2 bassist Adam Clayton said recently that the group plans to include a dozen songs on its first new album since 2009's No Line on the Horizon. "I think it's a bit of a return to U2 of old, but with the maturity, if you like, of the U2 of the last 10 years. It's a combination of those two things and it's a really interesting hybrid," Clayton said. "We're in the studio. We're trying to get these 12 songs absolutely right and get them finished by the end of November, and then we can kind of enjoy Christmas."

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is based on the anti-apartheid activist and retired South African president's 1994 autobiography, also called Long Walk to Freedom. The movie premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September, and is due in theaters on November 29th.

http://www.rollingstone.com

Bono and Larry on U2's New Album

In the last days, both Bono and Larry have talked about the so much awaited new U2 album.

Bono and his wife Ali Hewson attended his niece's art exhibition

Bono: 'We're going back to roots for new album'.

Bono was speaking at The Picture Room on Dublin's Wellington Quay at the launch of his niece Leah Hewson's exhibition 'Cusp'. 

"At the start of making this album we listened to the music that made us want to form a band in the first place," he told the Sunday Independent.
"We visited everything from punk rock, The Ramones, Talking Heads, right through to electronic stuff, so it's all the stuff that made us want to be in a band.

"And the sound of the new album? Well we kind of put it in a blender. When we make an album, usually it still ends up sounding like us, which I guess is a good or a bad thing depending on where you stand," he joked.

"But with this one, this is not a version of us you have ever heard before, that's for sure."

The singer and global aid activist said the maxim that is driving the band to work so hard on the record is the feeling that: "We don't want to let the people down who have given us this life."

So does the band feel pressure from the anticipation that has built over the four years since the last album release?

"No," is his quick reply.

"I don't feel the pressure. The only pressure to make music now is for ourselves in a sense that we don't want to let down the people who have given us this life. It's not really about how many songs we put out, it is all about how great they are."

Larry Mullen Jr also talked about the upcoming album during a visit to Norway in connection with Erik Poppe's new blockbuster movie "A thousand times good night", where he plays against Nicolaj Coster-Waldau and Oscar-winner Juliette Binoche.


"We are in the studio completing  the album. Now we are in the bad phase where we have realized that the benefits with new technology gives us  hundreds of choices. Instead of doing the creative process faster, it is making  it slower.  That's where we are. We are in a situation where we have so many choices that we do not know what to do," says U2 star to "Good Evening Norway".



http://www.independent.ie

http://www.tv2.no/http://u2newsactualite.tumblr.com/

Ordinary Love

The band have written a new song, 'Ordinary Love', for the upcoming biopic Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, which stars Idris Elba and Naomie Harris. Catch a clip of the new song in this movie trailer, just released  here:

U2 - Ordinary love (Nelson Mandela movie trailer) 

Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, in theatres from November 29th, is based on South African President Nelson Mandela's autobiography. It chronicles his early life, education and 27 years in prison before becoming President and working to rebuild the country's once segregated society.

The band's friendship with Nelson Mandela goes way back and it was after seeing early cuts of the film that they were inspired to write a song.

'We are delighted to have U2 write an original song for Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom,' said producer Anant Singh, widely acknowledged as South Africa's preeminent film producer. 'This is really fitting as U2 has always been a staunch supporter of Madiba. As a board member of Madiba's 46664 anti AIDS initiative together with U2, I was fortunate to be with them when we visited Robben Island together, accompanied by Madiba.'

Singh, who has produced some of the most notable films made in South Africa, was personally awarded the film rights to Long Walk To Freedom by Nelson Mandela.

Harvey Weinstein, Co-Chair of producers TWC, added, 'Over the years U2 and I have had a superb relationship including partnering on the Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe winning song 'The Hands That Built America' for Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York. When I asked them to consider writing a song for Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, it was the fastest 'yes' I have ever received. The band saw various cuts of the film over the summer and worked diligently to write a song that truly reflects Nelson Mandela. I think they did a brilliant job honoring the man and the leader they have known for over 20 years.'

http://www.u2.com
http://m.soundcloud.com/ivanevan85/u2-ordinary-love-making-of

Bono joins niece Leah Hewson at her art exhibition 'Cusp'

Bono joins niece Leah Hewson at her art exhibition 'Cusp' at The Picture Rooms, Wellington Quay, Dublin.





http://www.independent.ie

Eve Hewson joins Clive Owen in Soderbergh drama

ACTRESS Eve Hewson’s star status in Hollywood seems to be going in only one direction – sky high.

The 21-year-old daughter of U2 frontman Bono is set to add another string to her career bow, by working alongside British actor Clive Owen in Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh's new production, ‘The Knick’.

The 10-part series for Cinemax, will see Eve play the character of Lucy, described as "a young, naive nurse from the South" who comes to New York for adventure.

The drama will be set in New York's Knickerbocker Hospital in 1900, as staff strive to break new ground in medicine.

Also featuring on the cast list to appear opposite Eve, who enjoyed her first breakthrough role on the silver screen with Sean Penn in ‘This Must Be The Place’, are Michael Angarano, Andre Holland and Juliet Rylance.

The Steven Soderbergh-series for Cinemax is expected to debut sometime next year.

http://www.independent.ie
Images: Getty Images //http://www.gettyimages.com

Bono-hating is a bit hypocritical

NICKY LARKIN – 13 OCTOBER 2013

HE'S rubbed us up the wrong way for a long time now, with his sunglasses and success and his speaking at summits. But is the Spud-Head scald of this man really fair? Or is it just a symptom of our scalp-hungry Celtic culture?
We are famously begrudging of success, unless it's Riverdance or Boyzone. I'm not sure who makes the rules – probably Michael O'Leary – but these two acts get a free pass from our inherent cynicism. Not our Bono.

But like it or not, over the past 30 years, the little man and his band have become the first thing people around the world associate with Ireland. And it's generally positive. We could forever have been associated with men in flares getting accused of terrorism. But then U2 became bigger than the IRA, particularly in America.

But that doesn't seem to matter any more, because he'll never do anything right by us.

DEVILISH DILEMMA: Bono dressed as Mister Macphisto, wearing devil horns, on U2’s Zoo TV Zooropa tour

The U2 frontman's recent revelation that he was chased down a German street by a mob shouting "make Bono history" has provoked harsh reactions here at home. Why is Bono-hating a particularly Paddy pastime?

Instead of speaking at those summits in Germany and then getting chased down the street afterwards, he could just sit on the couch in Killiney counting all his cash. Interestingly, that wouldn't annoy anybody at all here really, as long as we didn't have to watch.

That tax thing really rubbed us up the wrong way. In 2006, the band moved the bulk of its publishing empire to the Netherlands to reduce its tax bill in Ireland. We didn't like that at all. But in the same interview where he told us about being chased down the street, Bono defended the band's decision.

He claimed the Irish Government appreciated its decision to offshore some of its income. He said: "U2 is in total harmony with our Government's philosophy" and that "tax competitiveness has taken our country out of poverty".

Before it moved the bulk of its publishing empire abroad, U2 had benefited from the artist tax-exemption scheme in Ireland, originally introduced by Charlie Haughey. But in 2006, finance minister Brian Cowen put a cap of €250,000 on this.

As a result, U2 moved its interests to the Netherlands.

In the past, Bono has defended this move by saying the band is a global enterprise and pays millions of dollars in tax. But still that doesn't really wash with us at all.

Adam Talks about Walk in my Shoes, Marriage and U2's New Album

Adam and Mariana at their glamorous wedding in France

U2 star Adam Clayton has admitted his marriage has already been hit by rows – as he’s never around.

The Dublin rocker wed gorgeous Mariana de Carvalho a month ago in a no-expense spared ceremony in the South of France.

But the 53-year-old revealed the Brazilian beauty has already started to get annoyed that she never sees him at home in London.

Adam said: “I think I’ve been married about a month now and I’ve seen my wife two weeks of that, so it’s not a very good start.

“But those two weeks have been a great two weeks. It doesn’t go down too well at home, I’ve discovered quite quickly.”

And Adam revealed that instead of spending time with art gallery owner Mariana, he has been brought to Dublin on “work”.

The Beautiful Day star has been in studio with bandmates Bono, The Edge and Larry Mullen Jnr as they seek to finish their album before Christmas time.

He said: “We’re in studio, we’re trying to get these 12 songs absolutely right and get them finished by the end of November and then we can kind of enjoy Christmas.”

Speaking for the first time since tying the knot, Adam admitted Mariana will soon get him back when they spend Christmas in Brazil.
Asked where he plans to spend the holidays, he said: “I may have to go to visit the in-laws, so I could well be in Brazil over Christmas.”

But before he goes, Adam promised U2 fans they will get the record – their follow up to No Line On The Horizon from 2006 – “very, very soon”.

He added: “We are still at it. We hope to have it finished very, very soon and it will be out sometime early next year.

“But it’s a very exciting bunch of songs at the moment. It’s just about to be finished so it will be interesting to see which way it goes.”

And Adam hinted their much-loved older sound will return, as part of an “interesting hybrid”.

He said: “I think it’s a combination of edgy and soulful. There’s a bit of a return to U2 of old but with the maturity, if you like, of U2 of the past 10 years.

“It’s a combination of those two things and it’s a really interesting hybrid.”

But Adam admitted he can’t believe that its nearly been 25 years since Rattle And Hum and The Joshua Tree were released.

And the world-famous bass player revealed that during that time, U2 never understood how amazing the experience was.

He told 98fm: “It was kind of crazy, I don’t think we realised how special it was to be No1 in so many countries around the world.

“And we were on the cover of Time Magazine. There was a lot of attention on the band and we were just in the middle of it trying to play our songs.

“It felt like the whole world knew us at that stage and that took a little while to get over, or to get used to.

“But it was the start of an amazing relationship with our audience and it was amazing to have experienced that type of popularity.” Yesterday, Adam was supporting World Mental Health Day by putting his best foot forward for the Walk In My Shoes campaign.

And he decided to get involved with it after feeling that it was “unacceptable” how many young men in Ireland were taking their own lives.

He said: “I looked at the statistics. I think enough stress in the country as it is. But when I looked at the suicides among young, healthy men in our country between 18 and 45, I just thought this is unacceptable.

“And it is preventable. When people get help early enough, they can get the help they need. I’m doing a small thing, I’m bringing some attention to it.

“I hope it gives people the confidence to talk about it, and obviously the fundraising helps as well.”

Adam feels that the door has finally been opened for people to talk about their problems and ask for help – although as a country we’re not good enough at it.

He added: “I think we’ve kind of turned a corner as a culture and I think its become OK for people who are having difficulties, and that they can get some help.

“And I think that has to be positive and healthy. Probably in Ireland we’re not good at asking for help or seeking therapy or those things. But it’s amazing how great these self-help groups are, and it’s not all about taking the right drugs and you’ll be fine.”

Previously Adam revealed he would currently suffer with depression if music hadn’t saved him as a teen.

He claims he and his fellow band members stayed on the straight and narrow because they all got into a group. He said: “I think for me, and for the rest of the band, it was music that saved us.

“Otherwise we’d have gone a bit mad, or certainly suffer from depression.”

Adam added booze was the main thing that had dogged him but since giving it up his mental health dramatically improved.

He explained: “I was aware of [mental health issues] as a teenager. When I was 16 or 17 I found it quite difficult to fit in but then music was the thing that really worked for me.

“And later in my career I had issues with alcohol, which again I went to a rehab for and it was a breath of fresh air to actually have people identify with what was going on for me.

“Thankfully, by putting down the alcohol I haven’t had any issues.”

You can listen to the whole interview:



http://www.irishmirror.ie//http://www.98fm.com/

U2 and wives share the spotlight at artist Anne Madden’s exhibition

Anne Madden with U2's Bono,The Edge and Larry Mullen at the opening of her exhibition of art at the Taylor Galleries on Kildare Street, Dublin. (Picture:Arthur Carron/Collins)

U2 turned out to support "an old friend" and add a touch of superstar glamour to artist Anne Madden's new exhibition. Bono, the Edge and their wives Ali Hewson and Morleigh Steinberg attended the opening of 'Dark and Light', Madden's first exhibition in four years. Drummer Larry and his other half Anne Mullen followed shortly behind and U2 bass player Adam Clayton was the only member of the band not present. 

Bono's wife Ali Hewson and Edge's wife Morleigh Steinberg at the opening of an exhibition by Anne Madden at the Taylor Galleries on Kildare Street, Dublin

 London-born Madden established a friendship with U2 over 20 years ago and the group have been collectors of her work for more than a decade. 

 "I met them in 1984 at an Amnesty International event," Madden told Independent.ie. "I had no idea who they were at the time, they gave us the Joshua Tree album, which I'd also never heard of. "They're old friends now." 

 Her exhibition of work has been unveiled a year after the death of her celebrated husband Louis le Brocquy. Madden's work is on display at the Taylors Galleries on Dublin's Kildare Street until October 26.

U2 manager Paul McGuinness with Anne Madden at the opening of an exhibition of art Dark and Light by Anne Madden at the Taylor Galleries on Kildare Street, Dublin

LAURA BUTLER – 10 OCTOBER 2013

http://www.independent.ie

Adam urges schools to back mental health campaign

U2 BASSIST Adam Clayton has written to secondary school principals asking them to support a mental health initiative.

He got married just over a month ago, but he still took time out of his busy schedule for the 'Walk in My Shoes' campaign, for which he is the ambassador.

It's a nationwide awareness and fundraising initiative of St Patrick's Mental Health Foundation which aims to change the lives of vulnerable young adults in Ireland by providing them with mental health services and support.

In his letter to school principal's, Adam asked them to help him highlight the importance of mental health to young people in Ireland today.

He said: "I think we all have to care about anyone who is young and troubled; we have to be able to recognise the warning signs and try to respond to them not only with sympathy but with seriousness.

"This is one of the most important challenges facing us now."

He added: "The idea behind 'Walk In My Shoes' came from a 16-year-old boy attending St Patrick's Mental Health Services in Dublin who said he wished his friends could put themselves in his shoes and understand what he was going through.

He invited principals to get behind the initiative by asking staff and students to organise a Walk in My Shoes day, and to donate just €2 each.

The star said that the funds raised would provide mental health services to vulnerable young adults who otherwise could not afford them, and would provide a support and information telephone helpline manned by mental health professionals.

http://www.independent.ie
http://www.walkinmyshoes.ie/

Washington, DC  – The Washington Oxi Day Foundation announced today that the recipient of the 2013 Oxi Day Award will be John Githongo, a journalist who risked his life fighting corruption in Kenya.  International musician and human rights activist Bono, who selected for the Oxi Day Foundation Githongo for this award, will introduce him via video at the awards ceremony.  Githongo will be honored for the courage he showed — in the spirit of Oxi Day — to fight corruption and promote democratic values in Kenya.

Bono, who is helping spread the tremendous story of Greece’s David vs. Goliath courage in WWII and its crucial role saving the democracy we enjoy today, was named one of the 20 most politically effective celebrities of all time, according to a National Journal poll of DC insiders.  He was also awarded Nobel’s Man of Peace prize in 2008.



- Read  more at: http://www.oxidayfoundation.org/2013-oxi-day-recipient-announced/#sthash.KlvYmjIn.dpuf

http://www.oxidayfoundation.org

Released!-Human Rights Concert

¡RELEASED!” presents The Human Rights Concerts – the series of benefit concerts staged between 1986 and 1998 to raise awareness and funds for the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights organisation Amnesty International. The first of these was “A Conspiracy Of Hope”, Amnesty’s 25th anniversary US concert tour in 1986. This was followed by “Human Rights Now!”, the historic 5-continent 20-concert world tour undertaken in 1988. The series continued with stand-alone concerts “An Embrace Of Hope” in Chile in 1990 and “The Struggle Continues…” in Paris in 1998. The list of musicians who contributed their services is extraordinary and includes some of the world’s foremost artists - drawn from several nations and representing a wide range of musical styles. The primary factor uniting them was their desire to donate their time and talents to place a spotlight on Amnesty’s vital work campaigning for people whose human rights are abused. Building on the achievements of Amnesty’s legendary “Secret Policeman’s Ball” benefit shows, albums and movies - these concerts brought awareness of the cause to an ever-wider public.  This new release is designed to continue that mission and raise further funds for Amnesty’s crucial work. 

Track List

U2 in New York: Photo Shoot for New Album?

U2 was seen yesterday in Manhattan , posing for a photoshoot at a rooftop of a building overlooking the West Village. Speculations that the pics are for the new album arose immediately.

The Edge at the Museum of Modern Art in New York

A List: The Edge, Helena Christensen and Michael Stipe attend the Marvista Entertainment & Lifetime with The Cinema Society screening of House of Versace at Museum of Modern Art in New York 

Helena has been busy promoting her 11-piece handbag collection for brand Kipling, a company known for offering customers suitcases and accessible bags.

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

'In The Locust Wind....' Rattle and Hum's 25th Anniversary

And the fever, getting higher...'  It arrived a quarter of a century ago and here's some of the ways  Rattle And Hum was a special record. For starters... it's got Desire. 

It's got The Memphis Horns on Love Rescue Me and Angel of Harlem. 

U2 - Angel Of Harlem por jpdc11


It was a double album (remember them?) with nine new songs, only 18 months after The Joshua Tree.

It came with its own film.



'If I had feet like that Lawrence, I wouldn't want them in the film.' 
'If I had a head like yours, I'd bleedin' bury it.' 

It's got the New Voices of Freedom. The church choir from Harlem found the gospel truth in I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, sent the band a tape and asked them to church. Next thing you know they were onstage at Madison Square Garden and pressed in vinyl on Rattle And Hum. Praise the Lord! 

'When you get to the bottom/ You go back to the top of the slide...' It channels the spirit of rock'n'roll from Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles to Bo Diddley and Elvis. 

It went into the past to find a way into the future - with thanks to Bob Dylan (Hammond Organ on Hawkmoon 269, backing vocals on When Love Comes To Town, co-writing lyrics Love Rescue Me). 'If I'm honest this was the end of a journey that Bob Dylan had sent us on.' explained Bono. 'In 1985, sitting backstage at his concert in Slane Castle, he said to me, 'You've got to look back. You've got to go back. You've got to understand the roots.'
'I think we wanted to ground all the electricity that was going through us and to understand the past better. And it really did help us. Listening to black music helped us get the groove ready for Achtung Baby. Listening to folk music helped me develop as a lyricist. But this was a work in progress; gauche and awkward as it might have been, I think it was a necessary part of our development.' 

Some of it was written in the bath. The band had been to see BB King, with Bono promising to write him a song. But when BB came calling for When Love Comes To Town, it wasn't quite ready. 'I wrote the lyrics in the bath in about ten minutes, while he was waiting downstairs,' said Bono. 'Got out of bath, dressed, went down and gave him the song. He said to me, 'You're kind of young to write such heavy lyrics.'

It's got All I Want is You. 'Van Dyke Parks came into the studio,' recalled Edge. 'Listened to what we'd done, went off and wrote this absolutely gorgesous and incredibly haunting arrangement which lasted two and a half minutes. It was a great way to end the album in that it has a traditional basis but it was a truly U2 song.' 


It's got 'a red guitar, 3 chords and the truth' from the day that All Along The Watchtower helped 'Save The Yuppies' in San Francisco. 

It was the end of an era and cleared the way for the band to 'go away and dream it all up again'. 'The best live rock album ever made' announced Time Magazine, getting slightly carried away. Other reviews were distinctly less fulsome but as Larry pointed out, the criticism '... did inspire us to go and chop down The Joshua Tree.' 






http://www.u2.com

More rumours: U2 Preparing First New Album Since 2009 for Spring 2014

Really? Will it be five years since U2 released a new album? That’s indeed the story. I can tell you that Bono, Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. are planning a new album for early spring 2014. And it will be the first since “No Line on the Horizon,” a so-so effort (sorry) compared to the group’s many thrilling and classic recordings.
“No Line” was released in 2009. Bono was on David Letterman last week and said that everyone basically had to be patient and wait for a great album. But I am told that the album is pretty much in place and that work has commenced on art, videos, and other related items. When U2 comes with a release now, it has to have all its ducks in order.
What was the group doing all this time? Well, they made zillions touring. And of course there was “Spider Man: Turn off the Dark.”
U2 will be welcomed back by the music industry with parades and fireworks.


Roger Friedman


http://www.showbiz411.com

'Beethoven With A Backbeat'

'Beethoven with a backbeat... the true disciple of Sir Duke... who raises our hopes when he raises his voice... the man with an understatement for a last name... and here he is...Stevie Wonder.'

In New York at the Global Citizen Festival, which featured Kings of Leon, Alicia Keys and John Meyer,  Bono was up on stage  to salute Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and then back onstage to welcome 'the master blaster'.

Jordan Hewson, Bono and Ali's eldest daughter, is an active member of Global Citizen. 

http://www.u2.com