Bono was awarded the inaugural George W. Bush Medal for Distinguished Leadership Thursday, with the former president honoring the U2 singer for his work in combatting the HIV/AIDS crisis and poverty in Africa.
In 2002, during a visit to the White House, Bono lobbied the president to lend financial support to a series to humanitarian organizations that would provide financial assistance and help stem the AIDS crisis in poor countries.
"It's a huge honor to [win] this award, and I'm here to honor your leadership on the greatest health intervention in the history of medicine," Bono told Bush Thursday in a conversation that was live-streamed from the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.
"That's what I'm not sure people understand: 13 million from PEPFAR [President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief], and if you add the Global Relief Fund, it's probably been 21 million lives have been saved by this work that you began and led and I'm here to honor that."
Bush responded, "The truth of the matter is, [PEPFAR] never would have made it out of Congress had you not been engaged. The first time I met you, you knew more statistics, like you were coming right out of the CIA."
Bush added, "Here's the thing about Bono that people got to understand: I like to say he's a real deal. This is a guy who has got a huge heart, obviously a talent, but cares so much about the human condition that he spends an enormous amount of time and capital on saving lives."
Bono also praised the ONE campaign and the American taxpayers for their help. However, the singer expressed concern about whether the Trump White House will continue the fight.
"Tackling a virus like this, if you're not as fast or faster than the virus, it's outrunning you. So all the progress that we made over the years can be undone," Bono warned.
"This was a moonshot, and [Bush] started something that was kind of 'put America on the Moon' in this regard, and I feel like we're just about to land on the Moon, and right now with this administration, we have some problems because they're talking about turning back. And I think we've got to be very hardheaded but making the argument for saving lives. It would be a very un-American thing to get all the way to the Moon and not put an American flag on it."
Bono joked that he was worried he would be fired from U2 over the honor, since his band mates were in Montreal rehearsing for their upcoming tour while the singer was accepting awards from the former president. "I kind of snuck out the back window," Bono told Bush. The singer also expressed his condolences to the Bush family following the death of Barbara Bush earlier this week.
“Millions of people owe their lives to America’s generosity and the leadership of Presidents Bush and Obama”
WASHINGTON — Bono, the lead singer of U2 and the cofounder of ONE and (RED), issued the following statement to mark World AIDS Day:
“Whatever your brand of politics — left, right, center or none at all — if you’re an American, you’re an AIDS activist. America has led the way in saving millions of lives around the world from this vicious little virus. On this World AIDS Day — and every day — that is a reason for Americans to be proud and the world to be grateful.
“President Bush utterly transformed the global fight against AIDS when he launched PEPFAR, the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in history. And if President Bush built the car and got it running, President Obama kept his foot on the accelerator, helping ensure that over 18 million people today are on ARVs largely supported by PEPFAR and the Global Fund. Millions of people owe their lives to America’s generosity and the leadership of Presidents Bush and Obama, and support from all sides in Congress. The President-elect will take the baton at a critical moment — we’re so close to an AIDS-free generation, but still far from where we need to be to get ahead of this disease.
“Government leadership has been essential to fight, but we also have to thank the businesses who have been dealing their own serious blows to this disease. This year marks (RED)’s 10th birthday and we are amazed by what our (RED) partners have done — delivering more than $360 million to fight AIDS so far. Just as important as the cash, has been the heat they are keeping on this crisis. Together these resources mean more birthdays for millions of men and women and more babies born HIV free.”
AIDS-related illnesses are now the leading cause of death for women aged 15 to 44 on the planet, and over 17,000 women of all ages are infected with HIV every week. In sub-Saharan Africa, young women are twice as likely as young men to be infected with HIV, and 850 young women contract it every day. AIDS deaths have declined by 45 percent since their peak in 2004, but 2.1 million people are still being infected each year.
The ONE Campaign this week released its annual report on the fight against AIDS, warning that funding for the global fight against AIDS was flat and gains in treatment and prevention had not grown for a fourth straight year. Imminent population growth among especially vulnerable populations in sub-Saharan Africa has left world leaders with a four-year window to get ahead of the disease before long-term control slips beyond their reach.
Thinking of Florence (aka Florence Nightingale) my nurse hero from Kigali who once offered nothing to her patients but care. Now she can offer lifesaving ARVs thanks to AIDS activists all over the world.
18 million people are now on these miracle drugs! What everyone thought was impossible, is not – #Bono #WorldAIDSDay @ONEcampaign (RED) - via U2 on Instagram
In honor of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, Jimmy Kimmel Live! is kicking off (SHOPATHON)RED, featuring limited edition (RED) products, plus once-in-a-lifetime experiences with celebrities via OMAZE.
"Thanks to the kindness of some of the biggest stars in the world, we have a great show for a great cause," Kimmel tells E! News in a statement. "World AIDS Day is Dec. 1 and I'm honored to be a part of this very special night to benefit (RED)."
Bono will sing a re-worked version of Cole Porter's "Well, Did You Evah!" and the Killers will perform Christmas songs. "The Killers are doing Christmas songs to end all Christmas songs," Bono said with a laugh, "which actually, believe or not, has me singing, 'If you don't help people with AIDS you're going to hell.'" Kimmel revealed he wrote that line, while Brandon Flowers wrote the rest. "But that's true — if you don't help people with AIDS you are going to hell, and that seems like a good enough reason to help alone," he said. "I mean, just think of yourselves."
Support (RED) and Enjoy a Cup of Tea with Julia Roberts and Bono You and a friend will: Have the best tea time of your life with Bono and Julia Roberts Discuss movies, music and more with some incredibly talented artists Seriously, you need another reason to do this? Get flown out and put up in a 4-star hotel
To celebrate (RED)’s 10th anniversary, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will match every dollar raised by (RED) this year up to $78MM.
From Left: Sue Lowe, Alicia Lowe, A’Driane Nieves, Jane Maynard, Bono, Diana Lamon, Mazelle Etessami, and Carrie Cohen PHOTO: SAM JONES
“He’s one of the most outspoken and effective advocates for women and girls I know.… As an activist, he’s using those skills to get the world talking about the fact that ending extreme poverty begins with empowering women and girls.” —Melinda Gates, philanthropist and 2013 Woman of the Year
When humanitarian and rock icon Bono learned that he was being honored by Glamour as the first-ever Man of the Year, he called his wife of 34 years, Ali Hewson, to give her the news. “I asked did she think I deserved it. She wasn’t sure,” Bono tells me with a laugh. “She said I’ve work to do!”
U2’s front man has no doubts. “I’m sure I don’t deserve it,” he says. “But I’m grateful for this award as a chance to say the battle for gender equality can’t be won unless men lead it along with women. We’re largely responsible for the problem, so we have to be involved in the solutions.”
“He’s one of the most outspoken and effective advocates for women and girls I know.… As an activist, he’s using those skills to get the world talking about the fact that ending extreme poverty begins with empowering women and girls.” —Melinda Gates, philanthropist and 2013 Woman of the Year
When humanitarian and rock icon Bono learned that he was being honored by Glamour as the first-ever Man of the Year, he called his wife of 34 years, Ali Hewson, to give her the news. “I asked did she think I deserved it. She wasn’t sure,” Bono tells me with a laugh. “She said I’ve work to do!”
U2’s front man has no doubts. “I’m sure I don’t deserve it,” he says. “But I’m grateful for this award as a chance to say the battle for gender equality can’t be won unless men lead it along with women. We’re largely responsible for the problem, so we have to be involved in the solutions.”
I’m on Glamour’s side: I think Bono is the perfect choice for this first-time honor because, now 56, he’s been trying to do good for as long as he’s been making music. I first met Bono, born Paul David Hewson, in Sarajevo over New Year’s 1996, shortly after peace accords ended the Bosnian civil war that November. It was the first time in four years that the guns were silent and the people of that beautiful city could celebrate by taking to the concert halls and cafés. I got pulled into a crowded car one night, heading for a party, and there was Bono. Our two-decade humanitarian friendship was launched.
And while my friend has sold 170 million albums and won 22 Grammys, what I admire most about him is his extraordinary talent for tackling problems that seem intractable—and making mighty and measurable gains. It’s not every superstar (or, for that matter, statesman) who can bring about $100 billion in debt cancellation for 35 of the world’s poorest countries, or persuade the U.S. government to pony up the largest contribution ever for lifesaving AIDS drugs in Africa, as President George W. Bush did in 2004.
Now Bono has created Poverty Is Sexist, a new campaign specifically aimed at helping the world’s poorest women—those who survive on less than $2 a day. “Women bear the burdens of poverty,” Bono says, meaning they are far less likely than men to have access to food, clean water, education, and health care; laws in many parts of the world don’t protect them from sexual violence or allow them to own the land they work. By establishing Poverty Is Sexist, Bono is making it clear that powerful men can, and should, take on these deep-rooted issues.
Women have always strongly influenced him in his work. Just one example: During his impassioned effort in the 1990s to get antiretroviral drugs to the rural poor in South Africa, Bono met an HIV-positive woman named Prudence who had come to share her story with him instead of attending the funeral of her sister. In her town, she explained, there weren’t enough antiretroviral drugs to go around—Prudence had gotten the pills because she could campaign for help from the outside world, while her sister, a mother who had to stay home with her children, went without and died of AIDS. “Prudence told me, ‘Letting the world know what we’re up against is more important than going to my sister’s funeral,’ ” he recalls. Though stunned by her words, Bono says, he understood, because at that time in certain parts of Africa, “HIV/AIDS was a death sentence. Imagine going to a football match and thinking, A third of these people in this stadium are going to die. This was a war, and women were at the front line of fighting that war.”
Today 17 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are on lifesaving AIDS drugs, up from 300,000 in 2000, thanks in great part to the work of Bono and ONE, the international volunteer advocacy organization he cofounded in 2004. Now he hopes Poverty Is Sexist can have a similar impact. The campaign created a detailed report documenting the link between poverty and gender and sent it this year on March 8, International Women’s Day, to every president and prime minister in the world. Included in the data: the fact that, in Africa, young women account for the majority—74 percent—of all new AIDS cases among adolescents, which is why one of the campaign’s first aims was to coax bigger contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. In August, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau became the first head of state to step up, raising Canada’s contribution to the global fund by 20 percent. Other fund members followed suit, increasing donations by a total of $13 billion—money that will help save 8 million lives and prevent 300 million new infections by 2019. Those are real women and babies whose lives have been saved—and that is Bono’s legacy.
I ask the first Glamour Man of the Year why so few men are willing to rally around women’s causes. “Men can be a bit thick,” he says. “And I include myself. Honestly, things that ought to be obvious sometimes are not.” What’s obvious to Bono (the father of two daughters and two sons, feminists and activists all ): “We can do much more than we think we can. Leaders are accountable to all of us. If they don’t support women and girls, vote them out of office. To quote Nelson Mandela, ‘It always seems impossible—until it’s done.’ ”
Christiane Amanpour, a 2005 Woman of the Year, is CNN’s chief international correspondent and host of CNN’s international news hour, Amanpour http://www.glamour.com/
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greets Bono, a keynote speaker at Saturday's replenishment conference for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
A global initiative tackling three deadly diseases in developing countries will get a major boost of star-power in Montreal today.
U2 frontman Bono will be speaking as the two-day conference by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria continues.
The conference is attracting a long list of wealthy donors and decision-makers — from Bill and Melinda Gates to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Their goal is to raise $13 billion to help save an estimated eight million lives while preventing 300 million new infections buy 2019.
The Canadian government has pledged $785 million to battle the three big infectious diseases.
Ban told the conference on Saturday that the Global Fund has helped to saved the lives of 20 million people since 2002.
"Over the next 15 years we must all work together to achieve the sustainable developing goals," he said.
Gates said the fund will help save the lives of two million people this year alone.
Later Saturday, the Global Citizen concert supporting the cause will be held Montreal's Bell Centre, featuring Usher, Half Moon Run, Metric, Grimes and Charlotte Cardin.
‘Battle against Aids is not a last decade issue. It’s going to be the next decade issue’
It’s 10 years since Bono and Bobby Shriver established RED, a fund set up to fight AIDS and other diseases in developing countries, after meeting business leaders in Davos.
A decade later, the U2 star was back in the Swiss resort this week to celebrate the 10-year launch of the initiative which has raised more than $350 million for the fight against Aids.
Speaking to The Irish Times on the fringes of the World Economic Forum, Bono said his aim this year was to continue the momentum behind the campaign. “The battle against Aids is not a last decade issue. It’s going to be the next decade issue. We need to finish the job, get new companies, new interest. It’s kind of annoying and sometimes upsetting that these global health issues can become creatures of fashion. People think Aids is done – it’s not done.”
This week at Davos, Salesforce confirmed a $5 billion investment. Bono has also met with companies Weiss and Philips on Friday about potential investment. “To bring it to the next level, we need some new blood – 60 million lives have been touched by Red money – $350 million of it – we’re proud about that.”
To date, more than 60 companies have collaborated with Red, including Starbucks and Apple. The charity works by licensing a brand, Product Red, to companies who then donate part of the profits generated by the sale of products sold under that brand to the fund.
Bono was one of more than 2,000 individuals from the world of business, politics and social activism attending the 46th World Economic Forum.
Also present was Daire Hickey, one of the co-founders of Web Summit , the tech event which controversially announced plans to move to Lisbon next year. On Tuesday, Web Summit hosted a networking event which was attended by representatives of Facebook, Microsoft, the deputy chairman of Nasdaq, and a host of media start-ups. Hickey, who attended the IDA’s dinner with Taoiseach Enda Kenny on Thursday, said that preparations were progressing well for next year’s web summit in Lisbon.
“We’ve lined up some incredible speakers that we’re going to announce over the next few months. We’ve already sold more tickets than we had at this point last year for Dublin, so there’s been a huge interest.”
Speaking on the final day of the World Economic Forum, which had been overshadowed by concerns about the health of the global economy and signs of slowdown in China, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said that markets needed more “clarity and certainty” on how China was managing its currency, particularly the yuan’s relationship with the dollar. The IMF late last year announced that the renminbi – official currency of the People’s Republic of China – would be admitted into the fund’s basket of currencies.
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda told the forum he believed China should use capital controls to stabilise its currency.
Despite this week’s sell-off in global equity markets, most analysts and senior banks at Davos played down the possibility of a major slowdown, predicting that China would experience a soft landing.
But billionaire financier George Soros disagreed. Speaking on Thursday he said a hard landing was “practically unavoidable” for China. “I’m not expecting it, I’m observing it,” he said.
VICE co-founder Suroosh Alvi traveled to Rwanda with U2 lead singer and (RED) co-founder Bono to explore how we have reached "the beginning of the end of AIDS" and what needs to happen next.
Most heads of state attend grand affairs flanked by a security detail. Bono, the archduke of the Axis of Altruism, enters accompanied only by the Edge toting a sonically lethal six-string Gibson Explorer. “Imagine having the Edge in your life,” Bono told a well-heeled audience that included vice president Joe Biden, Bill and Melinda Gates and former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday evening. “He’s an interesting man. I feel as if I’m still getting to know him.”
Bono, right, and the Edge perform at "It Always Seems Impossible Until It Is Done: A Night of Music with ONE and (RED)", in celebration of World AIDS Day, at Carnegie Hall, December 1, in New York. GREG ALLEN/INVISION/AP
The two mononymous members of U2 were headliners at a concert given on World AIDS Day to celebrate 10 years of work done by the nonprofits One and (Red) in combating two deadly epidemics: the aforementioned virus and extreme poverty. “This is not a charity concert,” the 55-year-old Irish rocker informed the audience at the outset. “Justice is onstage tonight. This is a celebration. This is an instigation. This is a provocation. This is not a charity concert.”
This was, with one glaring and American exception, one kick-ass show. Backed by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and a Congolese choir, artists such as British pop star Jessie J., Irish rocker Hozier, Zimbabwe-born actress Danai Gurira (Michonne on The Walking Dead) and Miley Cyrus performed. Trevor Noah, the fledgling host of The Daily Show, who was born and raised in South Africa, hosted. “It’s inspiring to think that if you follow your dreams and put everything into it, in two months you can be here sharing the stage with Bono,” he said.
Between sets, speakers included Sting, former president Bill Clinton, Stephen Colbert and Biden, who remarked, “I’m the only Irishman on this stage tonight with no talent.”
Let’s cut directly to the musical hits, and one glaring miss. Jessie J, a former schoolmate of Adele’s at the BRIT School in London, wowed the attendees, which included a flock of boldface-type New York names such as John McEnroe, CBS’s Charlie Rose, CNBC’s Jim Cramer and model Cindy Crawford, with an alveoli-bursting cover of Prince’s “Purple Rain.”
Trinity College–dropout Hozier displayed his virtuosity with a trio of songs. He opened with Skip James’s 1931 Delta blues classic “Illinois Blues” before segueing into his own 2014 hit “Take Me to Church.” The tall Irish rocker then found himself standing beside, as he said, “more than my inspiration, my everything,” Bono and the Edge, for a stirring rendition of U2’s “When Love Comes to Town.”
Colbert appeared as a presenter to honor, as he put it, “I want to pronounce this couple’s name right...Bill and Melinda Ga-tes...I looked it up on Bing.” The host of The Late Show noted that the power couple helped launch the (One) Foundation with a $1 million check before veering back to his comic comfort zone. “I mean, I was talking about this with Bono backstage,” Colbert said, “and I can’t impress on you enough that I’m on a first-name basis with Bono.”
Gurira followed with a stirring reading from a play that she had written as a student at New York University’s Tisch School, a monologue from an AIDS-infected African mother who, as Gurira put it, “has come to her reckoning.” There was no more powerful moment in the evening, as at the end of the eight-minute performance Gurira was in tears and the crowd sat slack-jawed. Perhaps because Gurira was such a tough act to follow, the erstwhile Hannah Montana headed in exactly the opposite direction.
In his opening remarks, Bono had noted, “We have in this room the famous and the infamous.” Cyrus, clad in a pink rhinestone jumpsuit and functioning as a wrecking ball of sorts to the evening’s grandeur, proved him correct. Before sitting down at the organ to play an elegy to a dead pet, “Pablow the Blowfish,” she had a crew member bring her a phone charger onstage. “My phone is dead and I wrote the lyrics on my phone,” the 23 year-old explained before launching into the tune. Afterward she said, “I’ve never gotten through that song without crying, not once” as the audience wondered if she was serious. Or sober.
Later in the evening, when Cyrus walked onstage to take part in the closing number with Bono, the Edge and Jessie J, she was victimized by a technical glitch. As she hit centerstage to sing a verse from “One,” Cyrus looked down at a prompter that was blank. “You’ve gotta help me,” she called awkwardly across the stage to Bono. “There’s nothing there.”
Who in that assemblage that included a former U.S. president, a sitting vice president and a former New York City mayor (whom a few hope will run for president) is better at providing help than U2’s lead singer? Through the launch of One and (Red), both of which Bono co-founded, extreme poverty worldwide has been reduced by 60 percent in just over a decade.
“I witnessed a miracle,” Biden told the crowd, relating a Gaelic version of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. “I was there when Bono walked in, met Jesse Helms for the first time and convinced Jesse Helms in one fell swoop to forgive $6 billion in third-world debt.... That’s when I became a disciple of the church of Bono.”
Few orators are possessed of as much charisma and passion as Bono, who reminded the crowd in this, the week of the 35th anniversary of John Lennon’s murder, that you can more than get by with a little help from your friends. “The best news that no one knows is that the U.S. is saving 15 million lives through the work of the Global Aids Foundation,” said the U2 frontman, noting that the AIDS virus has claimed 34 million lives. “Forty years ago, you landed a man on the moon. Since 2000, you have landed more than 15 million people back on Earth. That is a moon shot!”
And yet there remains, after all of the millions of albums sold and through almost four decades of never getting a promotion from the job he’s held since he was a teenager, a beguiling humility to Bono. Before the show, he spoke of his 2014 bicycle accident in Central Park, noting that the only pain worse than shattering his arm in six places was the world learning that an “Irish rock star wears lycra.”
Bono also noted that, to benefit (Red), he is auctioning off a chance for someone to go on a bike ride with him around Central Park’s six-mile loop. “Second prize,” he qupped, “is two bike rides.”
The two-plus-hour show closed with the headliners, Bono and the Edge, demonstrating just how much robust sonic force two old pros can summon. It was only a fortnight ago that U2 was forced to cancel a show (that was to be simulcast on HBO) in Paris due to the ISIS attacks there. Now here these two were on the stage at Carnegie Hall, opening with “Every Breaking Wave” (from their latest album, Songs of Innocence) before bringing the millionaires and billionaires to their feet with “Stuck in a Moment, “Angel of Harlem” (performing it on a cold and wet December day in New York) and the anthem “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”
Before their final number, the man born Paul Hewson said of himself and guitarist Dave Evans (aka the Edge), “We became musicians because we looked around and we didn’t feel like we belonged anywhere. And we weren’t sure we wanted to.”
As the Edge played the opening chords of “One,” Bono added, “It gives us comfort that when the day comes when we cannot sing anymore, that you will keep this melody going.”
Rock’s ambassador of empathy was not only talking about the music.
Bono is a launching an all-star campaign featuring “once-in-a-lifetime experiences” to coincide with World AIDS Day on Monday.
Would you like to spend quality time with George Clooney as he showers you with compliments?
How about walk a red carpet with Meryl Streep or visit the set of "Game of Thrones"?
They are all possible: Bono is a launching an all-star campaign featuring "once-in-a-lifetime experiences" that can be won after donating at least $10 to his organization (RED), which raises funds to fight AIDS.
The campaign kicks off Tuesday to coincide with World AIDS Day, which is Dec. 1.
And Bono isn't just the face for the movement: The U2 frontman will go on a bike ride with one donor - a year after he was seriously injured in a bike accident in New York's Central Park that forced him into surgery.
"I'm not sure that was as funny to my band as it was to me," Bono said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"But I think we're going to have fun and yeah, we'll go visit the scene of the crime."
Jimmy Kimmel is dedicating his Tuesday late-night show to the campaign. He and Olivia Wilde will host (SHOPATHON), a tongue-in-check play off of home shopping, and the special episode will feature celebrity guests like Tom Brady, who is offering one donor a chance to learn how to pass a football, and Shaquille O'Neal, who will take a photo with a winner for his or her 2016 holiday card.
And Kimmel is offering himself up, too: He is willing to give someone's kid "the talk."
"There's no age limit - if you have a 45-year-old kid, I'll explain it to him, too, as long as the parents are OK with it. I'm happy to do the job," said Kimmel, who appears in a promo video for the campaign with Scarlett Johansson and Barry Manilow.
Other "experiences" that can be earned after donating on Omaze.com/RED include a contour makeover with Kim Kardashian; a portrait painting by James Franco; or attending a University of Texas at Austin football game with alum Matthew McConaughey. Entries close on January 21, 2016.
"Even though red is the color of emergency, there's a sort of optimism about the whole campaign and a kind of defiant humor. We have always had that, but the (SHOPATHON) will really take it to another new level," Bono said.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will match every dollar raised up to $20 million. R&B singer The Weeknd is offering fans a chance to hang backstage at a concert; there is a one-day "wellness break" with Snoop Dogg in Colorado; and Ryan Seacrest will let someone announce the No. 1 song on his radio show.
"When you see how much work Bono does personally to fight AIDS, it's almost embarrassing, it's the least we can do or anyone can do to help," Kimmel said.
"Also, it's Christmas season, you have to figure out what to buy. It's almost like my Oprah's favorite things list," he added.
Bono won't appear on the special episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," which airs on ABC and tapes in Hollywood. Instead, he will be in New York celebrating the 10-year anniversary of (RED) at Carnegie Hall with Vice President Joe Biden, the Edge, Stephen Colbert, Miley Cyrus, Trevor Noah and others.
"It's a big day, World AIDS Days. It's crucial this year. This is the most crucial year," Bono said.
"We can feel people going, 'Oh yeah, that AIDS thing is done now,' and we're like, 'No! It's not!'"
Bono’s (RED) has raised $300m the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Its mix of celebrities and corporations redefined corporate social responsibility.
As U2 prepare for their first indoor tour for a decade, and the first live action since Bono’s serious bike accident in New York a year ago, is it time to finally recognise the Dublin-born front man as one of the world’s great campaigners? It could be argued that the Product (RED) campaign, launched in 2006, is one of only a dozen or so marketing campaigns that have genuinely “shaken the world” over the past four decades. Indeed Team Bono, which includes PR adviser Matthew Freud, displays most of the core characteristics of any great modern campaign. To date (RED), founded by Bono and the US philanthropist Bobby Shriver, has raised more than $300 million for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Moreover, the intriguing mix of celebrities and corporations in ambitious coalition has created a new model for corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns. Prior to the creation of (RED), the vast majority of the money contributed to The Global Fund – set up as a public-private partnership in 2002 – had come from governments such as the US, Britain, France and Germany. The great achievement of (RED) was to bring corporates and brands fully into the war against these devastating diseases, particularly in Africa, both in terms of funding and public awareness. The campaign is best known for Bono’s ability to galvanise A-list celebrities and politicians worldwide – from Oprah Winfrey and Kate Moss to Desmond Tutu – to contribute their time and image rights to raising public awareness of these issues. However, (RED) is truly groundbreaking because it provides a solution to the tricky conundrum of matching corporate capitalism with civic causes via the charity sector. Freud explains this in typically colourful terms: “(RED) invented a condom that allowed safe sex between companies and charities; a completely transparent relationship between product purchase and charity donation to a particular cause”. (RED) encourages consumers to buy certain products on the basis that a percentage of their purchase fee would go directly to a specified good cause. The mechanics are upfront and honest and the charity delivery process is set up to be transparent and first class. It was this complex coalition between brands, celebrities, politicians and consumers that has changed the thinking of marketing departments around the globe, both within corporations and NGOs. (RED) is actually a culmination of a 20-year movement that Microsoft founder Bill Gates coined “conscious consumerism” and whose corporate incarnation can be described as “cause marketing”. Of course, Bono participated in the seminal Band Aid charity single back in 1984, and U2 were central to the Live Aid event the following year. Two decades later it was Bono’s vision, open-mindedness and relentless energy – alongside that of (RED)’s co-founder the attorney and journalist Bobby Shriver – that came up with a consumer marketing solution for this movement. Between them Bono, U2 and Freud demonstrate the key elements of successful modern campaigns. The first of these – authenticity, clarity of vision and purpose – were apparent from the start. Despite Bono’s huge wealth and array of business interests, those close to him say that his campaigning around global health remains second only to U2 in his list of personal priorities. Freud describes him as “one of the great global marketeers and the world’s greatest popular communicator”. “Two pills: magical, astonishing pills, they cost 40 cents and if you have HIV, they will keep you alive,” said Bono in early 2005. “I remember going to Lilongwe, Malawi where there were up to four people to a bed, waiting to be diagnosed… but the diagnosis was basically a death sentence because there was no treatment available; drugs that you could get in any pharmacy in Europe or America. It was an assault on the whole idea of equality, that where you live can decide whether you live or whether you die.” Bono was already working with Aids activists from Africa, and was clearly hell-bent on using his celebrity as currency to get people in Europe and America to take action. But when it came to the next key element – the strategic creation of a marketing “movement” – Freud’s input was crucial. Indeed during one live performance, when Freud was in the audience, Bono thanked his valued PR man in front of tens of thousands of envious fans. Bono explains: “Matthew’s company not only specialised in corporate PR but his connections and history with Comic Relief and Make Poverty History put him and Freuds in a unique position to understand the complexities around launching a pro-social brand like (RED) in the UK market.” The final vital element of any great campaign is the presence of big powerful ideas, executed with creativity. And in a masterstroke in 2007, Freud arranged for Bono to guest-edit the Independent newspaper. The cover, designed by Damien Hirst, simply said “NO NEWS TODAY*” and in very small letters at the bottom “*Just 6,500 Africans died today as a result of a preventable, treatable disease”. Based on this success, and Mark Dowley’s introduction to Vanity Fair editor, Graydon Carter, the following year Bono guest-edited the June issue of Vanity Fair, branded “The Africa Issue” and with 20 different covers, photographed by Annie Leibovitz. It featured celebrities dedicated to issues in Africa including Barack Obama, Muhammad Ali and Desmond Tutu. Several such guest-edited issues of newspapers and magazines around the world followed. Subsequently a raft of new corporate partners signed up. Apple alone now sells half a dozen (RED) products and has contributed more than $100million via the campaign. And this is not to mention American Express, Gap, Armani and Converse. Strangely, despite their huge fan base and enduring sales, Bono and U2 continue to divide opinion around the world. Overblown, ubiquitous and arrogant are adjectives often attached. Perhaps it will still take a few decades for Bono’s campaigning work to be fully appreciated and Product (RED) recognised as having truly broken the mould. Danny Rogers’ new book Campaigns that Shook the World: The Evolution of Public Relations (Kogan Page) is out now http://www.irishtimes.com/ http://www.red.org/
Encouraging people to join the AIDS fight by eating and drinking (RED) this June, (RED) co-founder and U2 front man, Bono, recorded a special “limerick” for his friend who's leading the campaign for (RED), chef extraordinaire, Mario Batali.
This June, where and what you eat and drink can fight AIDS with (RED). Let's #86AIDS.
Find participating restaurants, bars and food trucks near you: www.red.org/eat
Gretsch Electromatic "(RED) Zero Generation" Bono "Signature" Guitar Retail Value:$ 1,500.00 ACTUAL VALUE: PRICELESS Gretsch Electromatic "(RED) Zero Generation" Bono "Signature" Guitar
Description: This is the G5623 Gretsch Electromatic "(RED) Zero Generation" Bono “Signature"
Guitar created along with Bono’s direct input for his founded “RED” campaign to bring awareness of Bono’s support of Product Red and their humanitarian efforts in the battle against HIV/AIDS. Up to 50% of the proceeds from each sale of this instrument are donated directly to the global RED fund.
“Imagine a world without aids” is the sales anthem here. The idea and first prototype Bono RED guitar was made in 2013, played by Bono on the new U2 “Songs Of Innocence” recordings and auctioned at the Nov 23rd SOTHEBY’S “RED” New York event….it commanded a winning bid of over $250,000. Another of his guitars, the Green Falcon, sold for $450,000 at Sean Penn's Haiti benefit a few years ago.
The guitar has Bono’s Signature in black on the back of the headstock. It also has a beautiful White pick guard on the front of the instrument bearing the (RED) Logo as well as a white (RED) logo on the truss rod cover at the top of the guitar.
The on board electronics of this amazing instrument begins with (2) Gretsch “Black Top” Filter Tron pickups along with a (3) position toggle switch, a master volume control and master Tone control then anchored with an Adjust-o-Matic(Tm) bridge with “G” cut out tail piece and Silver deluxe tuners and chrome hardware…..other features include a bound fret board and sides and sound holes as well as a 22 fret rosewood fingerboard with Neo Classic(Tm) “thumbnail” inlays…. Thus creating a full and uncompromising sound.
The guitar is accompanied with a deluxe thin line case.
Wood composition of this very styled guitar are a Spruce Center-Block, Arched Laminated Maple Top & Back, Laminated Maple Sides and finally the guitars finish is of Gloss Urethane.
100% of profits to benefit Para Los Ninos and Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center. More on the auction here.
The organizers behind Band Aid 30 – the latest incarnation of Bob Geldof's charitably minded supergroup Band Aid – have issued an "Ice Bucket Challenge"–style viral video call to action to music fans. Using a free iOS app called WholeWorldBand, Band Aid 30 would like people to record themselves singing Bono's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" line, "Tonight we're reaching out and touching you," and then nominate three friends to do the same on social media. The U2 frontman delivers the line at the 1:52 mark in the song's official video. The app allows users to create a video mix of themselves and up to five other people singing along with the song, which can be uploaded to YouTube, Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #BandAid30. The organization will collect £1.40 (about $2.20) for every person who participates in the challenge and put it toward the fight against Ebola in West Africa. "We need to keep up momentum," Geldof said in a statement. "I want us to raise about £5 million but we need people to understand that we've only got three weeks to make a difference." Geldof and "Do They Know It's Christmas?" co-writer Midge Ure released a new version of the iconic 1984 hit, under the Band Aid 30 moniker, last month. In addition to Bono, the new version also features Coldplay's Chris Martin, One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Ellie Goulding, Angelique Kidjo, Seal, Sinéad O'Connor and many more artists performing the tune. Ure recently spoke with Rolling Stone about why they decided to resurrect Band Aid. "It was the hideous synchronicity of the Ebola crisis and the way it's escalated, and the fact that we had this 30th anniversary coming up that everybody was asking us about," he said. "A month ago, this wasn't in the cards. Then Bob got a call from the U.N. saying, 'Can you do it again?'" Regarding introducing a new generation to the song, Ure contended that they already knew it "because they've heard it blasting out of radios every Christmas since they were born." The hard part would be getting them involved in the charitable side of the cause. "All we can do is hope that Ed Sheeran and One Direction and everyone else plead with the fans not to stream this, not to download this for free," he said.
Welcomed to the stage in New York's Times Square by former President Bill Clinton, U2 Minus 1 hosted some pretty special guests for World AIDS Day - Chris Martin of Coldplay, Carrie Underwood, Kanye West and Bruce Springsteen.
Introducing the surprise show President Clinton read an email Bono had sent him earlier in the day: 'Twenty-six years ago it wouldn't have been possible to have a concert in Times Square on World AIDS Day because to be diagnosed with AIDS was a death sentence. A few years ago when Secretary of State Clinton said that we could end AIDS, a lot of people didn't believe it. But this year, for the first time ever, more people were put on life-saving medicine than were diagnosed with AIDS. We are going to win this fight.'
As reported earlier, Bono, recuperating from his recent accident, couldn't be with the band for the (RED) Thank You presented by Bank of America ... but some pretty special friends had agreed to step in.
'It's my great honour to introduce, with their special guest Chris Martin, one of the greatest bands in the history of rock music, my friends U2...'
Wearing a t-shirt with the slogan 'SUBSTITU2', Chris was right at home singing with U2 Minus 1.
'They kicked things off with "Beautiful Day", ' reported Rolling Stone. 'And the Coldplay frontman poured himself into the task, clearly thrilled to be filling the shoes of one of his biggest influences. "Dreams come true," he said, "for young and old people alike." They wrapped up with a powerful "With or Without You," and anyone who closed their eyes could have easily believed it was Bono there in Times Square.'
Edge stayed on stage to introduce a strong set from 'the reigning Queen of Country' Carrie Underwood before Adam and Larry were back to welcome 'the most groundbreaking artist in music today'. Kanye West was a forcefield, delivering a powerful eight minute medley of 'Power,' 'Jesus Walks,' 'Black Skinhead,' 'Stronger' and 'Touch the Sky.'
To close the evening U2 Minus 1 were back on stage and breaking into the familiar opening bars of 'Streets'... with The Boss himself, before closing the night with 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.'
'I want to send this one out To Bono in Ireland,' he said, 'Be well my friend'.
Here's how Hot Press reported it. 'Bruce Springsteen took on the lead singer's role, as U2 powered into a superb version of 'Where The Streets Have No Name'. Finally, there was time for an emotional 'Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' with Bruce delivering a wonderfully soulful rendition backed by an enthusiastically, vocal crowd. There was a final Irish twist too, with the Boss throwing in a reference to Hozier's 'Take Me To Church...'
Hang out with Bono backstage, where he’ll give you his (RED) Gretsch guitar!Plus flights, hotel, and VIP tickets for two.Every entry helps fight AIDS with (RED)
(EN) In an effort to support (RED)'s fight to deliver an AIDS free generation, I'm offering the chance to come to a U2 concert, meet me backstage, and I will give you a guitar. The guitar is yours to keep. Any songs you write with it are yours to keep. I will even sign the guitar in case you want to hang it over the mantel or use it as collateral in a card game.To collect the guitar, you will come backstage at one of our shows and be ushered past the diplomats, journalists, fashion models, economists, talk show hosts and actors and straight to my secret rendezvous room where we will toast each other and I will hand over the guitar. All those VIP’s will want to know why YOU got to cut the line. I won’t tell them if you don’t. To add to the excitement, I’m not going to tell Adam, Edge and Larry about this contest. When you show up, I’m going to tell them that you are a United Nations ambassador and they should address you as “Your excellency.” Let’s see if they fall for that one again.
U2 shoots a commercial for their song "Invisible" for (RED) to raise money for the fight against AIDS in Africa. The commercial will debut during the Super Bowl and the song will be downloadable for free for 24 hours following on iTunes. For every download, Bank of America will donate $1 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.(Photo: Brantley Gutierrez)
"A bit of jiu jitsu" is how Bono characterizes the process of introducing a new U2 song during Sunday's Super Bowl broadcast.
A video featuring the band performing Invisible, the track in question, will be featured in a commercial launching a partnership between (RED) — the non-profit organization co-founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver to support the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria — and Bank of America.
The spot will end by directing fans to a free download on iTunes. From 6 p.m. ET Sunday to 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Bank of America will donate one dollar for each download, up to a total of $2 million, to the Global Fund. (The song will no longer be available on iTunes as of Tuesday.)
"We're taking all the energy around the Super Bowl and interest in what U2's doing and flipping it," Bono explains, "into the fight against HIV AIDS."
Invisible is not, U2's frontman notes, the first official single from the group's long-awaited new album, expected later this year. "We have another song we're excited about to kick off the album," he says. "This is just sort of a sneak preview — to remind people we exist."
The track was chosen because "it's the first one we finished," Bono says, chuckling. The band has "lots and lots of songs" compiled, he adds, but will continue to work on the album "for a couple of months. We want it to come out this summer, but you don't want to let anyone down."
Bono says that (RED) wanted to collaborate with Bank of America in part "to tell Americans how extraordinary they've been in the fight against AIDS." The ONE Campaign, (RED)'s parent organization, has determined that nearly seven million lives have been saved by the USA's donations to the Global Fund and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), established under President George W. Bush.
"I'm not sure that American taxpayers know that, and it's worth for a moment noting how heroic the struggle has been. The seven million, they know, and they're very grateful. All over the continent of Africa, if you poll people, you'll find respect for the (USA) very high."
Anne Finucane, global strategy and marketing officer for Bank of America, says, "We saw in working with U2 the opportunity to engage and excite a consumer base with the band's music and with (RED)'s mission. Bono was very focused; he has applied the same rigor to this effort as I'm sure he does to his music."
The commercial went through several stages of development. "One plan was for us to go knocking on doors in the middle of America, thanking people for saving lives," says Bono. "But a couple of band members thought that might seem self-aggrandizing."
When his bandmates "agreed to give their song away," Bono was "amazed" — but not entirely shocked.
"They don't like to talk about it, but they gave $11 million of (U2)'s last tour to (RED)," he says. "They're big supporters. And I'm very proud of them for this."
Group will reveal single Invisible in conjunction with Bank of America, who have agreed to donate up to a million pounds to the Global Fund to Fight Aids Tuberculosis and Malaria.
U2 have confirmed plans to premiere a new song during next weekend's Super Bowl. Invisible, from the group's as-yet-unannounced 13th studio album, will appear on a commercial as part of a team-up by Bank of America and Bono's Red campaign.
Once the commercial airs, fans will have 24 hours to pick up Invisible as a free download from the iTunes Store. During that period, Bank of America have agreed to donate up to $2m (£1.2m) to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria - allotting $1 (£0.60) to the charity every time the song is downloaded.
However, Bank of America's $2m download promise is much smaller than what they are reportedly paying to air an ad during the Super Bowl. Fox Sports are allegedly charging advertisers around $4m (£2.4) for each 30-second commercial. But Bank of America have pledged to generate more than $10m (£6m) altogether, as well as soliciting donations from the public. For U2 and friends, the American football game's 120m viewers are an enormous pool of possible donors.
"[This is] the kind of game-changing influence that will not just deliver millions of dollars but raise consciousness and keep public pressure on putting an end to this devastating pandemic," Bono said in a statement. According to his press release, the Gates Foundation, SAP and South Africa's Motsepe mining clan have "matched" the Bank of America's financial commitment "for a total [donation] of $22m". "Incredible," the singer said.
Invisible will be the second new song to have been released by U2 in recent months. The first, Ordinary Love, appeared as part of the soundtrack to Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom. It is one of five Oscar nominees for best original song.
U2's new record, their first since 2009, is thought to have been produced by Danger Mouse.
"I can't really discuss it so I can't really quote anything about it but it's still ongoing and that's all I can really say, to be honest," Danger Mouse said in a Rolling Stone interview published this week. According to Billboard, Interscope will be releasing the LP in the United States, with Island Records representing the band everywhere else.
Singer calls for businesses to raise ethical standards to help fight against world poverty.
Bono: “Some of the criminals around here are not wearing ski masks, they are wearing skis.” Photograph: Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA
Bono has challenged world business leaders assembled in Davos to boost the fight against world poverty by raising ethical standards in their respective sectors. The Irish activist participated in a discussion with British prime minister David Cameron and others who have drafted a successor to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which end in 2015. The MDG included targets for reducing poverty, hunger and child mortality and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. The new goals, known as the sustainable development goals, aim to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030 by renewing targets not achieved in the first round and adding new proposals, such as fighting corruption. The U2 singer admitted yesterday the MDG was a “shite name” that put people off and that the proposed new name - “Sustainable Millenium Goals” - sounded like “a bad heavy metal band”. Even his own band, though “really supportive” of his campaigning against poverty, had only to hear MDG and “you can see their eyes rolling”. He suggested worldwide competitions to find a better title for the new programe. “We want ownership from the wider population,” he said. The Davos panel agreed that the success of the new goals, in particular the fight against corruption, would hinge on western leaders gathered in Davos acknowledging a need for greater transparency in how they do business. “Some of the criminals around here are not wearing ski masks, they are wearing skis,” said Bono. “Capitalism can be a great creative force but it can be a destructive force. It is not immoral but it is ammoral, we need to give it some instructions.” British prime minister David Cameron, who co-chaired the UN panel which drafted the new goals, agreed that fighting corruption in poor countries required rich countries to improve business transparency. He said he was confident the new goals to tackle poverty were complementary and not contradictory to business and enterprise. “The two things people want is a job and a voice,” said Mr Cameron. Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was also involved in drafting the new goals through a public consultation with the world’s poor. She expressed optimism that the new goals would be embraced because they address universal issues. “Gender rights are not just about people at bottom end of scale,” she said. “Corruption and governance may be more of a problem in countries of the south but accountability for it has a north and south end of it.” Save the Children International CEO Jasmine Whitbread said she hoped the last 700 days of the existing MDG would see a redoubled push to complete goals not yet met, such as eliminating infant mortality “It is always easier to do the first half and that is what we are facing now,” she said, “but with a redoubled effort we can manage it.”
![[Vídeo] Bono y Edge en el Carnegie Hall durante el Día Mundial del SIDA](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tx8t6x1EuuCdThIGOxrBKM-nrUenV96ee3HlX5CW1rLz1PoTJ_3mKbgwOgGdcgOaxdyrdeY3-KVEMafHmiRtMeLQEXeNq92W6xBRwCEPAyK1hlEO1pPy-9SnV53qH_m7VQD5B589e1R9N6d5hM7Rg0Y1HK2_O0kDb4sIy73FigFUw=s0-d)
