U2's Adam Clayton was the latest guest on The Tommy Tiernan Show and it was another candid interview.
Clayton opened up on the negative impact the band's worldwide fame had on him as well as his battle with alcohol.
“Success very much went to my head,” he said. “I think if you get everything your heart desires by – really we were making records by the time we were 20, by the time we were 25 and 26 we could pay our rent no problem, we owned cars, we could travel, and by the time The Joshua Tree hit we could buy a house – anyone I’ve met who’s experienced success and fame in that way in those years it takes them a long time to recover from it, and that sounds like a complaint but that’s just what happens.”
He added: "You lose your sense of yourself you lose a sense of reality. I was kind of very unhappy so I drank and I drugged and got myself in tabloid newspapers, and embarrassed kind of everyone I knew, and myself, but you know you come through it and you learn from it and maybe that’s what young men do anyway.”
Clayton said he has to “work really quite hard at keeping my sanity on and off the road, and my thinking can take me to bad places, my thinking is not always reliable," adding that it was a big plus having his bandmates around to "check" him.
Clayton said he's happiest during his time on stage with U2 when he can focus on nothing but the music.
The benefit show raised money and awareness for the fight against AIDS.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! aired its fourth annual (RED) benefit show on Monday.
The host was joined by Bono, Will Ferrell, Kristen Bell, Channing Tatum, Snoop Dogg, Mila Kunis, Pharrell, Chris Rock, Brad Paisley and Zoe Saldana throughout the night.
“It’s refreshing to see so many stars joining forces to put a stop to something other than our president,” Kimmel said of his all-star roster of guests.
The special episode also featured a (RED) Shopathon, which showcased many (RED) products and experiences for the most recent campaign. The purpose of the campaign is to raise money and awareness for the fight against AIDS.
The special began with Kimmel and Bell hosting a QVC-style showcase of products for viewers to bid on to raise funds for (RED). Shortly thereafter they were joined by Rock, when they recognized his voice coming from an Alexa speaker.
"Chris, you're the voice of Alexa?" Bell asked.
"Yeah, I'm the voice of a lot of things," the comedian replied. "I've actually been living up Shaq's ass for the last few years, I voice him."
When the trio opened the floor to questions from the audience, a familiar face showed up: Ferrell. The Saturday Night Live alum had a number of queries and asked each while wearing a different costume. He then stole a Vespa scooter.
U2 and HBO are teaming up for two world premiere specials this fall — a behind-the-scenes documentary and a concert special.
The documentary, bowing on Nov. 7, will offer access to the rockers and the team behind their current iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE world tour, while also featuring interviews with the band, Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.
U2’s Nov. 14 performance from the Bercy Arena in Paris will be showcased in the concert special, which includes music from the band’s entire career, starting with the 1980 debut album “Boy” to their most recent “Songs of Innocence.”
“U2 continues to take risks, which has made them one of the most consistently exciting forces in rock ’n’ roll,” HBO president Michael Lombardo said Thursday. “The one-two combination of this documentary special, followed by the concert, will provide viewers with the ultimate look at this remarkable band behind the scenes and on the stage.”
The doc will uncover the creation of the tour with interviews with Willie Williams, who has conceptualized U2’s tours for more than 30 years; designer Es Devlin; production director Jake Berry; audio director Joe O’Herlihy; exec director Gavin Friday; set designer Ric Lipson; and more creative types who help bring the band’s music to life onstage.
Davis Guggenheim will exec produce and direct the doc along with U2’s manager Guy Oseary. Shannon Dill will serve as producer. The concert special hails from Done and Dusted with exec producers Hamish Hamilton, Simon Pizey, Guggenheim and Oseary. Hamilton, who has worked with U2 on collaborations including “Elevation: Live From Boston,” “U2 Go Home: Live From Slane Castle,” the “Beautiful Day” documentary, and “Vertigo in 2005: Live From Chicago,” will also direct the special.
U2’s iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE world tour kicked off May 14 in Vancouver and runs through November.
No matter how hard the world may try, it is not possible to keep a good rock and roll band down.
Nearly six months after U2 were forced to cancel their weeklong residency on “The Tonight Show,” Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. finally made it to Studio 6B Friday night. It had been rough going for the Irish rockers for a while: Their latest album, “Songs of Innocence,” released in September 2014, was met with a ton of backlash from iTunes users, who saw the free download as an infringement of privacy. Then, in November, Bono sustained serious injuries from his now-famous biking accident in New York. His recovery period placed U2 in an involuntary hiatus for almost the first half of 2015.
But, time heals all wounds, and as they demonstrated on “The Tonight Show,” U2 are not going to let a couple of catastrophes cramp their style (although, speaking of style – Bono, the new blond look isn’t working, sorry). With their iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour set to kick off May 14 in Vancouver, the band is back, ready to rock and still willing to poke fun at its misfortune. And judging from U2′s “Tonight Show” sneak preview – the music icons were the sole guests – anyone with tickets to this summer’s tour is in for one monster of a concert.
Here are the five takeaways from U2′s “Tonight Show” return:
In this pre-recorded bit, Bono addresses his “cycling spill” head-on by venturing onto the streets of Manhattan on a bike for the first time since the accident. Jimmy Fallon, in solidarity, rides with the singer (on his own basket-and-streamer-adorned bike, it should be noted). But Bono doesn’t get far from 30 Rockefeller Plaza before a large grey van (driven, of course, by the Edge, with Clayton and Mullen riding in the front seat) slams into him a total of three times. Maybe it’s the titanium elbow, but the rocker still manages to walk away, unscathed.
The “Tonight Show” house band joined U2 for this web-exclusive performance of their 1988 “Rattle + Hum” track “Angel of Harlem,” which proved two things: One, U2 have certainly made the most of their time off, because they sound better than ever. And two: There is going to be a high demand for the Roots to make some guest appearances on this summer’s tour.
3. Bono’s been invited to dinner at a New York firehouse
After Fallon ribbed Bono for confusing a Boston accent for a New York one (the Irishman referred to Madison Square Garden as “the Gahden”), the singer fired back with a story that guarantees him New York street cred for life. A few hours before the band arrived to do “The Tonight Show,” Bono received a message from the two Engine 44 firemen who “picked [him] up off the street” when he had his biking accident, inviting him to dinner at their firehouse. The Dubliner was also quite pleased to learn that the Engine 44 crew is known as “the Fighting Irish.”
4. Whether it’s packing stadiums or busking in a New York subway station, U2 can still draw a crowd
As previously reported, U2 were spotted late Monday night at the 42nd Street Grand Central subway station (or, as Bono called it, the “42nd tube station”) filming this segment with Fallon. Donning wigs and faux facial hair, and playing their 1987 hit “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking for,” U2 made for a passable New York busking band (Mullen even swapped out his drum kit for a set of overturned buckets) – meaning, commuters chose making their train instead of stopping to listen. But once they ditched the disguises and kicked into “Desire,” that’s when a lot more people started delaying their ride home. (In truth, a crowd had already formed before the band tossed off the wigs, probably because they saw all of the TV cameras.)
This segment is also historic because it contains the only known footage of Larry Mullen Jr. smiling.
5. The band previewed their intimate staging for this summer’s iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour
At the end of the show, U2 performed two songs – “Beautiful Day,” from the Grammy-winning 2000 album “All That You Can’t Leave Behind,” and “Song for Someone” from “Songs of Innocence.” But just as they want their upcoming tour to be an immersive experience for their fans, U2 also decided to bring that intimacy to their “Tonight Show” gig by moving the stage to the center of the studio, which allowed for an extra crop of fans to surround the band.
'The first time I've ever had the whole band sitting in front of me.'
Latest broadcast interview is with Zane Lowe for BBC Radio 1 in the UK. All four band members were in the studio to talk about how the album began to emerge during the last tour and how it was finished... days before last month's release
Should U2 win the Best Original Song Oscar for “Ordinary Love", the "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" anthem, it’ll be the man around whom the biopic is centered that the frontman will be most thankful for.
In a Friday evening interview with Piers Morgan, U2 frontman Bono says the song helps depict an often unseen, overshadowed perspective that many close to the South African leader knew—his romantic side:
“I've been working for him since I was a teenager; so have the members of U2,” said Bono. “He's kind of taught the world some serious lessons, but taught us some personal lessons.”
Leadership, “the most precious thing we have and the rarest,” was one such lesson Bono says Mandela preached:
“You look in the Arab Spring and you look in - in Syria now and you just think, ‘Oh, my God. Where - who's going to lead these people out of this mess and where will that grace come from?’”
U2's forthcoming Oscar's performance will mark the band's first live performance of the song since its recording.
RTE has just posted on YouTube a video with a small excerpt of "The Meaning of Life" , where Gay Byrne interviews Bono. We`ll see the full interview on 25 June by the Irish TV network RTE One.
On St. Patrick's Day, in partnership with RTÉ and The Gathering Ireland 2013, President Higgins is calling on all Irish people worldwide to share with him a celebration of an Irish culture through craic agus ceol. Through words and music, Glaoch - The President's Call, celebrates Irishness, Irish creativity and its reach and impact across the world. At the President's invitation at Áras an Uachtaráin some of Ireland's and the world's renowned writers, musicians and singers, as well as emerging artists, gathered at the home of the President of Ireland to make a special programme dedicated to Irish people worldwide. The special programme features President Higgins in conversation with Bono, Séamus Heaney, Druid Theatre's Garry Hynes and playwright Tom Murphy and Christy Moore. There are music performances from Steve Cooney, Glen Hansard, Lisa Hannigan, Martin Hayes, Imelda May, Christy Moore, Róisín O, Iarla O Lionaird, Peadar O Riada, David Power and The Script. Glaoch will be broadcast worldwide at 9:30 p.m. GMT on 17th March on RTÉ.ie, RTÉ News Now and RTÉ YouTube and on 18th March on RTÉ One, RTÉ Two and RTÉ Radio 1 Extra.
'The band for the future' a year before their first album.
ByANDY GREENES
The Eighties were only five days old when U2 appeared on Ireland's Late Late Show to perform their new song "Stories for Boys." The band's debut LP, Boy, wouldn't hit stores for another 10 months, and their first single, "Another Day," wasn't even out yet. They did have a three-song EP called Three on sale in Ireland, and that was enough to get them a slot on the popular late-night show.
Journalist John McKenna gave them a freakishly prescient introduction. "What can I say about these titans among rock & rollers?" he said. "The band for the future – the Eighties or Nineties, who knows? U2!"
His words may not be as memorable as Jon Landau's "I've seen rock & roll future" line about Bruce Springsteen, but it's still quite remarkable when you look back upon it. Just two months after this appearance U2 were signed to Island Records. That same month, they met with Joy Division producer Martin Hannett about possibly producing Boy. By a crazy cosmic coincidence, they happened to visit during the "Love Will Tear Us Apart" recording session. They wound up working with Steve Lillywhite, who they've worked with (off and on) for the past three decades.
But in January of 1980 not a lot of people were calling U2 the band of the Eighties, let alone the Nineties. John McKenna did, and we take our hats off to him.
The Edge, producer of Friday night's MTV special on youth homelessness, "The Break," says he, too, sometimes finds himself at a loss about how to help people on the street.
"There's that awful thing where you realize there's nothing you can do, right at that moment, so you kind of pretend they're not there," he told TheWrap. "And I think for somebody who's homeless, particularly someone who's panhandling, that's the most emotionally difficult thing, is to become like a non-person. Like you literally do not exist to someone walking by.
"And I understand both sides," he added. "The person passing by just doesn't know what to do. So they end up blanking the homeless person. And it's a terrible thing to see happen. I've been guilty of it myself from time to time."
The musician and activist, who says he usually does give money to the homeless people he encounters, has spent three decades working on social causes like African famine relief as a member of his band. U2, the biggest touring act of 2011, has campaigned for causes and organizations from Make Poverty History to Amnesty International.
With "The Break," the Edge and host Anne Mahlum, an advocate for the homeless, profile three young people on the street and try to help them rebuild their lives. They include a woman who was involved in abusive relationships, a gifted drummer who suffered a downward spiral, and a woman who left home because her parents objected to her lesbianism. The Edge also wrote a song for the show, "There's No Home Like Place."
The Edge said U2 is "slowly starting to think about work," but the band is in no rush to get back to the studio, despite a wealth of material. Instead, it's listening to a lot of music. After we talked about the special, he told us what he's playing lately.
What interested you about this project?
It was something that just inspired me early on. I was questioning myself about some of my own ways of relating or not relating to homeless people, and it just started me on kind of a journey to answer some questions for myself. And in the process I started thinking about the way that the homeless are really completely marginalized, and in many cases disenfranchised.
They suffer through a lot of stereotypical views about how they got there. What I've learned is there is a myriad of reasons why someone might become homeless. No two stories are the same. I thought that it was time that there was a little bit more of an intelligent sense of inquiry into this problem. It's particularly serious at the moment with the economic downturn.
I thought if we could really make a difference in somebody's life with an intervention, it could be a reality TV kind of thing that would be very uplifting and inspiring, instead of making people view the show and feel better because they see a lot of bad behavior.
But also if somebody's in a position of being homeless, in could be hopefully an inspiring thing to see. The question of how to help is a particularly interesting dilemma for you. As part of U2 and singularly, you're one of the most approached people in the world to help contribute to causes. And you're also in a unique position to help a lot of people. How do you choose what you're going to do? I think it's down to feeling like you can move the needle, that you can make a difference. And of course we can't do everything, because then you'd be so diluted that there wouldn't be any kind of impact to your support or involvement. That's an important thing.
And the things that inspire you and the things that you feel moved to become involved with. As with Bono and his Africa work. He happened to be in Africa at a very pivotal time in his life and witnessed a lot of the problems with famine. And it's stayed with him. For me, there was something about the homelessness issue that was like this voice just saying, you've got to try to find some way of getting involved here.
There were a couple of stories as well that sort of inspired me. One Irish homeless man, in Dublin, quite famously rescued the driver of a bus that had plunged into the River Liffey. And he and a passer-by actually climbed down though this wrecked bus because the front of it was in the water but the back of it was accessible from the bridge. And they climbed down through the broken rear window and dragged the bus driver out and saved his life. But he ended up wandering into the night with his wet clothes to sleep rough.
And it just struck me as a kind of really tragic scenario – I wasn't the only one. It was a big story in Ireland.
Not that you've ever suffered through the kinds of struggles that homeless people do, but as a child or when you were trying to get U2 started, was there a time when you felt like you lived close to the margins?
I mean, friends of ours, during the early days, we would hang out in derelict buildings … and all that stuff, which was kind of almost a rite of passage, particularly if you were coming out in a punk band, the punk movement. But no, personally, I can't lay claim ever having had to deal with not having a home. Although there are people I know who've had phases of being homeless, I'm not putting myself forward as an expert in homelessness.
'There are over 1.5 million homeless youth living on the streets, in shelters and couch surfing, in America. Despite the stereotypes, many of them are not addicts, hardened criminals or mentally ill. They come from families who didn’t understand them, some are runaways who could no longer tolerate the abuse in their own homes and some have aged out of the foster care system with no place to go....'
In an MTV documentary, 'The Break', the personal vision of Edge, viewers meet Ava, Nancy and Rob, all without a home to call their own and in desperate need of a change. Like many homeless young people they face a struggle for food and shelter, the dangers of crime and illegal drug use.
Every day, strangers turn a blind eye, telling themselves the problems are too big to fix. But homeless advocate Anne Mahlum knows different and the documentary reveals what's possible when people find the tools to build a new life.
'I wanted to find the right answer to the question, 'How do we respond to homelessness?' Edge told U2.com, in Dublin to talk about his vision for The Break. 'I wanted to get an intelligent audience to think differently about homeless people, to realise that so many of the cliches are untrue...'
More from Edge, and a clip of the show, in the video below. The Break airs in the US this Friday. Details.
THE BREAK is the personal vision of U2's world-renowned guitarist, The Edge, who believes that everyone deserves a chance at a decent life--especially youth who are living without a home or support system through no fault of their own. Scored by The Edge and produced by Gigantic! Productions, the multi-award winning team behind such acclaimed documentaries about youth in crisis as Gone Too Far, True Life: I'm Deaf and I'm Addicted to Crystal Meth, this documentary is an exciting and emotional voyage through unexplored territory. THE BREAK takes viewers on an inspirational journey like no other--all by offering young people a chance and someone to believe in them.
The Break follows homeless advocate Anne Mahlum as she helps three homeless youths turn their lives around. Edge is credited with the original music of the series.
The documentary will premiere March 2nd at 8:00 pm ET (7:00 pm CT)on MTV.
Bono and Edge appeared in a pre-taped interview with Carson Daly during his New Year's Eve show on NBC to plug Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Bono called it a "pop art opera," while Edge defended the size of the production saying, "If you're not going to do something revolutionary, why bother?"
Bono responded to the "Why Spider-Man?" question saying, "We needed a compelling reason for people to go to the theatre in case we didn't manage to pull it off."
"I look at everything now through the prism of, 'This could make a very good TV show!'" she says.
Oprah Winfrey recently chatted up U2's Bono at a dinner -- and then propositioned a business deal.
"I look at everything now through the prism of, ‘This could make a very good TV show!'" added Winfrey, who will launch the OWN Network next month. (No word on if Bono accepted the offer.)
