Humanitarian and global activist Ali Hewson is part of a cohort of influential women across the world, including Meryl Streep, Beyonce, Sheryl Sandberg and Lady Gaga to back advocacy group ONE's campaign for world leaders to put girls and women centre stage in 2015.
This year, world leaders are aiming to agree new global goals to set the development agenda for a generation, and a group of the world's leading female lights have put their signatures to a powerful letter demanding change.
The letter has been written for the attention of Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chairwoman Dlamini-Zuma - who are key decision-makers this year, and are hosting conferences on the topic - and it powerfully asserts how "poverty is sexist".
The women in the campaign say girls and women must be at the heart of the fight to end extreme poverty, and explain that unlocking women's economic potential could improve the lives of everyone.
In the letter they write that change needs to come: "For the girl who can't go to a decent primary or secondary school or access healthcare; for the mothers threatened with death when they give life and who aren't allowed to decide when to have their next child; for the women who can't own or inherit the land she farms, nor open a bank account, own a phone, access electricity or the legal system; for the infant girl who doesn't legally exist because her birth wasn't registered and the government hasn't the capacity to collect data on her or her village; for the women and girls who can't take those who are violent towards them to court nor access justice - let's make sure they all count. Put simply, poverty is sexist, and we won't end it unless we face up to the fact that girls and women get a raw deal."
In June, the chancellor and chairwoman will chair key summits in Germany, and South Africa, which will be followed by the unveiling of new goals in New York in September.
Bono and the Edge react to a new study indicates digital listeners are spinning a lot of U2 on their iOS devices. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty
"It'll be a battle to be match fit for May 14th," Bono confesses, referring to the opening date in Vancouver of U2's impending tour. Asked to describe the state of his health after the bicycle accident in New York last November that left him with multiple injuries, including a facial fracture, the singer says, "My southpaw is a bit tricky, but my right hook is ready to rumble for sure." As for the shows, dubbed the Innocence and Experience tour, with alternating set lists each night, Bono promises, "We've got something beyond incredible planned. And I'm ready to fight for it."
Bono's comments about his recovery and return to the stage came at the end of an e-mail interview this week, with U2 guitarist the Edge, prompted by the release on February 23rd of a survey by the digital-data research firm, Kantar, which found that almost one-fourth of music users on iOS devices listened to at least one U2 song in January 2015 (making them the most-listened to artist during the period of the study). And nearly all of those users, 95 percent, listened to at least one song from last year's Songs of Innocence. Issued last September as a giveaway on iTunes, the album received wide critical praise – it was Rolling Stone's Album of the Year – while its delivery – straight to iOS users' mobile devices, prompted a firestorm against the band, particularly complaints about violations of privacy.
But according to Kantar, which sampled 978 iOS users drawn from a larger panel of more than 2,500, 23 percent of them listened to U2 in January. In comparison, 11 percent listened to at least one song by Taylor Swift. "Haven't got a clue!" Bono admits when asked about Kantar and its methodology. "I guess it's possible they could have randomly selected thousands of individuals with impeccable taste," he cracks, "who are not unduly influenced by the feeding frenzy that the blogosphere seems to become if there's a spot of blood in the water."
He and the Edge went into greater, more serious detail in response to the following questions. Six months after the troubled release of Songs of Innocence, they have not given up on those songs and their future.
With the information from survey, and some time to reflect, what would you have done differently in releasing Songs of Innocence? What could you have done that would have highlighted the music over the technology and the giveaway?
The Edge: Lots of people, including me, don't read the instructions. When you select automatic download on iOS, you're signing up to be pushed free content. It's not exactly small print, it's just a box you tick or don't. I understand how and why people got annoyed. But really, with all that's going on in the world. . .come on. Apple and U2 were genuine about this whole thing. Apple were being generous and we were trying to do something different to get through the noise. There's always a few teething problems when you're in new territory. . .One of which was that people thought we were giving the album away, that we'd suddenly become all about free music, when the opposite is true. We fervently believe all artists should be paid for their work. But we, like every musician, have to look at other models of getting paid. We were in the position where we can take a chance like this and weather the storm. There's some phrase about breaking eggs and omelets that's probably appropriate here.
What have you learned about the digital era – particularly the value people now put on music. And the way they listen to it and care for it – from the iTunes release and now this survey? How will they affect the way you release new music in the future?
The Edge: We're in the dawn of it. The thing it's easy to forget when you live in modern times is that they're modern for about another 30 seconds. . .more so than ever. In a few years we'll look back on this time like we look back on VCRs and rotary phones. When the radio arrived, everyone thought that was the end of sheet music. I think music has become devalued and disposable in the commercial world – but not to music lovers or the people who make it, and not all big tech either. Apple – and U2 – fight hard for artists to be paid. In the future, technology has to be a better servant of music, and not its slave master. We can take advantage of the benefits of technology, and we do, but it's also beholden on those of us who have been so well rewarded by music to figure out a way to preserve the ability for artists to create and thrive.
The results suggest that Songs of Innocence has had a quiet staying power. Were you surprised by that, given the blowback that followed the iTunes giveaway? Specifically the fact that many people did not delete the album and, in fact, came back to it after the furor died down?
Bono: It sounds boring, but our drug of choice at the moment is songwriting, and trying to take U2's to the next level. I know craft can be a dangerous thing. . .but we have been a bit prone to relying on the magic in the room when we play together. A special guitar part, a strong thought or mood. But as you get older you get harder on yourself, looking for eternal melodies, searching for a coherence to the lyric. . .There's a nagging question in your head, which demands an answer you have to find in a song. Why would somebody else be bothered to listen? Leonard Cohen calls it "the tower of song." Which suggests removal from the street, from the life of being a passer-by yourself. These songs took a while, but I know they have staying power. I'm still holding on to some of them quite tightly myself.
Aoife McArdle on being given free reign by Bono to create 'something emotional' as a vehicle for his band's newest single and choosing unknown actors from Belfast to help tell her story -
It’s not everyone who can say they were given full creative license by super-group, U2, to make their latest music video, but for a talented Northern Irish director, it's the truth.
London-based Aoife McArdle, who hails from Omagh but is currently relocating back to Belfast, is behind the critically acclaimed short film, Every Breaking Wave, the official video for U2’s new single of the same name.
Filmed in the New Lodge area of Belfast over a couple of weeks, the 13-minute piece was inspired by both 'Every Breaking Wave' and another U2 song, 'The Troubles', both taken from the global rockers' new album Songs of Innocence, which was controversially made available for free to all Apple customers in late 2014.
Stiff Little Fingers’ iconic punk track, 'Alternative Ulster', meanwhile, opens the film. Played by local actors, it tells the story of a young couple – one Catholic, one Protestant – who fall in love during The Troubles. 'I really love how it’s turned out,' says McArdle. 'I’m really proud of it.'
Having previously directed music videos for Bryan Ferry, Simian Mobile Disco and James Vincent McMorrow, McArdle is steadily making a name for herself as a sought-after director. Indeed, McMorrow saw a video that she had made for London composer John Hopkins and subsequently wrote her a 'very compelling email' to request her services.
McArdle, who currently works with the company Somesuch, was initially approached by Jefferson Hack of Dazed magazine (also known to many as Kate Moss’s ex), who inquired if she might be interested in making a short film for U2. Hack told McArdle that he had wanted to work with her for a while and thought she would be perfect to the lead the project.
'I wasn’t really sure, as I didn’t know what they wanted or what they would expect from a director,' says McArdle. 'But Bono rang me and told me they wanted me to make whatever film I wanted. He said to listen to the music and make whatever came to mind.'
With full artistic license granted, McArdle subsequently penned her script during a weekend of intensive writing, with Bono keeping in touch throughout the entire process. Describing him as 'really engaging and funny', McArdle says the U2 front-man 'rang up and responded to things, but never in a negative way'.
'He’s a very nice guy. It’s only Bono I’ve been in direct contact with, but he’s really excited about the whole creative process. It’s perhaps why U2 have had longevity as a band, they’re so involved. It was really infectious.'
Although she was due to meet the band, the proposed date clashed with her mother’s birthday, but down-to-earth McArdle takes it all in her stride. 'It ended up that I didn’t meet them in person, but I did speak to Bono lots on the phone. He told me about the history of 'Every Breaking Wave', which is about his relationship with his wife. They met when they were 14 or 15 and fell in love. Then U2 got big and they had this whole thing about how they were going to stay together. It was great to get that background.'
Equipped with Bono’s back story, McArdle responded to his request for 'something emotional' by injecting a bit of her own personality into the film. And so to Belfast. 'They were really cool with setting it in Northern Ireland,' McArdle adds. 'Bono said I should have a listen to 'The Troubles' too, and the idea came to me through both those songs. It was never going to be a conventional video. It’s a film driven by their music and dialogue.'
With Every Breaking Wave described as 'extraordinary' by U2 band member and guitarist, The Edge, McArdle’s work has also been praised by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, Spike Jonze. Indeed, he says the film is 'a perfect little gem of a romance movie'. High praise indeed. -
"Orquesta de Instrumentos Reciclados Cateura" is a Paraguayan orchestra of young musicians whose instruments have been made out of material taken from garbage and then recycled. They are currently on tour previous to the premiere of the documentary film "Landfill Harmonic" which tells the story of how and why this orchestra was formed. In Los Angeles, they met The Edge among other artists:
Once again the Best Rock Album Grammy at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, was not for U2, this time the winner was Beck with Morning Phase.. U2 last won in this category in 2005 for How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb and in 2001 for All That You Can't Leave Behind.
Celebrating the "unique relationship" between a man and his child, Sons+Fathers is a new book from the Irish Hospice Foundation with a large number of A-list contributors.
It takes its inspiration from Bono, who has donated drawings of his father towards the end of his life for the anthology. Also offering personal contributions from the world of music will be the other members of U2, Paul McGuinness and his son Max, Paul McCartney, Bob Geldof, Julian Lennon and Gavin Friday.
From film and stage: John Boorman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Gabriel Byrne, Neil Jordan, Paul Cusack and Colin Farrell.
Writers include John Banville, Roddy Doyle, Robert Fisk, Paul Auster, Mick Heaney, Colum McCann, Joseph O’Connor and Salman Rushdie, while Colm TóibÃn pens the introduction.
From the political world there are contributions from President Clinton, Alastair Campbell and Bobby Shriver.
Sons+Fathers is set to be published this summer to coincide with Father's Day (Sunday June 21) and proceeds will go towards The Irish Hospice Foundation’s Nurses for Night Care Programme, a service which provides over 1,400 nights of free nursing care at home annually to people with a non-malignant terminal illness.
Irish Hospice Foundation CEO Sharon Foley says:
"Bono planted the seed for this book with his generous gift of the drawing he made of his father when he was dying. He asked if they could be used to raise money for The Irish Hospice Foundation, so we decided on a book, and the net was cast wide and far. We were blown away by the response and generosity of the participants, all who are very busy, well-known people."
