The Fight Goes On: Bono’s Unwavering Quest to End AIDS

In recognition of this year’s World AIDS Day, U2 singer and global activist Bono is stepping up his fight against HIV/AIDS by personally lobbying American legislators to maintain funding for global AIDS initiatives and awareness. His plea comes at a moment when Washington is embroiled in tensebudget debates over how to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” which would trigger automatic spending cuts and tax hikes. Bono showed up in Washington a few weeks after the presidential election to make his case and he didn’t just bring star-appeal, he brought data. His international advocacy organization, The ONE Campaign, recently released a report, warning that despite scientific strides made in combating the pandemic, the United Nation’s goal to achieve the “beginning of the end of AIDS by 2015” will fail if funding is cut to AIDS programs. The report also says financial and political commitment to AIDS efforts from the usual donor countries are varied, with the U.S., U.K. and France leading efforts while Germany, Canada, Japan and Italy lag behind in funding. Bono pushed lawmakers to continue to make AIDS financing a priority. Given the current status, the beginning of the end ofAIDS—defined as when the number of new HIV infections each year is surpassed by the number of people receiving treatment—will not be reached until 2022

American support is key to reaching the ambitious goals set by the United Nations. When Bono sat down with TIME’s managing editor, Rick Stengel last year, he shared his confidence in the Obama Administration’s financial commitment and praised the U.S’s role in leading efforts to fight the virus. “It is an extraordinary thing that the United States has done, which is in the war against this tiny little virus, which has caused so much destruction and heartache, American leadership has been the turning point,” said Bono in the interview. “Five million lives have been saved around the world because of American leadership.”

Despite the anxiety over whether lack of fiscal support will slow the momentum the movement has already achieved, Bono’s organization, The ONE Campaign and its fundraising division (RED), are continuing to spearhead awareness with a new pop culture initiative coinciding with World AIDS Day on December 1st.

ONE is launching a first-person YouTube video series called “It starts with me,” with video messages and stories from contributors like AIDS activist Cleve Jones and actor Colin Farrell. (RED)  has teamed up with Tiesto, a leading electronic music DJ to release a compilation album, DANCE (RED), SAVE LIVES with fellow EDM musicians. The album corresponds with a global YouTube livestream from the Stereosonic Festival in Melbourne, Australia.

As Bono told TIME prior to last year’s World AIDS Day, the beginning of the end of AIDS is nearing with continued international political and financial support. “With some breakthroughs in science there is a chance to turn [this around]… As I say it to you, I can hardly believe the sound of it. For some people, this is a really emotional moment,” he said.

 Alexandra Sifferlin

 http://world.time.com/

Bono and Paul Mc Guinness Remember Frank Barsalona

Bono with Frank Barsalona in 2002

Frank Barsalona, founder of Premier Talent and one of the pioneers of the modern touring business, passed away Thanksgiving morning  after a long illness. U2 manager Paul McGuinness  responded with this touching tribute. 

"Trying to get U2 signed to Premier Talent was the reason for my trip when I flew to New York for the very first time in 1980. I was a baby manager but I knew that Premier were the agency that had driven the British Invasion for the Who, Zeppelin and all the great bands. U2 were recording their first album, "Boy," in Dublin, with Steve Lillywhite producing, for Island Records. When I arrived in New York, I phoned Frank Barsalona's office for an appointment. They took my number, maybe they would have called back.  The next day my father died suddenly back in Dublin. I phoned Premier to say I wouldn't be able to see Frank that week because I would be at the funeral  but I would be back soon. He had to see me when I returned, I was the guy in Ireland whose father had died ... 

"When I met Frank a week or two later he listened to the U2 tape, looked at a video clip I had made,  and (with some encouragement from Chris Blackwell, who had once bailed out his agency) agreed to represent the band. It was the most important alliance we had made up to then. 

"Through the 1980s in North America, Barbara Skydel and Frank guided U2 to becoming one the great live act they are now. Over many late nights sitting in his office as he told me his stories, after everyone had gone home, he gave me my education in the business. Sometimes we went to watch a Yankees game, but mostly we sat and he talked, often till midnight. 

"He taught U2 and myself something that has stood us in good stead ever since -- that an artist has two parallel careers: one on record and one live. The fact that record success came later for U2 was compensated for by their much quicker rise to fame as one of the great live attractions. 

"He and his network of regional promoters gave us so much of their skill and wisdom. In 1991/1992 we did the ambitious, expensive, and deservedly legendary, ZooTV tour. We kept the ticket price low and only broke even. 

"In 1997 when costs were even higher, we were planning the PopMart tour and we changed the business model, and decided to invite bids from interested parties who would underwrite the whole world tour, and shoulder the financial risk that the band had hitherto taken. This meant working without an agent and I had the painful task of informing Frank and Barbara that U2 were no longer Premier clients. The business was changing. I had to say the same to Ian Flooks of Wasted Talent, who had been our brilliant agent in the rest of the world. 

"We then started working worldwide with Michael Cohl and Arthur Fogel, then working under the name TNA. Though Michael is no longer part of the organization, TNA became SFX, that became Clear Channel and the current Live Nation concert organization, which is in many ways the successor to Frank Barsalona's network.  We are still working with Arthur Fogel, who first played U2 in the El Mocambo in Toronto in 1980, a date booked by Premier. 

"Frank was a great man and we will not see his like again. My sympathies and condolences go to his wife June and daughter Nicole."

Bono also said to U2.com:

'Beyond a gentleman to deal with. Graceful, very family orientated. Working with Frank as U2 did, it was like you were in his family.  His stories were sometimes long but always memorable - my favourite featuring The Who smashing their instruments on stage for the first time in his presence and starring Frank, who, starting to get it, turns to his beloved but aghast wife, June and says, 'It's ok honey, it's all part of the show.'

'Maybe you had to be there... hard to explain somebody like Frank as they just don't make them like that anymore. We think of June and Nicole as the band and I salute him. I don't think U2 would have enjoyed the kind of success we have had without Frank Barsalona building it with us. One of maybe ten in the business who believed in U2 as much as we did and cajoled and crooned his peers into doing the same.'

http://www.billboard.biz//http://www.u2.com

"I know the real thing", says Bono's girl

Eve Hewson goes glam inside the November/December issue of Flauntmagazine.

THE youngest daughter of U2 frontman Bono has told how her father's fame can bring out the worst in people when they find out her connection to the global superstar.

The 21-year-old actress Eve Hewson, who is studying acting at New York City University, said she is rarely recognised.

But the student told 'Flaunt' magazine she can instantly recognise the people who want to be friends with her in college because of her rock star father.

"It's made it, in some ways, easier to find friends because it brings out certain bad things in people," she said. "Then you can see easier. Well, you can smell the desperation in people."

For most of her life she has been kept out of the limelight by her parents but her roles in a string of high-profile films are turning the dark-haired beauty into a budding film star.

But she said her father's status as the frontman of the world's biggest band rarely encroached on her happy, sheltered childhood in southside Dublin.

"Obviously, every now and then someone would start singing a U2 song at a party but, aside from that, it's not really about who you are, what you have.

"It's just like, how you can hang out, if you can tell a good story, if you can make a good laugh."

Her performance alongside Hollywood star Sean Penn in the film 'This Must Be The Place' has already caused a buzz around the young actress.

She plays the surrogate daughter to Penn's depressed rock star. She said she wasn't recognised much while making the film. "Nobody really cares about me. There are other famous actors on set that are more fascinating."

The actress, who has an older sister Jordan (23) and two younger brothers Elijah (14) and John Abraham (11), has recently finished the movie 'Blood Ties'.

It stars a string of Hollywood heavy-hitters including Clive Owen, Billy Crudup, legend James Caan and Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard.

The young actress lists edgy star Juliette Lewis and Evan Rachel Woods as big influences.

"I think you have to be very forward about what you want. You have to be confident that you have a vision and that you want to play different sides of yourself. I think the crazier and weirder you are you will be able to get there."

She also said she really admires actress Frances McDormand for picking kooky roles.

"I love Frances for that. It's so cool. And Catherine Keener, who I am working with right now – she is the kind of cool chick that doesn't play into any of the bull***t."

- Lynne Kelleher

Irish Independent

http://www.independent.ie

pictures: http://www.justjared.com (from Flaunt magazine)

The ONE Effect: Feel Real Change

Jamie Drummond

Executive Director, ONE

As a teenager in the 1980s I experienced three exhilarating moments which shaped my view of activism. I was one of thousands who responded to the call to fight apartheid and enjoy the Free Mandela concert - and then Mandela was freed. We were asked to buy a piece of vinyl, a simple song, a single of solidarity for the hungry in Ethiopia - millions of us did and millions were fed. Then we heard about a crumbling wall of oppression in Berlin - so with friends I got on that train, took a sledge hammer to the Berlin wall, joining a massive party of positive protest.

Each time the sensation was amazing - mass participation in campaigns, moments of solidarity, freedom, and above all, the realisation that by coming together as one we could help make change happen and be part of history. 

I am lucky enough to relive that incredible feeling every day, because I co-founded an organisation, the ONE Campaign, whose entire purpose is to help people unite in the fight the injustice of extreme poverty - and be part of history. Just as I got to be tiny part of big change with Live Aid, the anti-apartheid campaign or the Berlin Wall-busting party, so we give our members real opportunities to bust this global injustice.

Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and other activist leaders in Africa first asked Bono, Bob and our team to step up our activism in partnership with Africans in the late 1990s. Following the anti-apartheid campaign they wanted to see serious global movement on issues like debt, AIDS, increased aid, transparency and trade reform. So we answered in various experimental ways and eventually by setting up ONE. Then Mandela really upped the ante in 2005 when he demanded we be "that great generation to make poverty history". Some might think Mandela naïve for demanding this. But we will see shortly this great man's vision is on the right side of history.

Inspired by this African ambition we now have over three million members around the world, networked with tens of millions more in great activist organisations like Oxfam, Save the Children and Global Witness. The story of how ONE grew from its roots in those moments of activism is told in a new documentary being shown on BBC4 on Sunday as part of the Why Poverty? series.

Our members sometimes just send emails or tactical tweets to push politicians, sometimes they turn up outside their offices, and often enough go into them - to ensure their voices are heard demanding specific policy changes on trade transparency or smart aid programs that help the poorest help themselves. At the same time as our members are pushing so are our other influential friends like Bill and Melinda Gates, George Soros or Bono. This strategy of "inside influence and outside mobilisation" combined often forces leaders to pay more attention - and act.

African activist leaders, such as the Sudanese telecoms entrepreneur and activist Mo Ibrahim and the Nigerian "corruption cop" Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, and host of other African advisers continue to inform and advise our work. In Ngozi's words - "As an African leader and policy expert I just want to say how cognisant I am of the efforts ONE and Bono make to ensure the real concerns of Africans are heard in the decisions they make about the policies they chose to campaign on. When I asked they campaign for debt cancellation, they did. When I asked for help in fighting corruption and promoting transparency, they did. Bono and ONE systematically listen and learn from leaders and citizens in Africa in ways I wish others sometimes did. This kind of partnership is what we need much more of from our friends around the world."

In 10 years together we've helped a series of campaigns go from margins to mainstream and make change happen. The successes don't always hit the headlines, but they are real. The "publish what you pay" transparency legislation we're pushing for in the oil and gas sector is now going global. Or take AIDS - when we started 50,000 people in need in Africa had access to life saving drugs - now it's 6.2million. Or malaria - deaths down by a third in sub-Saharan Africa in a decade. Or child-killing diseases - altogether we've campaigned for vaccines which have helped save over 5million lives this last decade. Or Drop the Debt - removal of the debt overhang has helped African leaders put 50m more kids into school and contributed partly to many nations faster economic growth since 2000. Recently campaigning has also helped force more transparency in the oil and gas extraction sector in developing regions like Africa.

The credit for these achievements doesn't lie with celebrity rockstars, though they've certainly helped. It belongs to African citizens and the millions who campaign in solidarity with them such as those who marched for Drop the Debt and Make Poverty History. In their name these African successes should be far better known and they amount to something profound. The Millennium Development Goal set in 2000 of halving extreme poverty has already been achieved before 2015, the target date. And since Mandela spoke poverty reduction in Africa has also picked up with many African nations driving down poverty reduction rapidly. Globally poverty reduction is now on course to near ZERO by 2030. So we could really be that generation Mandela asked us to be. Joining ONE is a great way to accelerate the achievement of his vision.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk//http://www.one.org

On Tuesday Tiësto releases an exclusive compilation album, DANCE (RED), SAVE LIVES, featuring artists like Calvin Harris, Avicii and Diplo. 

The album is designed to mobilise dance music fans in the fight against AIDS - and raise vital funds ahead of World AIDS Day. More information here. 

One of the stand-out tracks is a collaboration between Tiësto and Bono on a remix of Pride (In The Name Of Love) -  

http://www.joinred.com//http://www.u2.com

More on Tiësto`s collaboration with (RED)

(RED) have announced a collaboration with one of the world’s leading DJs and electronic dance music pioneers, Tiësto. 

Next Tuesday, November 27, Tiësto will release an exclusive compilation album, DANCE (RED), SAVE LIVES, followed by a global livestream – powered by YouTube - from Melbourne’s Stereosonic Festival over World AIDS Day weekend on December 1st and 2nd.

The compilation features artists including Calvin Harris, Avicii and Diplo, as well as an exclusive collaboration between Tiësto and Bono on U2's 'Pride'. 

Mobilizing the huge global community of dance music fans in the fight against AIDS, Tiësto and his fellow DANCE (RED), SAVE LIVES artists will livestream their sets from the Stereosonic Festival on YouTube, bringing fans an unforgettable live global music experience. The stream will be available at www.youtube.com/joinred.

The announcement comes as (RED) and its partners mark an important milestone in the fight against AIDS, having generated $200 million for the Global Fund.

Speaking about his collaboration with (RED), Tiësto  said; “When I went to Africa in 2006, I was struck by the devastating effect of AIDS. Now the world has an incredible chance to make sure that babies are born HIV free by 2015, and the dance community is going to make a lot of noise to help make this happen.” 

The war against AIDS faces a critical battle: to deliver the first AIDS Free Generation since HIV was diagnosed 31 years ago. In 2003, new childhood HIV infections peaked with more than 1,500 babies born with HIV every day. For only 40 cents a day, mothers can be treated to prevent transmission to their unborn children, and just over 900 babies are now born daily with the virus. By 2015, that number can be near zero. Ending mother-to-child transmission of HIV is a component of the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Deborah Dugan, CEO of (RED), said “Tiësto represents a generation of young music fans with incredible passion and energy. We want to tap into that passion to help deliver an AIDS free generation by 2015; a monumentally important milestone in the fight against AIDS. What Tiësto and his friends in the dance music community are bringing to this fight is invaluable. They bring the kind of heat that is so desperately needed to keep this issue at the top of the agenda. This World AIDS Day, I want fans to buy the album and DANCE (RED), SAVE LIVES!'

Find out more.

(RED) was founded in 2006 by Bono and Bobby Shriver to engage business in the fight against AIDS. It partners with  iconic global brands who contribute up to 50% of profits from (RED) branded goods and services to the Global Fund  to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.


http://www.u2.com//http://www.joinred.com

Bono,The Edge and other rock stars pay for tapestry to honor late Czech president Vaclav Havel

Václav Havel and Bono (photo: ČTK)

Bono, The Edge, Peter Gabriel, Sting and Yoko Ono Lennon have covered the cost of a tapestry that will be unveiled next month to honor Vaclav Havel at Prague's international airport, that has been renamed to honor the late Czech president.
The airport says the tapestry, which has been designed by the Czech-born New York-based artist Petr Sis, will be unveiled at a ceremony on Dec. 9.

The musicians donated a total of 1.5 million koruna ($76,000) to cover the project proposed by Bill Shipsey, the founder of Art for Amnesty, a project of artists supporting the Amnesty International.

Havel was the dissident playwright who led the 1989 revolution that toppled four decades of communist rule before becoming the country's president.

He died in December, 2011, aged 75.

http://www.newser.com