www.u2.com

Speaking to MSNBC, Bono said:

Contrary to reports, I’m not a billionaire or going to be richer than any Beatle – and not just in the sense of money, by the way, The Beatles are untouchable – those billionaire reports are a joke.

He added:

“In Elevation, we invest other people’s money – endowments, pension funds. We do get paid of course. But you know, I felt rich when I was 20 years old and my wife was paying my bills. Just being in a band, I’ve always felt blessed. I got interested in technology because I’m an artist… Technology is huge, I wanted to learn about it. People might say that’s odd, but I think it’s odd if artists aren’t interested in the world around them. I’m always chasing that. Facebook are an amazing team, a brilliant team, it’s a technology that brings people together.”

We ran a story here on U2 Online earlier that touched on that very thing ‘Will Facebook make Bono a billionaire, not quite’ and clearly when one thinks of it logically and logistically there is no way that Bono personally could be a billionaire as a result of Elevation Partners holding in Facebook.

Nice of Bono to clear up any remaining ambiguity surrounding this though. And what a touching thing to say about Ali.

One thing’s for sure after the IPO float of Facebook, which is underway as I write, Bono will no longer be in music for the money.

Already it’s been widely reported that the U2 front-man shall be technically a billionaire after today’s proceedings are done on Wall Street. But hold on a minute. That’s not quite the case at all. Although all that Bono may earn from any future tours or record releases with U2 is seen as pittance in comparison to the total amount he will potentially make from his investment in Facebook. It still doesn’t mean he’s a billionaire. Let’s take a look at the Facebook IPO floatation for a moment. Say for instance, the share prices in Facebook rise from the fixed price, as many involved in the stock business have predicted they will, and already the indicators are that this process has already kick-started, as share prices in Facebook were reported earlier to be trading in Frankfurt at $70 ahead of market opening. Then the initial value given to the company’s will greatly surpass that of its initial offering and thus so will the initial market value of Bono’s stake in the company.

As it stands, shares are priced at $38, valuing the company at $104bn but they are already trading for much more than that and as the day progresses we shall learn more of the Facebook floatation on NASDAQ and who among its investors enjoyed the biggest windfalls. Apparantly, even in the opening stages of trading Mark Zuckerberg’s father, who was gifted a stake in Facebook has just seen that stake come in at $76 million.

Back to Bono. Elevation Partners, an American private equity firm, that Bono joined in 2004, are putting around 4.62 million shares worth $175.6 million at the $38 opening price on the block for the IPO, according to filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Elevation Partners acquired 2.3% of the company Facebook for $90 Million in 2010 and according to NASDAQ that stake may be worth $1.5 billion when traded.

But wait, don’t think that Bono’s going to ride off into the sunset just yet, as Bono is not the sole beneficiary of whatever monies will be made from the sale of Elevation Partners stake in the Facebook IPO float, it will be split among various investors and partners associated with the group

Further, it should also be noted that Bono would not be allowed to sell all of his shares at once, and the singer has said that money raised from his investments will largely be directed to his philanthropic work in Africa.

So Bono the billionaire may not be exactly true just yet, the Irish rocker may have quite a few more albums and tickets to sell before that eventually comes to pass. Make no doubt about it Bono will be exceptionally richer after today but then again, he was already that from the start.

Bono took to the stage there and performed the U2 hit “Angel Of Harlem“, a track U2 wrote as a homage to legendary Jazz singer, Billie Holiday. Bono performed the song with a slight twist, by incorporating a snippet of Michael Jackson’s hit, “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” into it.

“A Great Night in Harlem,” has been held each May for the past seven years and prior to last night’s gala the foundation has raised just over $1,000,000 for its mission.

Update: Follow this link to watch a video of Bono performing in the Apollo Theater.

Gold miners brave a cliff in mineral-rich Congo Lionel Healing / AFP / Getty Images

‘In many ways, Africa is to this century what North America was to the 19th. It has 60% of the world’s undeveloped arable land and vast reserves of coal, oil and minerals, together with enormous renewable-energy resources.

Sub-Saharan Africa is also home to 400 million of the world’s poorest people. These resources should be theirs. Get the development of them right and the forthcoming financial resources–invested well–can transform the lives of countless numbers of people.’

Read Bono’s article in full.

www.u2.com

U2.com have finally revealed the track order of U22. Below are the 22 tracks that will feature on the limited-edition, double-live CD, that is only available exclusively to subscribers of U2.com. U22 will begin shipping on May 30th.

Disc One

1. Even Better Than The Real Thing
2. The Fly
3. Mysterious Ways
4. Magnificent
5. Until The End Of The World
6. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
7. Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
8. One Tree Hill
9. Beautiful Day
10. Elevation
11. Bad

Disc Two

12. All I Want Is You/Love Rescue Me
13. The Unforgettable Fire
14. Zooropa
15. City Of Blinding Lights
16. Mlk/Walk On
17. One
18. Where The Streets Have No Name
19. Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
20. With Or Without You
21. Moment Of Surrender
22. Out Of Control

Barely w week’s passed since he celebrated his 52nd birthday but come tomorrow Bono will have a celebration of a different kind.

Then the U2 singer will be crowned the world’s richest rock star. And it’s largely due to his investment is social network site Facebook.

It’s reckoned Bono owns 2.3 per cent of the shares in Facebook through his private equity firm, Elevation Partners, which they bought for $90 million (£57 million) in 2009 and now stands to make a huge windfall. Facebook is currently valued at over $100 billion (£63 billion), this makes Bono’s share worth over $1.5 billion (£940 million) and puts him well above Paul McCartney, who is currently the world’s richest rock-star with a fortune of £665 million.

The floatation of Facebook is set to hit the the stock exchange tomorrow and all its early investors are gearing up for a massive return on their stock, with Bono numbered among them.

And that’s a record for Bono, that few initially saw coming.

U22 is on it’s way guys. The CD you’ve all been waiting for. U22 is a limited-edition, double-live CD and it’s made up entirely of songs from a wide and varied selection of shows on the U2 360° Tour, and if that wasn’t special enough it’s contains songs that you had the privilege of choosing.

Subscribers to U2.com can instantly download four tracks, including ‘Unknown Caller’, a bonus track that’s not featured on U22.

According to U2.com, eight more tracks from the 22 on the double CD will be available to download on May 30th – the same day that U22 starts shipping in the mail.

So watch out for the postman. U22 is coming.

U22 is available exclusively to subscribers of U2.com

When I was growing up in Ireland I listened to Stiff Little Fingers and Joy Division. I loved the fast pulse of their songs. I had not as yet fully grasped the extent of the troubles up North. I knew of Bobby Sands, and of course I always know when the older generation were talking about Northern Ireland, for they stood closer to each other and spoke in whispered tones. As a youth I was more interested in getting to the disco on Friday night. Being from the country it wasn’t as straightforward as one might think to go and see live bands. Money was tight and transport systems here were barely evolved enough to accommodate such excursions. There was plenty of country and Irish bands on the circuit locally but they didn’t interest me. Their music wasn’t for me and my generation, I wanted something more rebellious and I and my friends found it in punk music.

At first it was The Stranglers, Sham 69 and The Clash and come Friday night off we would set off for the disco with several forty-fives under our arm. The DJ never said no, when we asked if he could play them. I guess looking back we helped swell his collection and punk music was everywhere then. Well, there was another reason, for a couple of the lads had plenty of facial piercings and wore bondage trousers and ripped punk shirts, so the look of menace may have been a factor too. As for me, my attire consisted of a bleached denim jacket and jeans with safety pins in the former and over the jacket I wore a black crombie coat.

As we got into further into punk music, more hardcore sounds were emerging in England and the easiest way to get our hands on them was to order them by mail-order off the punk magazines. When they arrived by post, the ritual took over, and it was the same every time. One of us was delegated to spread the word, namely to leg it all over town and inform everyone to be at Paul’s by eight. Paul was born in England and typified punk rock. He had all the gear and he knew from contacts over there what bands to be on the lookout for. When all the crew had gathered in his place, the records were passed around, we’d marvel at the artwork on the sleeve. Plenty of wows were common along with a few choice expletives. Then the main event would kick-off, the vinyl was placed on the record player and the needle would drop. And then the music blared and we’d be up on our feet rocking, the energy we exuded naturally increased in tempo and in a small living room it meant we bumped into each other a lot. We knew them all, songs from The Dead Kennedys, The Exploited and Vice Squad. And when we hit the disco, the first strains of angry guitar would clear the floor as the punk rockers of a midlands Irish town jumped out.

Deep down I don’t think I was a punk rocker at heart. I felt my niche was somewhere in between. Don’t get me wrong punk was liberating but it was also restrictive. Simply put we didn’t belong. Rather than pack the floor with our brand of enthusiasm, we cleared it. And it wasn’t just that, it was something far more isolating. When the songs were stripped down, the message was fundamentally the same; there was no hope, no future. If you tell yourself something often enough it’s only a matter of time until you start to believe it. I never liked that. I never liked anyone dictating that I had no future. I did. Furthermore, I also didn’t like the change it spoke of, the change in brought to me.

Back then I used to listen to Dave Fanning religiously. Dave was one of us. He always played the most obscure music. For the most part, all I knew of new emerging bands, came from him. He wasn’t a conformist to the charts. Dave came on when parents went out. One evening I heard him play U2. His intro to them was so dramatic. He lured me in and I’m guessing I was not alone. There I was listening to a young band from Dublin. An Irish band with no fiddle player. An Irish band was good enough. I was hooked. They sounded like novice punks. And yet they weren’t. They were not much older than me. And by the sound of it not much older than Dave. A new type of music was happening and its timing was perfect. This was the music I’d been looking for. Every night I tuned in the hope they’d be on again, and every night they were. A band from my country and my time. Here was a band from Dublin and every song they sang sounded fabulous, I loved them, I loved their energy; each new song I heard from them endeared me to them more. I couldn’t get enough of them. I bought Smash Hits, New Musical Express and Hot Press whenever they came out, hoping they’d be in it. I was going around singing their songs, oblivious that I was even doing so. Their songs were so addictive. Fire was like an anthem to me, “Calling, calling, the sun is burning black.”

I think if you asked anyone back then they’d all say the same. This band will be huge. They were going places, that much was clear. When the spoke, they spoke with maturity and ever so sensibly. I always looked forward to hearing Bono, he had it together, and he spoke as if he knew everything. Suddenly, it all took off. U2 were number one in England. A band merely a few years together had conquered England. They had won over Ireland the minute their songs hit the airwaves. Everyone was rooting for them, willing them on. Whatever can be said of Ireland there can be no denying that it wants its own to succeed. And U2 didn’t disappoint. Everywhere I went the talk was of U2. My punk days were at an end. And then came that moment. That unforgettable moment, when they walked onto the stage at Live Aid. There they were our boys. Out there with the best bands in the world. The crowd knew them and they warmed to that and as Bono introduced the band to the opening strains of Bad with “We’re an Irish band. We come from Dublin City, Ireland” – it was more than enough endorsement that these boys were our ambassadors, that Bono’s surging words were felt more in Irish hearts than in any other. That those words were of a man letting the world know the pride he felt in his identity. And believe me the pride a nation felt in him and the band was every bit as palpable. For most of you lucky enough to live in a place where you can’t turn a corner without running into a rock band, this won’t come as a big deal but for those of us that live in a place where rock bands are scarce, you’ll know exactly what I mean. Yeah, Ireland had top bands, there was Thin Lizzy and The Boomtown Rats to name but two but bands here were very thinly spread on the ground, and although I liked both Lizzy and The Rats, I never really got into them musically.

The years since have given me a deeper appreciation of music and I still remain open and receptive to all types of music and all types of bands but no music or band has impacted on me as much as U2 have. When I think back I can see why that is now. I mean no other band has weaved itself into the very fabric of my life as much as they have and I’m sure the same applies to countless other lives all over the world too. They’ve been there in the background at nearly every event I’ve witnessed; at christenings, wedding, funerals, graduations, vacations, you name it and there is a strong possibility that U2 were there. They’ve been there whenever I need them, singing along and entreating me to sing along with them. In times of despair they’ve been a comfort, in times of joy they’ve been a comfort. They are that one certainty, that one constant in an ever moving and ever changing world. All the friends I’ve met because of them, all the places I have been as a result of them, if any of that was different, then there’s no doubt I would be different. As I write this they are here again singing “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and I suppose, when I think of it, maybe I haven’t found all that I’m still looking for but that doesn’t really matter because what was looking for me found me.

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It’s the soundtrack of U2360°, the 22 songs were chosen by fans across the world and it’s all set for release.

It’s a limited-edition, double-live CD.  It’s called U22 and subscribers to U2.com can start downloading it today…

From All I Want Is You to Walk On, Mysterious Ways to Bad, and Even Better Than The Real Thing to With or Without You this specially commissioned CD set runs to over two hours and is the definitive record of the 360° Tour.

It’s presented in a deluxe book of live photos complete with liner notes from Adam Clayton.

Subscribe to U2.com and instantly download FOUR tracks, including ‘UNKNOWN CALLER’, a bonus track that’s not on U22.

On May 30th EIGHT more tracks from the 22 on the double CD will be available to download  – and U22 will be in the mail.

Check out the benefits of a U2.com subscription…  and start downloading these live songs from U2360°

www.u2.com

16 May, 2012

Lorenzo Stillitto, frontman for Australian indie rock outfit The Temper Trap, has said that he thinks it was “a bit rich” for The Edge, lead guitarist with one of the world’s biggest bands, U2, to suggest that he’d stolen his guitar sound.

Referencing comments by The Edge, which later resulted in U2′s frontman Bono to come out and publically say he was ‘inspired’ by The Temper Trap, he Stillitto opened up about the altercation in this week’s cover story for The Drum Media.

“I think what The Edge said in the first place was a bit rich to suggest I stole his guitar sound,” said Sillitto . “They’re definitely an inspiration for me, but so many acts can seep into your subconscious”

He even joked that they’d caused tension and infighting within U2. “Bono said we inspired him and that’s really cool, so I just joked [on radio] that we must have caused some infighting.”

Speaking about the bands new self-titled album, which is out this Friday 18 May, he said, “I think this album is much more about how we’ve changed ourselves and how that’s shaped our sound.”

http://themusic.com.au

I suppose one of the things about U2′s early days is the intimacy between the band and their fans. Suffice to say that’s not so easy to achieve the same atmosphere in a stadium full of 80,000 fans. Now I know all things have a natural progression and ultimately for anyone starting out in a rock band there has got to be that dream of making it big and by big we just have to look at U2′s record.

Admittedly, it would be fantastic to think that a band could live off playing to only a hand full of fans every night. That every fan would be as well known to a band as the band are to their fans. But things like that rarely happen. And if they do then there’s every possibility that there are countless bands out there than no one will ever hear of.

Firstly, economics come into it. Playing music for the love of it is far different than playing for all the trimmings of fame. There has to be objectives, if a band is to move from A to B. And to get to that holy grail one not only needs to have a lot of talent but a belief that it can be reached. U2 had and still have both. Whether it’s a sell out concert in Croke Park or an audience with Letterman, each and every one in attendance feels that intimacy.

Why is that felt I often ask. Why do so many make incredible journeys to share in this intimacy. The answer is very simple. It’s all down to the personality of the band. U2 have never been stand offish. That approach manifests itself wherever they go. No one has to rush to the stage to be near this band, they come to you. And they do so with their songs. It’s not trickery or camera angles that make U2 connect with all that hear them, it’s the power of their music and the sheer genuineness of their character that carries them each time they take to the stage. It even goes beyond that. U2 know that out in front of them are people who have journeyed just as far as they have, everyone is familiar. You may have seen this band a hundred times before or it may be your first time, but it’s like walking into a room where everyone there welcomes you and makes you feel special.

When Bono pulls someone upon stage to dance with or sing to, he pulls you up too. It’s something he’s been doing for years and it’s because of that you stick around. Bono hasn’t changed. You like that about him, if you meet him in the street he won’t run away, he won’t ask a team of minders to keep you back. U2 have all the trimmings now, and time and time again they’re setting new records, they’re selling out every venue they play at, they are selling multi platinum albums. They are still moving from A to B. And as they are, so are we.

There’s a wonderful clip of Bono that I remember from years ago, when U2 played the Self Aid concert in the R.D.S., in it Bono ran offstage to a boundary wall after finishing singing U2′s classic song ‘Bad’ and he saw a couple of fans who failed to get tickets had listened to the concert from outside the grounds, when they saw him they called up that he gave a great show and threw him up a bottle of cider, Bono took a few swigs, chatted for a bit and then said he had to go, and they fans bade him goodbye and wished him all the best as he left. In that moment from behind the scenes Bono reiterated to those that had saw him up close for the first time already knew, Bono and U2 were more than rock stars, they are more than just members of the greatest band in the world, they are our brothers and as such we are as important to them as they are to us.

It’s easy to be intimate in the company of those you care about and who care about you. U2 don’t just know this, they practice it. They are our brothers who went off and made it big, they became famous but it never went to their heads. And in doing so, they made us believe we could too. And as for the intimacy between band and fans in U2′s early days, well it’s still very much there, only difference is we have all moved to a bigger room. We had to, for we brought more friends.

Roumours are rife on the celebrity news vines that Sean Penn and Petra Nemcova have rekindled their relationship after they were spotted enjoying a night out together at U2 rocker Bono’s birthday party in New York last Thursday night.

Love appeared to be in the air for Bono and friends as he celebrated his 52nd birthday in The Spotted Pig in the West Village as it’s also reported that Bono sang a romantic song to his wife Ali Hewson with the backing of a traditional Irish band.

Definitely seemed to be a night full of sweetest things.

Hazarding a guess here but does anyone else think that Bono might have taken on the role as matchmaker that night?

Image shown with the above article is for illustration only and features Bono and Petra Nemcova at the launch of her documentary project, Love Evolution, during a cocktail party at Nikki Beach in 2008.

Often such songs can raise the roof when the band introduce one live; remember Live Aid when the band slipped in Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed. Such moments are eternal and I think one of the songs that got me most was when they played Love Will Tear Us Apart from Joy Division, when I was at their show in Wembley Arena back in 1987, firstly, it was a song immediately recognizable and it also happened to be a song from another band that I loved at that time, aside from U2.

Of course that’s not an isolated time, there have been many great covers played by U2 over many years at countless gigs and for some strange reason every one of them works so well into their set and some even go so far as to epitomise a place and time. I don’t know if many fans think back this far but when U2 played a snippet of Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” at Red Rocks in 1983, that was another such moment, musically perfect. They may have got into a whole lot of trouble for it afterwards, but for those fortunate to hear it, such moments are often spoke more of afterwards than the entire event. And that perhaps is the most extraordinary aspect of U2s covers. I know I could go on and name many more exceptional covers and each in their own right would tell their own tale.

I’m not out to create a list with all the covers U2 have played or released to date or anything like that though. However, what I would like to know if there has been a particular cover song U2 have played or that you have listened to that stands out in your memory and if there is I’d love to know what that song is. Please feel free to leave the name of that song below.