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This article first ran on Beliefnet in February of 2001.

Introduction Interview

"Ah, I always take you to the most glamorous places," said Bono with a laugh, as he hugged me in greeting one afternoon in September of 1999. He was being ironic, of course. I'd jetted around the United Kingdom with the band U2--a galvanizing force on the popular music scene for more than two decades--as I'd covered the group for Rolling Stone and other publications. That September, however, we were meeting in a completely nondescript conference room in Washington, D.C., and Bono was about to address a conference on the plight of highly indebted poor countries.

Now, a year and a half later, most people who care are familiar with the extensive, hands-on work Bono has done with the Jubilee 2000 coalition to have the world's richest nations forgive the onerous debts of the most impoverished ones.

I often wonder if religion is the enemy of God. It's almost like religion is what happens when the Spirit has left the building.

Bono got involved partly to complete the work begun by the Band Aid and Live Aid events back in the '80s; partly to find a dignified, compassionate way to mark the new millennium; and partly out of his own spiritual convictions. In many ways, that last motivation intrigued me the most. In his debt-relief efforts, Bono did not travel the typical celebrity route of writing out checks or performing benefit concerts. Instead, he was meeting incessantly with politicians, bureaucrats, and world leaders--often behind the scenes--to lobby for legislation.

It's one thing to confer with Pope John Paul II, former President Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, or even conservative senators like Jesse Helms and Orrin Hatch. It's quite another to sit for hour after hour with the under-secretary of this-and-that or academic economists or World Bank functionaries, as Bono did--that's the labor of a true man of faith. "I never thought it would get this unhip," he complained to me at one point.

"I've successfully avoided talking about my faith for 20 years," he said after we completed this interview, which he did by phone from Ireland. "But with you, I felt I had to. I said, 'I can't turn this guy down--he's been on every blinkin' boring story!' And I thought to myself, it's OK to open up a little bit. The problem is, when I do these kinds of things, the way it turns out in the tabloid papers here and in England is, 'Bono Pontificates on the Holy Trinity.' And then we're off! But at the same time, I can't let them gag me. These are the unformed, unfocused thoughts of a student of these things, not a master."

Fair enough. Ladies and gentlemen, Bono Ungagged.

Introduction Interview

While the Jubilee 2000 Coalition accomplished a great deal, it failed to achieve its ultimate goal of complete debt forgiveness. The coalition has disbanded, but the work goes on. What is the current initiative, and what is your involvement in it?

This year might turn out to be even more of a millennium year for us than last year. There's a chance that if we focus on the HIV/AIDS crisis, particularly in Africa--that's the shock to the system that might allow for deeper debt relief.

I've had two meetings with Tony Blair in the last few weeks, and he realizes that he is in power at a time of great importance. This is akin to the bubonic plague or Hiroshima or the Holocaust. I think he is going to, along with your new president, work with the industrialized nations and the African leadership to really have a go at this problem. And debt relief will be part of that package.


Do you have the same level of rapport with the Bush administration as you did with Clinton?

Yes. In fact, if you look at the cover of The New York Times when debt cancellation went through [Congress], the headline was--and for me it was an amusing triumvirate--"The Pope, U2 and George W. Prevail." We worked very hard to get both Republican and Democratic authorship on that package, and I'm confident the Republican leadership will follow through. In the second debate, [Bush] mentioned debt cancellation as one of the ideas he was excited by.

Because debt relief became a religious issue, you were able to meet with many politicians with whom you probably agree on nothing else. What was that like?

I really have had to swallow my own prejudice at times. Because I was suspicious of the traditional Christian church, I tended to tar them all with the same brush. That was a mistake, because there are righteous people working in a whole rainbow of belief systems--from Hasidic Jews to right-wing Bible Belters to charismatic Catholics.

The idea of turning your music into a tool for evangelism is missing the point. Music is the language of the spirit anyway. Its first function is praise to creation.

We had a meeting in the White House, and President Clinton invited Pat Robertson, who I think had referred to him as "a devil" and hadn't visited the White House in eight years. I saw him in the room with Andrew Young, who said, his voice trembling, that this is the most important thing that's come up for him since the civil rights marches in the '60s. Clinton said, "This is a very odd bunch of people. But if you guys could agree to meet a few more times, you could really change the world."

I'm actually starting to like more and more people who have convictions that are unpopular. Now at what point does an unpopular conviction interfere with your own human rights? Forced female circumcision, for instance. The Catholic Church's stance on contraception. The list goes on. You know, God has some really weird kids, and I find it hard to be in their company most of the time.

When I went to meet the pope, I brought a book of Seamus Heaney's poetry, which he had inscribed for the pontiff. The inscription was a quote from [Heaney's] catechism, from 1947. It said, "Q: Who is my neighbor? A: All of mankind."


Now, for all its failings and its perversions over the last 2,000 years--and as much as every exponent of this faith has attempted to dodge this idea--it is unarguably the central tenet of Christianity: that everybody is equal in God's eyes. So you cannot, as a Christian, walk away from Africa. America will be judged by God if, in its plenty, it crosses the road from 23 million people suffering from HIV, the leprosy of the day. What's up on trial here is Christianity itself. You cannot walk away from this and call yourself a Christian and sit in power. Distance does not decide who is your brother and who is not. The church is going to have to become the conscience of the free market if it's to have any meaning in this world--and stop being its apologist.

During U2's Zooropa tour, you would often call prominent figures by phone from the stage. In London, you were dressed as the devil character you invented, MacPhisto, and, as you tried to call the Archbishop of Canterbury, MacPhisto remarked that religious leaders were some of his closest friends.

It's true. I often wonder if religion is the enemy of God. It's almost like religion is what happens when the Spirit has left the building.

God's Spirit moves through us and the world at a pace that can never be constricted by any one religious paradigm. I love that. You know, it says somewhere in the scriptures that the Spirit moves like a wind--no one knows where it's come from or where it's going. The Spirit is described in the Holy Scriptures as much more anarchic than any established religion credits.

For all that, U2 has often been seen as a Christian rock band.

We really f--ked that up, though. We really f--ked up our corner of the Christian market. I think carrying moral baggage is very dangerous for an artist. If you have a duty, it's to be true and not cover up the cracks. I love hymns and gospel music, but the idea of turning your music into a tool for evangelism is missing the point.

Music is the language of the spirit anyway. Its first function is praise to creation--praise to the beauty of the woman lying next to you, or the woman you would like to lie next to you. It is a natural effusive energy that you shouldn't put to work. When those people get up at the Grammys and say, "I thank God," I always imagine God going, "Oh, don't--please don't thank me for that one. Please, oh, that's an awful one! Don't thank me for that--that's a piece of [crap]!"

The most powerful idea that's entered the world in the last few thousand years--the idea of grace--is the reason I would like to be a Christian.

God has some really weird kids.

Though, as I said to [U2 guitarist] The Edge one day, I sometimes feel more like a fan, rather than actually in the band. I can't live up to it. But the reason I would like to is the idea of grace. It's really powerful.

You've also been drawn to the spiritual struggles of rockers like Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Marvin Gaye.

I was never tormented in the way those early rock and rollers were between gospel and the blues. I always saw them as parts of each other. I like the anger of the blues--I think being angry with God is at least a dialogue. You know, [Robert Johnson's] "Hell Hound on My Trail"--the blues is full of that. And [it runs] right through to Marilyn Manson.

These are big questions. If there is a God, it's serious. And if there isn't a God, it's even more serious. Or is it the other way around? I don't know, but these are the things that, as an artist, are going to cross your mind--as well as "Ode to My New Jaguar." [laughter] The right to be an ass I will hold on to very tightly. I just have to be allowed that.

Achtung Baby - Mysterious Ways

Through a combination of zealous righteousness and post-punk experimentalism, U2 became one of the most popular rock & roll bands of the '80s. Equally known for their sweeping sound as for their grandiose statements about politics and religion, they were rock & roll crusaders during an era of synthesized pop and heavy metal. The Edge provided the group with a signature sound by creating sweeping sonic landscapes with his heavily processed, echoed guitars. Though the Edge's style wasn't conventional, the rhythm section of Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr., played the songs as driving hard rock, giving the band a forceful, powerful edge that was designed for arena rock. And their lead singer, Bono, was a frontman who had a knack of grand gestures that played better in arenas than small clubs. It's no accident that footage of Bono parading with a white flag with "Sunday Bloody Sunday" blaring in the background became the defining moment of U2's early career -- there rarely was a band that believed so deeply in rock's potential for revolution as U2, and there rarely was a band that didn't care if they appeared foolish in the process. During the course of the early '80s, the group quickly built up a dedicated following through constant touring and a string of acclaimed records. By 1987, the band's following had grown large enough to propel them to the level of international superstars with the release of The Joshua Tree. Unlike many of their contemporaries, U2 was able to sustain their popularity in the '90s by reinventing themselves as a postmodern, self-consciously ironic dance-inflected pop/rock act, owing equally to the experimentalism of late-'70s Bowie and '90s electronic dance and techno. By performing such a successful reinvention, the band confirmed its status as one of the most popular bands in rock history, in addition to earning additional critical respect.

With its textured guitars, U2's sound was undeniably indebted to post-punk, so it's slightly ironic that the band formed in 1976, before punk had reached their hometown of Dublin, Ireland. Larry Mullen, Jr. (born October 31, 1961; drums), posted a notice on a high-school bulletin board asking for fellow musicians to form a band. Bono (born Paul Hewson, May 10, 1960; vocals, guitar), the Edge (born David Evans, August 8, 1961; guitar, keyboards, vocals), Adam Clayton (born March 13, 1960; bass), and Dick Evans responded to the ad, and the group formed as a Beatles and Stones cover band called the Feedback, before changing their name to the Hype in 1977. Shortly afterward, Dick Evans left the band to form the Virgin Prunes. Following his departure, the group changed its name to U2.

U2's first big break arrived in 1978, when they won a talent contest sponsored by Guinness; the band were in their final year of high school at the time. By the end of the year, the Stranglers' manager, Paul McGuinness, saw the band play and offered to manage them. Even with a powerful manager in their corner, the band had trouble making much headway -- they failed an audition with CBS Records at the end of the year. In the fall of 1979, U2 released their debut EP, U2 Three. The EP was available only in Ireland, and it topped the national charts. Shortly afterward, they began to play in England, but they failed to gain much attention.

U2 had one other chart-topping single, "Another Day," in early 1980 before Island Records offered the group a contract. Later that year, the band's debut, Boy, was released. Produced by Steve Lillywhite, the record's sweeping, atmospheric but edgy sound was unlike most of its post-punk contemporaries, and the band earned further attention for its public embrace of Christianity; only Clayton was not a practicing Christian. Through constant touring, including opening gigs for Talking Heads and wet T-shirt contests, U2 was able to take Boy into the American Top 70 in early 1981. October, also produced by Lillywhite, followed in the fall, and it became their British breakthrough, reaching number 11 on the charts. By early 1983, Boy's "I Will Follow" and October's "Gloria" had become staples on MTV, which, along with their touring, gave the group a formidable cult following in the U.S.

Released in the spring of 1983, the Lillywhite-produced War was U2's breakthrough release, entering the U.K. charts at number one and elevating them into arenas in the United States, where the album peaked at number 12. War had a stronger political message than its predecessors, as evidenced by the U.K., college radio, and MTV hits "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Year's Day." During the supporting tour, the band filmed its concert at Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheater, releasing the show as an EP and video titled Under a Blood Red Sky. The EP entered in the U.K. charts at number two, becoming the most successful live recording in British history. U2 had become one of the most popular bands in the world, and their righteous political stance soon became replicated by many other bands, providing the impetus for the Band Aid and Live Aid projects in 1984 and 1985, respectively. For the follow-up to War, U2 entered the studios with co-producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who helped give the resulting album an experimental, atmospheric tone. Released in the fall of 1984, The Unforgettable Fire replicated the chart status of War, entering the U.K. charts at number one and reaching number 12 in the U.S. The album also generated the group's first Top 40 hit in America with the Martin Luther King, Jr., tribute "(Pride) In the Name of Love." U2 supported the album with a successful international tour, highlighted by a show-stealing performance at Live Aid. Following the tour, the band released the live EP Wide Awake in America in 1985.

While U2 had become one of the most successful rock bands of the '80s, they didn't truly become superstars until the spring 1987 release of The Joshua Tree. Greeted with enthusiastic reviews, many of which proclaimed the album a masterpiece, The Joshua Tree became the band's first American number one hit and its third straight album to enter the U.K. charts at number one; in England, it set a record by going platinum within 28 hours. Generating the U.S. number one hits "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," The Joshua Tree and the group's supporting tour became the biggest success of 1987, earning the group the cover of respected publications like Time magazine. U2 decided to film a documentary about their American tour, recording new material along the way. The project became Rattle & Hum, a film that was supported by a double-album soundtrack that was divided between live tracks and new material. While the album Rattle & Hum was a hit, the record and film received the weakest reviews of U2's career, with many critics taking issue with the group's fascination with American roots music like blues, soul, country, and folk. Following the release of Rattle & Hum, the band took an extended hiatus.

U2 reconvened in Berlin 1990 to record a new album with Eno and Lanois. While the sessions for the album were difficult, the resulting record, Achtung Baby, represented a successful reinvention of the band's trademark sound. Where they had been inspired by post-punk in the early career and American music during their mid-career, U2 delved into electronic and dance music with Achtung Baby. Inspired equally by late-'70s Bowie and the Madchester scene in the U.K., Achtung Baby was sonically more eclectic and adventurous than U2's earlier work, and it didn't alienate their core audience. The album debuted at number one throughout the world and spawned Top Ten hits with "Mysterious Ways" and "One." Early in 1992, the group launched an elaborate tour to support Achtung Baby. Dubbed Zoo TV, the tour was an innovative blend of multimedia electronics, featuring a stage filled with televisions, suspended cars, and cellular phone calls. Bono devised an alter ego called the Fly, which was a knowing send-up of rock stardom. Even under the ironic guise of the Fly and Zoo TV, it was evident that U2 was looser and more fun than ever before, even though they had not abandoned their trademark righteous political anger.

Following the completion of the American Zoo TV tour in late 1992 and before the launch of the European leg of the tour, U2 entered the studio to complete an EP of new material that became the full-length Zooropa. Released in the summer of 1993 to coincide with the tour of the same name, Zooropa demonstrated a heavier techno and dance influence than Achtung Baby and it received strong reviews. Nevertheless, the album stalled at sales of two million and failed to generate a big hit single. During the Zooropa tour, the Fly metamorphosed into the demonic MacPhisto, which dominated the remainder of the tour. Upon the completion of the Zooropa tour in late 1993, the band took an extended break. During 1995, U2 re-emerged with "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me," a glam rock theme to Batman Forever that was produced by Nellee Hooper (Bj�rk, Soul II Soul). Later that year, they recorded the collaborative album Original Soundtracks, Vol. 1 with Brian Eno, releasing the album under the name the Passengers late in 1995. It was greeted with a muted reception, both critically and commercially.

Many hardcore U2 fans, including drummer Larry Mullen, Jr., were unhappy with the Passengers project, and U2 promised their next album, to be released in the fall of 1996, would be a rock & roll record. The album took longer to complete than usual, being pushed back to the spring of 1997. During its delay, a few tracks, including the forthcoming first single "Discotheque," were leaked, and it became clear that the new album was going to be heavily influenced by techno, dance, and electronic music. When it was finally released, Pop did indeed bear a heavier dance influence, but it was greeted with strong initial sales, and a few positive reviews. In late 1998, the group returned with Best of 1980-1990, the first in a series of hits collections issued in conjunction with a reported 50 million dollar agreement with Polygram.

Three years after the mediocre response to Pop, U2 teamed up with Eno and Lanois once again to release All That You Can't Leave Behind in fall 2000. It topped charts around the world, reached number three in America, earned the band Grammy Awards for the singles "Beautiful Day" and "Walk On," and became their biggest-selling record in years. (The Elevation tour that followed also brought U2 a hefty paycheck.) Steve Lillywhite, producer of the early-'80s landmarks Boy, October, and War, returned to the helm for U2's next record, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Released in November 2004, it hit the top of the Billboard charts and quickly gained platinum status. The album also garnered eight Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Rock Album of the Year, and Song of the Year (for "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own"). ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Written by Stephen Thomas Erlewine



Bono is to host an auction in New York City this week to raise funds for the (RED) initiative, it has been confirmed.

The U2 star will co-host the event at Sotheby's with Damien Hirst, who is one of many famous artists expected to attend.

Tracey Emin, Sam Taylor Wood and Marc Quinn are amongst the guests, who will be bidding on work donated by the likes of Banksy, Jeff Koons and Hirst.

Josh Hartnett, Dennis Hopper, Helena Christensen, Christy Turlington. Q-Tip and Moby will also apparently be in attendance at Thursday's event.

U2 & Bruce Springsteen - I still haven't found what I'm look

This is a very great video!!! I'm most likely one of Swedens biggest U2 fans. I reserved The 20th Anniversary Edition of The Joshua Tree Remastered Super Deluxe Limited Edition Box 2CD+1DVD+56 page book and 5 photos about three weeks before the release date. The Joshua Tree was available the 9th march in 1987 and it's the best album they have ever made so far i think.
mccabe3110 (1 month ago) Show Hide Marked as spam
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My two fav artists, seeing the Boss in London Wed, cannot wait - these guys should definately do a tour together.

U2 are currently writing a new album and almost certain to tour later.

U23D

http://www.u2.com/reviews.php

U2- One

U2 manager proposes novel piracy crackdown


CANNES: Saying that Internet and technology companies have for too long had a "free ride on music," the veteran manager of the band U2 on Monday urged them to start "sharing their enormous revenue" with singers and songwriters.

At the annual music industry trade show in the south of France, Paul McGuinness blamed broadband Internet service providers in particular for allowing mass piracy of digital music over their networks while sales of recorded music and royalty payments to musicians have plunged.

Technology companies like Oracle, Dell, Microsoft and Apple have also reaped millions in sales by whetting the public appetite for digital music without any benefit for the creators of the music, he said.

"They're keeping it all," McGuinness said of the money that tech and telecommunications companies make indirectly from the music business.

His impassioned plea was the latest in a steady stream of cries for help from the creative side of the music business over the past decade, ever since the original Napster made it easy to trade digital tunes over the Internet for free.
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In the meantime, global industry sales have fallen from $38 billion in 1998 to $17.6 billion last year, according to industry estimates.

Various solutions and proposals - from a fund to compensate musicians, to lawsuits against individuals who trade songs, to legitimate digital music services like Apple's iTunes - have failed to stop the tide.

Mark Mulligan, an industry analyst at JupiterResearch, expressed some doubt that McGuinness could make a much of a difference.

"You can point the blame in numerous directions," including Internet service providers, Mulligan said.

"The bottom line is it requires everybody in the value chain to act in concert, or it won't work."

McGuinness endorsed a proposal first raised in France late last year for Internet service providers to voluntarily band together and crack down on subscribers who dominate illegal file-sharing networks. The French plan, drawn up under the guidance of Denis Olivennes, chief executive of the electronics, movie and music retailer FNAC, is the latest in a series of French efforts to deal with media piracy.

Serious violators already face the threat of fines and up to three years in prison. But few have been prosecuted and few convicted under these laws, according to the International Federation for the Phonographic Industry.

"For ISPs in general, the days of prevaricating over their responsibilities for helping protect music must end," McGuinness said.

If they do not, governments should legislate such action, and the music industry should consider legal action against them, he said.

John Kennedy, head of the IFPI, which has sued both consumers and Web site owners on piracy issues, seemed willing to consider lawsuits against ISPs.

"We've tried every other avenue possible," Kennedy said.

McGuinness challenged Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple, to "apply his ingenuity" to solving the music industry crisis. It was about this time last year that Jobs issued a public letter blaming the record industry, particularly in Europe, for making it difficult to see digital music legitimately.

Apple on Monday had no immediate comment on McGuinness's remarks.

"These are very clever people and a lot of fun to work with," McGuinness said about the technology and Internet community in Silicon Valley. "But they've been extremely socially irresponsible."

"For me," he added, "the business model of the future is one where music is bundled into an ISP or other subscription service, and the revenues are shared between the distributor and the content owners. Some people go further and favor a state-imposed blanket license on music. I don't believe in that."

McGuinness and U2 have in the past had a close working relationship with Jobs and Apple, which has sold a U2-branded iPod, its first commercial partnership for the music device.

"A government cannot set the price of music any more than a rock band can run a government," he said.

The manager said he could not speak for the members of the band on the issue, except to say that U2 has a "excellent relationship" with its record label, Universal Music Group, a division of Vivendi, based in Paris.

At the music industry conference, there were expressions of hope for advertising-funded music services, whose free digital music might be able to compete with the free music on pirate networks, like Limewire and Gnutella.
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Bono and Al Gore in climate warning

Former US Vice President Al Gore and U2 frontman Bono have offered measured praise for efforts in tackling climate change and global poverty, but warned that conditions are not improving as much as they could.

At a session of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Gore warned that the climate crisis was worsening.

"We could take the whole session talking just about the new scientific evidence of the last few weeks and months," said Mr Gore, who shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to fight climate change.