News: Charities & Benefits Archives

March 21, 2008

African Well Fund Launches Sixth Annual Bono's Birthday Well Fundraiser

The African Well Fund launched its sixth annual Bono's Birthday Well fundraiser on March 17th. Called "Walk to the Water... Walk with Me," the fundraiser aims to raise money in honor of Bono's May 10th birthday. Details of the project funded by this year's donations will be announced shortly.

Last year, over $34,000 was raised during the Bono's Birthday Well drive. Those funds were used toward projects at several schools in Uganda implemented in partnership with Invisible Children and Africare. These projects are currently underway.

To donate to Bono's Birthday Well, visit the fundraiser page. A virtual birthday card will be available for donors to send their wishes to Bono. The card will be sent to Bono via Principle Management. Donations will be accepted March 17th through May 10th.

If you would like to get involved in spreading the word on Bono's Birthday Well, flyers are available for download. Images and avatars are also available to use on any of your Web sites or forums. You can also add African Well Fund to your MySpace or Facebook pages.

Ms. Devlin Smith, board member, African Well Fund

Posted by Jonathan at 12:10 AM | Comments (0)

February 18, 2008

Bono-sponsored art auction raises 42.5 million dollars for AIDS

NEW YORK (AFP) - An art auction conceived by U2 frontman and campaigner Bono together with British artist Damien Hirst raised 42.5 million dollars in New York late Thursday for UN-backed health programs in Africa.

The auction, which drew Hollywood celebrities, supermodels and rock stars, was described as the largest charity event ever mounted and would help keep thousands of AIDS patients on antiretroviral drugs for years to come.

Artists such as Georg Baselitz, Howard Hodgkin, Jasper Johns, Anish Kapoor and Jeff Koons contributed works for the red-themed Valentine's Day sale, which raised far more than the upper pre-sale estimate of 29 million dollars.

Proceeds from the sale, organized by Bono's charity organization (RED), were to go directly to the United Nations Foundation to support HIV/AIDS relief programs run by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

"I have watched people dying for lack of these pills," Bono said after the sale. "I actually can't quantify how many people that will keep alive.

"It's not just the money we made tonight, it's the excitement around the issue," he added.

Auctioneer Oliver Barker described the evening as "the most extraordinary sale... It was just extraordinary. We are completely thrilled," he said.

Several artworks went for three or four times their upper estimates, with several lots sparking frenzied bidding. Among the buyers was supermodel Christy Turlington, who attended the auction with her husband, actor Ed Burns.

Others in the audience included Tennis legend John McEnroe, supermodel Helena Christensen and Hollywood actor and director Dennis Hopper.

Hirst put seven artworks into the sale, which sold for more than 19 million dollars in total.

Among the auction highlights were his "Where there's a will..." which sold for 7.1 million dollars and his "All You Need Is Love," a red heart-shaped butterfly painting, which fetched 2.4 million dollars.

Jeff Koons's "Balloon Rabbit Wall Relief (RED)," sold for just over two million dollars, while records were set for 17 artists including enigmatic British graffiti artist Banksy.

Thursday's auction brought funds raised by Bono's (RED) organization since it was started last year to more than 100 million dollars.

Posted by Jonathan at 05:33 AM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2007

U2 Fans Raise Over $34,000 in Honor of Bono's Birthday

The African Well Fund's 5th Annual "Build a Well for Bono's Birthday" fundraising drive has raised over $34,000. All proceeds of the fundraiser will go directly to African Well Fund partner Africare, a leading non-profit organization assisting Africa, to fund clean water projects throughout the continent.

Schenectady, NY (PRWEB) July 5, 2007 -- The African Well Fund is excited to announce that this year's fundraiser to "Build a Well for Bono's Birthday" has raised more than $34,000 to fund clean water projects in Africa. This marks the 5th year in a row that U2 fans from around the world have come together to honor Bono's May 10th birthday by raising money for clean water in Africa. All proceeds of the fundraiser will go directly to African Well Fund partner Africare, a leading non-profit organization assisting Africa, to fund clean water projects throughout the continent.

The Birthday fundraiser was launched on March 22nd, World Water Day, in honor of Bono, lead vocalist of the Irish rock band, U2. Unique fundraising strategies were used to collect the funds through May 15th : An Ebay photo auction of donated U2 concert photos raised more than $7,000! Donations were also boosted by the proceeds from the sale of a second U2 fan project, The Little Red Book of Poe-ee-tree, a collection of poems and short stories written by a handful of U2 fans scattered across the globe. After donating, fans signed an online birthday card for Bono at the African Well Fund web site www.africanwellfund.org . Their signatures and birthday greetings were incorporated into a beautiful hand made card that was sent to Bono in Dublin.

Build a Well for Bono's Birthday

Bono's activism on behalf of Africa is well known. In 2002, he co-founded DATA (debt, AIDS, trade, Africa) to raise public awareness of the issues in its name, and influence government policy on Africa. On behalf of DATA's agenda, Bono has lobbied U.S. Presidents and Congressional leaders, along with the heads of many other G8 nations. DATA is a founding member of ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History, part of a global network of millions of people campaigning against extreme poverty. He recently served as guest editor of Vanity Fair's special Africa issue. African Well Fund is honored to be featured as one of the Africa resources listed on Vanity Fair's website.

The five annual birthday campaigns have raised more than $100,000 to fund clean water projects in Africa. Water and sanitation projects, funded by U2 fans have been implemented by our partner Africare in Uganda, Ethiopia, Angola and Zimbabwe. AWF and Africare are currently exploring options to fund for this year's project and hope to announce details soon.

The African Well Fund is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization that was founded in 2002 by a group of U2 fans. Since that time, AWF has raised more than $300,000 which has been used to fund clean water projects throughout the continent. All donations to the African Well Fund go directly to Africare, one of the leading private, non-profit, charitable organizations assisting Africa. It is also the oldest and largest African-American led organization in that field. Since its founding in 1970, Africare has delivered more than $675 million in assistance and support to 36 countries Africa-wide. To learn more about Africare and its programs, please visit www.africare.org .

The African Well Fund was founded to focus on one achievable goal: providing access to clean water to everyone in Africa. The African Well Fund believes that access to water is not merely a basic human need but a Basic Human Right.

Posted by Brenda at 05:38 PM | Comments (0)

April 26, 2007

American Idol Raises $30M for Charity

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Television singing talent show "American Idol" proved its clout as a U.S. cultural phenomenon on Wednesday by raising more than $30 million for young people in Africa and the United States.

A two-hour show filled with inspirational songs, movie, television and music stars and stories of poverty from Africa and the United States rounded off the two-night special.

"People say you can't be the generation that ends brutal, stupid poverty, but we can and we will," Bono, U2's lead singer and leading spokesman for the ONE Campaign to Make Poverty History, said in a prerecorded segment.

"I have been in front of 70,000 people here in L.A. and its a pretty amazing feeling. I can't think of any feeling better except perhaps the feeling that you can save somebody's life and there is not one person watching this program tonight who cannot save a life," he said.

The six Idol contestants closed the "Idol Gives Back" show with "American Prayer" -- the song written by Bono and Dave Stewart some years ago about the AIDS emergency in Africa.

The show's contestants received more than 70 million votes -- a new record and almost double last week's 38 million -- but the so-called "shocking" result promoted by host Ryan Seacrest was that none of the remaining six contestants were voted off.

Each vote cast by viewers via text and telephone triggered an undisclosed donation to charities by the corporate sponsors of "Idol" -- Ford, Coca-Cola and AT&T. News Corp., which owns the Fox TV network, donated $5 million after the vote tally hit 50 million.

Viewers were also invited to phone in donations that will go to Save the Children, UNICEF, Malaria No More, The Global Fund and Nothing But Nets for youth relief programs in Africa and poverty-hit areas of the United States, including hurricane ravaged Louisiana.

Throughout the show Seacrest regularly crossed to comedian and talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres at a concert she hosted at the Disney Hall in Los Angeles for musical performances by stars such as opera group Il Divo, Annie Lennox and former Idol winner Kelly Clarkson. DeGeneres herself donated $100,000.

Stars prerecorded appeals for donations, including Madonna, who was in Malawi -- the African nation where she adopted her son David -- and Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker, who was in Uganda where he filmed "The Last King of Scotland."

Once dismissed as a cheesy summer talent contest, Fox network's "American Idol" has become the nation's most watched TV show with an average of 30 million viewers.

Posted by Brenda at 07:42 AM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2007

U2's The Edge Gives Prized Guitar to Auction

By Sandy Cohen, AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES - The Edge is donating his favorite instrument to an auction benefiting Music Rising, a charity the U2 guitarist co-founded to replace musical equipment lost or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. He's logged thousands of hours of stage and studio time on the 1975 Gibson Les Paul. The 45-year-old musician has used the guitar throughout his years with U2.

"I wanted to give something really significant that would really mean a lot for me to give. It deserved something that I would miss," The Edge told The Associated Press by phone from France.

The Icons of Music auction, administered by Julien's Auctions, features 196 rock-related items, including a saxophone signed by former President Clinton, a guitar that belonged to Jimi Hendrix and an original Elvis Presley recording contract.

An exhibit of auction highlights will travel from Los Angeles to Dublin, and London before the sale ends April 21 with an event at Manhattan's Hard Rock Cafe. Fans may bid online or in person.

The Edge's guitar was expected to fetch between $60,000 to $80,000, according to the auction website.

Bandmates Adam Clayton donated a bass guitar, Larry Mullen gave a pair of tom-tom drums and Bono donated a pair of Emporio Armani sunglasses.

"It's some great poetry to ask the people like myself, who've earned a good living from rock 'n' roll, to donate items to an auction that would help protect and stave off the decline of the music culture in the Gulf Coast," he said.

New Orleans is the soul of American music, so the Irish rocker said he felt compelled to help after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He created Music Rising in 2005 with record producer Bob Ezrin and Gibson chairman Henry Juszkiewicz.

"One of the good things about globalization is it has created a single international music community, and I feel very much part of it," he said. "So this doesn't seem like it's someone else's problem. It's really our problem, too."

The Edge, whose real name is David Evans, first discovered the area's rich musical culture as a young member of U2. He was intoxicated by the city's jazz funerals, where scores of musicians parade down the street in colorful costumes covered with flowers and feathers.

"Jazz came out of New Orleans, and that was the forerunner of everything," he said. "You mix jazz with European rhythms, and that's rock 'n' roll really. You can make the argument that it all started on the streets of New Orleans with the jazz funerals."

Posted by Brenda at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2007

Press Release - African Well Fund

For the fifth straight year the African Well Fund is holding a fundraising drive to raise money in honor of Bono's birthday. All donations will be used to fund water projects in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Schenectady, NY (PRWEB) March 22, 2007 -- The African Well Fund is excited to announce the 5th Annual Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraising drive. The fundraiser aims to raise money in honor of Bono's May 10th birthday that will be used by AWF partner Africare to fund water projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Donations for the drive will be collected from March 22nd to May 11th.

U2 fans and others inspired by Bono's tireless activism on behalf of Africa are invited to make a donation in his honor. Donations from the four previous fundraisers totaled more than $80,000 and were used to fund water projects in Angola, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Donations may be made by visiting www.africanwellfund.org/donate.html. As in previous years, contributors are invited to sign our online card and leave a birthday wish for Bono after donating. The messages, along with a "Well Share" certificate for the amount donated, will be delivered to Bono via Principle Management at the conclusion of the fundraiser.

Once again this year, the birthday fundraiser will be the beneficiary of a special eBay auction--U2 LIVE: Photo Auction for BBW5. Beginning April 14th, U2 fans will have the opportunity to bid on U2 concert photos donated by some very talented U2 fans. Last year's auction raised over $10,000. Visit www.africanwellfund.org for further details. The fundraiser will also be the beneficiary of another fan project, "The Little Red Book of Poe-ee-tree," a collection of poems and short stories written by U2 fans across the globe. All royalties from the book, available at http://stores.lulu.com/littleredbookofpoeeetree, will be donated to AWF.

Two AWF board members traveled to Uganda last September and visited wells that were built with donations from the first two Bono birthday fundraisers. There they saw firsthand the tremendous difference a clean water source can make in a community, even beyond the immediate health benefits. In one village they visited, the well enabled women there to initiate a fruit-drying project as a source of income. They were also able to see the tremendous need that still exists. Your gift will help to change the lives of so many more who are still in need.

The African Well Fund is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization that was founded in 2002 by a group of U2 fans. Since that time, AWF has raised more than $250,000, which has been used to fund more than 80 clean water projects in sub-Saharan Africa. All donations to the African Well Fund go directly to Africare, one of the leading private, non-profit, charitable organizations assisting Africa. The African Well Fund was founded to focus on one achievable goal: providing access to clean water to everyone in Africa. The African Well Fund believes that access to water is not merely a basic human need but a basic human right.

Posted by Brenda at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)

March 02, 2007

Bono bears witness to AIDS/HIV in Oakland

By Josh Richman, Staff Writer, Inside Bay Area

OAKLAND -- International rock star/activist Bono called Oakland's African American community the epicenter both of an HIV/AIDS epidemic and of the resistance to that epidemic after meeting Friday with patients, service providers and clergy.

"I'm a spoiled-rotten rock star, I know that, but I have a loudhailer and I'm going to use it," the frontman of U2 told reporters at a press conference after two hours of closed-door meetings at Allen Temple Baptist Church. "I've come as a student, really."

The 46-year-old Irish musician -- renowned for his work on international debt relief and HIV, particularly in Africa -- visited Oakland at the behest of Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland. She said Friday's event was "another attempt to break the silence with regards to this global HIV pandemic" which in this country affects African-Americans disproportionately.

She praised Bono as "a great entertainer but also a wonderful artist with a vision and a great humanitarian" who "continues to beat the drum against poverty worldwide." She noted that Bono would be flying later Friday from Oakland to Los Angeles, where he was scheduled to receive a "Chairman's Award" at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's 38th Annual Image Awards.

The praise was mutual.

"What a woman... My goodness," Bono said of Lee. "I walk in the path that she and others, like your esteemed mayor, cut out... She is a lioness."

Mayor Ron Dellums was there, too, praising Bono for his worldwide work and Lee for "thinking globally and acting locally." Dellums said parolees are returning from prison to Oakland "like bullets into our community" infected with HIV. "It is now an issue that has to be addressed, that needs to be confronted in a public health context."

Allen Temple pastor J. Alfred Smith noted his church right now has 17 members in Zimbabwe, working at a home for children orphaned by AIDS, while here at home, the Allen Temple Manor housing facility shelters HIV-positive residents.

"Churches must break the silence that they've had on the HIV issue," Smith said. "Mr. Bono: Keep on keeping on. Congresswoman Lee: keep on being the conscience of the U.S. Congress. Mayor Dellums: keep on encouraging us to stand on higher ground."

Bono said that although he's "just at the beginning of a conversation" on HIV/AIDS in African-American community, he believes that poverty and the "emasculation" it causes -- men engaging in reckless sex and drug abuse to counter their feelings of socio-economic helplessness -- are a root cause of the disease's spread.

"These are very human responses," he said, adding that faith communities will be vital in countering this just as they were in Africa, so long as they learn to embrace those carrying the disease without stigmatizing them. "It's hard for the church to talk about sexuality but it's critical... We need some smart people talking about this."

Asked what's next, he cautioned that he'd "just come to listen and learn here," but he knows African-American musicians and athletes whom he'd like to bring to Oakland to bear witness as he has.

He also encouraged people to visit www.one.org and sign up with the ONE campaign that he and dozens of anti-poverty groups launched in 2004. "We want to be the NRA for the world's vulnerable," he said, citing the National Rifle Association's large membership as an example of grassroots power.

Lee was wearing an "InspiRED" shirt Friday, from the Product(RED) campaign Bono and Bobby Shriver launched last year with American Express, Converse, Gap, Giorgio Armani, Motorola and Apple to raise awareness and money for the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa.

U2 has sold 130 million albums worldwide and won numerous awards for its music, including 22 Grammys. Bono's activism earned him an honorary British knighthood two months ago; a berth as one of Time magazine's "Persons of the Year" for 2005; and France's Legion D'Honneur in 2003.

He arrived about 20 minutes late Friday morning in a black SUV, and hugged Lee arriving. "I'd go anywhere for Barbara Lee, I'd go to the moon," he said, praising her recent leadership in securing more than $1.3 billion in federal funds to combat HIV/AIDS's global spread -- money that was threatened by a stop-gap budget measure in which much spending was frozen or cut.

After the meetings and news conference, Bono left the building and was met and embraced by Bay Area percussionist Ron Tse, best known for his work in the early 1990s with The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy; that band had opened for U2 on its Zoo TV tour in 1992-93. Then Bono signed autographs and posed for photos with a small group of fans that had gathered at the church parking lot's gate.

Michele Baker, 56, said she'd come from Oakley to have a CD sleeve signed by her favorite rock star. "When I found out about it, I was like, `I've gotta go,' " she said moments after his departure, adding she thought it's "great" that he'd come to address the HIV/AIDS issue.

Posted by Jonathan at 06:36 PM | Comments (0)

November 09, 2006

Pope, Bono buy bonds for poor kids' vaccines

Securities with triple-A credit rating are part of a 10-year plan to immunize children around the world.

LONDON (Reuters) -- Pope Benedict joined other religious leaders, rock stars and financial institutions Tuesday to buy into a $1 billion bond issue that will fund life-saving vaccines for children in poor countries.

Investors bid for almost twice the amount of securities on offer as British finance minister Gordon Brown launched the project to fight preventable diseases like polio and measles.

The offering, the first of its kind, was the start of a 10-year initiative known as the International Finance Facility for Immunization.

"We will ultimately raise an extra $4 billion to deliver life-saving vaccines to children in the poorest countries," Brown said at the launch, flanked by religious leaders and Queen Rania of Jordan.

"This will immunize 500 million children by 2015, saving 10 million lives, and help to eradicate polio from the world."

Brown handed the first bond to Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Vatican's Justice and Peace Council, who bought it in the Pope's name.

"It is the hope of Pope Benedict that the participation by the Church in this program will help to inspire others to take the step toward concrete action," he said.

Five more bonds were sold to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sachs, the Muslim Council of Britain, the Hindu Forum of Britain and the Network of Sikh Organizations.

Rockers-turned-activists Bono and Bob Geldof will also buy some of the bonds and the project has the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Millennium development goals

Brown argues new funding mechanisms are needed if U.N. goals on child poverty are to be met, and wants the creation of a wider scheme that could double rich countries' aid spending to $100 billion a year.

But the idea of using aid pledges as collateral to raise funds has run into repeated opposition from the United States, which is reluctant to make commitments under one administration that must be passed on to the next.

Some lobbying groups have also voiced concern that a plan relying on future aid pledges may pose problems later.

Advocates, however, argue more lives can be saved by front-loading aid, particularly with vaccination, and Gordon Brown said he was confident more countries would come on board.

"I think gradually we'll see other countries decide it's in their interest to join," he told reporters. "This method of financing has a long-term future."

Britain is the biggest contributor to the scheme, backed by five other European countries - France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Norway. Brazil and South Africa have also committed to join at a later date.

Investment banks Goldman Sachs (down $0.65 to $189.35, Charts) and Deutsche Bank (up $1.57 to $127.00, Charts) , which coordinated the issue, said they priced it at "the tightest spread imaginable" for a new issue of this kind.

The bond, which carries a top-notch triple A credit rating, was priced to yield a premium of 31 basis points over the equivalent U.S. Treasury note, reflecting the healthy demand. There are 100 basis points in one percent.

Of the bonds sold, 25 percent was sold to central banks and official institutions, 25 percent to fund managers, 23 percent to pension funds and 8 percent to retail investors. Banks, corporations and insurance companies bought the remainder.

Posted by Brenda at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)

October 13, 2006

Oprah, Bono spree to support 'Red' HIV cause

BY SHAMUS TOOMEY AND RUMMANA HUSSAIN Staff Reporters

Like two best friends on a shopping date, Oprah and Bono hit North Michigan Avenue Thursday morning, turning heads and stunning fans as they zipped in and out of stores.

"So, wow, this is the Magnificent Mile," the U2 frontman marveled to Winfrey as they walked together in a freakish October snow, each clutching packed shopping bags.

"Here we come, walking down the street, get the funniest looks from . . ." Bono sang, doing a Monkees impersonation.

The high-wattage shopping spree was taped to air on Winfrey's talk show today. Winfrey is lending her support to the Product Red campaign led by Bono and Kennedy clan member Bobby Shriver. The effort sends proceeds from certain products to fight AIDS in Africa.

Kanye, Penelope, Christy join in
Bono will help launch the U.S. version of the campaign on Winfrey's show. On Thursday, he and Winfrey stopped in at participating Michigan Avenue stores: Gap, Apple, Armani and Motorola.

Along the way, they teamed up with other celebs helping the cause: Chicago-raised hip-hop star Kanye West, actress Penelope Cruz and supermodel Christy Turlington.

The Gap at Michigan and Ohio was Bono and Winfrey's first stop. With Winfrey behind the wheel and Bono riding shotgun, they pulled up in a cherry red Ford Thunderbird to a chilly but roaring crowd.

They loaded up on Gap's Red products before walking north on the Mag Mile.

"It's a beautiful mile," Bono said as he walked. "And it was a blessing on us today. It started to snow. It felt like Christmas."

Winfrey played the role of tour guide. "One of my favorite stores over here, Crate & Barrel," she told Bono. "I was thinking, driving this morning, you've got to get Crate & Barrel to go Red."

At one point, Bono stopped to talk to a girl about 6 years old.

"Kids, just like you, they can't get the medicines that we can get over here," he told her in a fatherly voice. "So we're going to get them the medicines. Is that good?"

The Red campaign is consumer friendly, Bono said, because you can help just by shopping.

"It's incredible to get these gigantic corporations to get involved in the fight against AIDS," he said. "We're not going to let 6½ thousand Africans die every day of a preventable, treatable disease. We're not going to do it. It's not American. It's not Irish. It's not English. It's not acceptable."

Scores of fans snapped photos and shouted for Bono and Winfrey, who drove to some of the stores in the T-Bird.

Carl Lokko, 43, a Ghana-born Lincoln Park resident, said Bono's fight against AIDS is "an inspiration."

"I'm very, very, very, very happy about" the Red campaign, he said as Bono and Winfrey greeted tourists passing on a trolley.

'I can't believe it'
Outside Armani, a woman offered Bono a drink of her pumpkin chai drink -- with lipstick on the lid. He obliged with a swig. Winfrey passed. "I can't believe it," said the woman, Luz Maria Nicholas of Streeterville. "It's so cool."

Penelope Cruz and Kanye West also encouraged customers to go Red. Cruz wore a $150 Gap denim jacket that's part of the campaign.

"I think everyone should get involved," West said. "It's important to everybody personally because AIDS is killing the world."

By the end of the shopping spree, the snow had stopped -- and Winfrey was still beaming.

What's it like to shop with Bono?

"It's, it's," Winfrey said, apparently fishing for the right word, "euphoric."

Posted by Jonathan at 07:11 PM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2006

Cynics mock, charities defend stars aiding Africa

By Mike Collett-White and Mabvuto Banda

LONDON/MPHANDULA, Malawi (Reuters) - Madonna feels responsible for the children of the world and has found herself a "big, big project" to help orphans in Malawi.

Gwyneth Paltrow declares "I am African" in a new advertisement for a charity working in Africa.

The continent has long been a favorite destination for celebrity campaigners, going back to 1954 when Danny Kaye became UNICEF's goodwill ambassador.

U2's Bono and fellow Irish rocker Bob Geldof are Africa veterans, and more recently Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have brought Hollywood gloss to the continent.

But the latest flood of stars searching for a good cause has prompted a collective groan in the press and among bloggers, as people question their methods and motives.

"We are on the verge of farcical at this point," said Michael Wolff, columnist for Vanity Fair, when asked about Africa's popularity among famous performers.

"This has become just a part of the public relations play book. Everybody has a PR person and every PR person says 'which country do you want to adopt?'."

Aid groups hit back, blaming the media for creating the cult of celebrity in the first place and arguing that by discouraging stars from adopting good causes they are endangering vulnerable people's lives.

Madonna's charity plans were announced in an interview with Time magazine, which itself pointed out that for someone who has never been to Africa "the whole enterprise has the pungent aroma of a coordinated act of publicity."

The fact that orphans at a planned care center in Malawi will be taught a curriculum based on Spirituality For Kids, a group linked to the Kabbalah school of mysticism to which Madonna adheres, could add to the cynicism.

But to people in Mphandula, where the center is to be built, such arguments are unimportant.

"All I know is that she is rich and a very compassionate mother. She is our mother now," said village headman Mphandula, who had never heard of Madonna. "It is a gift from God."

GWYNETH GRATES

Paltrow's appearance in African beads and with painted stripes on her cheek above the words "I Am African" drew online blogs of derision. "Right Gwynnie. And I'm Martian," said one.

Michael Musto, celebrity columnist for the Village Voice, added: "The Gwyneth thing was kind of laughable. So many celebrities are jumping on the Africa bandwagon, like they descend on a hot restaurant -- because it's cool."

But Leigh Blake, founder of AIDS charity Keep A Child Alive (www.keepachildalive.org) for which Paltrow appeared, reacted angrily to what she said was damaging cynicism.

"From my perspective I can assure you there are hundreds of thousands alive today because of the work of all these celebrities," she told Reuters.

"They (media commentators) can't imagine for one second that these people they dehumanize actually care about poor people.

"The truth is, the media created this monster (of celebrity) and we in the world of charity are forced to use it."

Blake said the media had an important role to play in helping charities raise awareness and funds, but should beware of attacking celebrities with a cause.

"Don't put off the artists we can get on board," she said.

Deborah Tompkins of ActionAid argued the media was in fact becoming less cynical in covering aid issues.

"From a media perspective, I don't think we need celebrities any more," she said. "The media ... will often find the stories about the real people living the issues much more interesting than stories about celebrities talking about the issues."

Like Rosemary Chikanda, mother of four who is HIV positive but cannot access free life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs.

"I don't know Madonna. What I only know is that she is a rich musician who has come to help us," she said in Mphandula. "Whoever this woman is, God bless her because finally I will have someone to look after my children.

"My husband died five years ago and I know I am next and this center is my only hope."

(Additional reporting by Rebecca Harrison in Johannesburg)

Posted by Jonathan at 04:38 AM | Comments (0)

May 26, 2006

On Last Africa Stop, Bono Pledges Fight Over Trade

ACCRA -- After a successful campaign to cancel the debts of some of the world's poorest countries, rocker-activist Bono is about to take on the world's powerbrokers to improve the terms of trade for Africa.

On the last stop of a six-nation African tour, Bono said on Wednesday there was a new mood of optimism on the continent and new entrepreneurs were emerging, but farm subsidies and other trade barriers in large markets like the United States and Europe were blocking progress.

In an interview with Reuters, Bono said he recognized taking on the trade issue on behalf of Africa was not going to be easy.

"We're up against vested interests and big powerful lobby groups," he said after touring a market in the capital Accra.

He also said he and other trade activists would need to get better at explaining to U.S. and European farmers how their agricultural subsidies were hurting African producers.

Bono hopes his involvement will help give Africa a voice at the World Trade Organization's global Doha Round of talks, currently stalled over agricultural issues.

"The social movements will give us political muscle and that makes it doable, but it is going to be a big fight," he added.

On the Africa tour Bono has visited textile and apparel factories in Lesotho and Tanzania where businesses have closed and jobs were lost because of the phasing out of the Multi-Fibre Agreement, which gave Asian producers greater access to developed markets as quotas under the agreement were scrapped.

In Mali, he visited a cotton-growing community to see the direct impact of U.S. cotton subsidies, which African cotton producers say depress world prices and ruin their economies.

In Ghana, Bono said uncertainty over the future of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which gives developing countries preferential access to the United States market, was hanging like a "Sword of Damocles" over the head of African countries.

Earlier in the day, the rock star met Ghanaian businesspeople to better understand constraints on businesses.

"People need aid because there is still poverty but more important for everyone is the need for trade," he told his audience. "Africa should be able to create an alternative to the sort of Chinese domination of the apparel sector," he added.

The U2 lead singer played a key role in marshalling popular support for debt forgiveness for some of the world's poorest countries and used his fame to influence world leaders in personal meetings.

In June last year the Group of Eight industrialized countries agreed to write off the debts of 18 countries, most of them in Africa, and double aid to the continent by 2010.

At a meeting with Bono on Wednesday, Ghana's President John Kufuor praised the rock star's work for Africa but told him that increased trade had to go hand-in-hand with aid to address the continent's underlying poverty.

"Our part of the world is in transition and it will take some muscle to keep up the changes," he told the rock star after a meeting. "With the right policies and some encouragement, we will be able through partnerships to compete. For Ghana to get to such a position we will need some aid," he added.

Posted by Jonathan at 10:52 PM | Comments (1)

May 22, 2006

Bono urges Africa to tackle corruption

By Lesley Wroughton

ABUJA, Nigeria (Reuters) - The recent goodwill of wealthy industrialized countries toward Africa could dissipate unless the continent tackles corruption, rock star and activist Bono told African finance ministers on Sunday.

"There is a window of opportunity but it could close if things like the corruption issue are not tackled or the peer review mechanisms are not felt to be real," the U2 frontman said in the Nigerian capital Abuja in one of his first speeches that emphasized malfeasance on the continent.

"The single biggest obstacle to business and the renewal of the economies in the south is corruption and the single biggest obstacle to getting start-up money for those businesses, if you want to look at aid as investment, is corruption."

Rich nations pledged last year to double aid to Africa by 2010 and cancel debts of some poorest countries, but Bono said those promises could be withdrawn if recipient governments weren't clean.

"The small 'c' in corruption is a plague as deadly as the HIV virus and it is not just the businessman, the ones that are hurt the most are always the ones that have nothing," he said.

He said taxpayers in countries like the United States were demanding more accountability from their own political leaders on where aid was spent and proper monitoring of the funds, adding: "Even European donors are thinking more carefully about who they give increased aid flows to."

Sounding more like a politician than a rock star, Bono said companies wanting to do business in Africa should see transparency as the price of admission.

"Any company that sees Africa as an economic opportunity, and we hope more of the do, has a social and moral responsibility to invest with integrity. Corruption is a problem in Africa but not just yours, it's ours," he added.

On oil, Bono said African oil-producing countries were also the weakest on transparency, and singled out Angola.

"When we ask where all these oil profits are going, we ought to be asking at the same time where the pay-off is coming from," he said. "Every corrupt transaction involves two parties, maybe more."

The continent was open to new opportunities and wanted to help itself through increased trade, Bono said, adding, "We have to accept that a lot of the aid in the past has done more damage than good."

"The West really has to understand that Africans don't want aid, they need aid, and what Africa desires and what (it) deserves is trade as a route out of their present difficulties," he said.

"Africans may be more sick of AIDS, TB and malaria but they are plenty sick of aid."

Posted by Jonathan at 02:29 AM | Comments (2)

February 03, 2006

The Edge and U2 Offer Aid to New Orleans

By SOLVEJ SCHOU, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES - With a long-held affection for New Orleans, a city he calls "very unique and very special," U2 rocker The Edge felt compelled to try to help it recover from Hurricane Katrina. The result: Music Rising, an organization that provides instruments to musicians blasted by the storm.

The city especially took hold of his heart in 2001 after he and the band, while playing there, suffered a tragedy back home. A storage area in Dublin where they kept a lot of instruments was wiped out in a flood.

"Luckily," he recalls, "my main guitars were with us in New Orleans ... the Gibson Explorer that I've had since I was 17-years-old, and the amplifier I've used on every album for every show since we got a record deal."

Four years later, after Katrina blew through New Orleans, the memory of that good fortune led him to create Music Rising, along with Gibson Guitar, the Guitar Center Music Education Foundation and the MusicCares Foundation.

For The Edge, aka David Evans, that relief work topped off a packed year of touring, family trauma and five Grammy nominations for U2's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." The Grammys will be handed out Wednesday.

The normally soft-spoken guitarist, 44, grows passionate when he talks about Katrina's impact and his efforts to help with Music Rising.

"When I heard about the hurricane, the devastation of the city and the area, I pretty soon started thinking about the musicians, started to think about the cultural loss, not just to New Orleans, not just to America, but really to the world," he told the Associated Press.

Does that mean he's planning to follow band-mate Bono's worldwide activist footsteps?

Not likely, he responds.

"Bono is kind of a one-off character in music. His skills as a communicator are amazing, and his powers of persuasion are equally amazing," he said, smiling. "I would never think of trying to take on quite that level of commitment."

True, but New Orleans' mark on the modest musician - known for his humility as well as his thunderous melodies - runs deep.

In the early '90s, a visit with Bono to a small New Orleans club had an unexpected impact.

"We walked in and the place was jumping. There was this little funk band, but they were all playing brass instruments, which is something I'd never heard of or seen before," he recalled.

There, the pair saw a 12-year-old trombone player named Trombone Shorty.

"We were just mesmerized by him," The Edge said. "I ended up with Bono, after a few tequilas, and we ended up dancing with a bunch of girls on the top of the bar. It was one of those sort of nights."

The birthplace of jazz, and a major influence on rock and roll, New Orleans captivated his attention, he said.

He returned last November and found a different, less fun-loving city - one torn apart by natural disaster and a lack of aid.

"Going through the streets of New Orleans and seeing the homes of musicians I knew and respected, seeing Fats Domino's home completely destroyed ... It does bring it home in a very personal way," he said.

At a recent Music Rising event in Hollywood, the native Irishman showed up in his customary beanie, black leather jacket, jeans and sneakers, and chatted easily with some New Orleans transplants.

Affable and humble, he even asked for their e-mail addresses and talked about music "gear" - more a regular Joe than guitarist for one of the biggest bands in the world.

U2, its long history including 11 studio albums and 16 Grammy wins, rocked the music world last year with its "Vertigo 2005" tour, and was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

As for its 2006 Grammy nominations - including Album of the Year and Song of the Year for Bono's emotional ode, "Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own" - The Edge said he has no expectations.

"Being in the country the whole year, I almost felt like people would have been sick of us by now, that the last band they would want to see is U2."

"I would be surprised if we won everything we were nominated for," he said, adding that "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" was "a very strong record, I think maybe our strongest ever in terms of the overall range of the album."

But the middle-aged musician acknowledged that newer Album of the Year nominees such as Gwen Stefani and Kanye West - whose albums he likes - may have an advantage.

"I think in some ways people will go for something new, that's just arrived, me included," he said, a glint in his eye.

The band plans to start working on new songs after returning from an upcoming tour in South America, he said.

And watch out Rolling Stones: U2 won't stop touring any time soon.

"We grew up on the road ... It's such an integral part of what we are. I don't think we could give up touring. I don't think we could do what the Beatles did, just pack it in."

Posted by Jonathan at 03:05 AM | Comments (4)

July 11, 2005

Geldof, Bono React to G8

Live 8 organizer cautious, U2 singer triumphant

On Friday, at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, the leaders of the world's wealthiest nations pledged to double their aid to impoverished African nations by 2010.

Bob Geldof, who organized last weekend's Live 8 concerts around the globe to put pressure on the G8 representatives, called the summit a "qualified triumph." "It is only time that will decide whether this summit is historic or not," he said. "The check has been written and signed, now we need to cash it. We need Live 8's 3 billion people to make sure it gets done."

U2 frontman and activist Bono, who co-founded DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa) and performed at Live 8's London concert, was more effusive. "We've pulled this off," he announced. "The world spoke, and the politicians listened."

To pressure world leaders to approve debt relief and aid for African nations during the G8 summit on July 6-8, Geldof's Live 8 organized concerts in ten cities -- featuring the likes of U2, Coldplay, Sting, Elton John, the Who, Pink Floyd and Green Day -- and was televised and Webcast live worldwide on July 2nd. On the opening day of the G8 conference, tens of thousands answered the call to convene and protest in Edinburgh, Scotland, near the Gleneagles summit site. After meeting with the leaders of seven African nations, the G8 nations agreed to double their developmental aid to Africa over the next five years, increasing it to $50 billion.

Bono also outlined more tangible results of the increase in aid. "600,000 people will be alive to remember this G8 in Gleneagles who would have lost their lives to a mosquito bite," he said. "Every country who delivers a credible plan to put their children in school will have the money to do so."

In light of its ambitious scope and the resulting increase in aid, Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan called this year's G8 meeting "the greatest summit for Africa ever."

ALEX MAR

Posted by Jonathan at 06:10 PM | Comments (1)

July 03, 2005

McCartney, U2 Kick Off Massive Live 8 Show

By Jill Lawless Associated Press Writer

LONDON Jul 2, 2005 - Bono effortlessly worked the crowd. Pink Floyd were sharing a stage for the first time in two decades. And Bill Gates was treated like a rock star. Live 8's long, winding road around the globe Saturday was an eclectic, unprecedented extravaganza.

From Johannesburg to Philadelphia, Berlin to Tokyo, Rome to Moscow, hundreds of thousands gathered for a global music marathon to pressure the world's most powerful leaders to alleviate African poverty at the Group of Eight summit next week.

Organizer Bob Geldof promised to deliver "the greatest concert ever."

Paul McCartney and U2 opened the flagship show of the free 10-concert festival in London's Hyde Park with a rousing performance of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." A thunderous roar erupted from the crowd of about 150,000 as the two iconic rock stars belted out the first line: "It was 20 years ago today..." a nod to the mammoth Live Aid concerts that raised millions for African famine relief in 1985.

Bono, dressed in black and wearing his trademark wraparound shades, wrapped the crowd around his finger, enticing tens of thousands to sing along to the anthemic "One" and "Beautiful Day." The crowd cheered when a flock of white doves was released overhead.

"So this is our moment. This is our time. This is our chance to stand up for what's right," Bono said.

"We're not looking for charity, we're looking for justice. We cannot fix every problem, but the ones we can, we must."

After a brief delay testament to the complexities of the eight-hour London extravaganza Coldplay soothed the crowd with their hit "In My Place."

Geldof appeared onstage to introduce Microsoft billionaire and philanthropist Gates, whom the crowd greeted with a rock star's roar.

"We can do this, and when we do it will be the best thing that humanity has ever done," Gates said.

Later in the day, the London crowd was promised Madonna, The Who and the reunited Pink Floyd, giving their first public performance since 1981.

Geldof, who announced the Live 8 gigs just over a month ago, said "thousands of millions" of people were watching on television and the Internet around the world.

"There's nothing more to do now," he said backstage. "It's either crap or it's great. And so far it's great."

The day's first concert kicked off in Japan, where Bjork and Good Charlotte joined local bands for a show that failed to generate much interest in Asia's only G-8 nation. Iceland's Bjork made her first live performance in two years. But the crowd of 10,000 people was only half of what the hall in the Tokyo suburb of Makuhari was capable of holding.

"People are willing to go out of their way, because we believe passionately in what this is about," said Bjork. "Just the acknowledgment of the problem is an important step."

Live 8 then rolled on to Johannesburg, South Africa, where 24-year-old Zambian singer Lindiwe opened before a crowd of about 500 people that was expected to swell to 40,000. Former President Nelson Mandela was expected to address the crowd.

Johannesburg and a concert featuring African artists in southwestern England were organized following criticism that African artists had been left out of the Live 8 concerts, despite the event's aim to raise awareness of the continent's plight.

"Africans are involved in helping Africa, which doesn't happen too often," Cameroonian singer Coco Mbassi said before the England concert. "We're presenting a different image of Africa showing that Africa has good things to give."

German crowd-pleasers Die Toten Hosen kicked off Berlin's show with a string of power anthems while reminding revelers that helping Africa stood above the music.

"This is no rock concert, it's a reminder about next Wednesday," singer Campino told the crowds, referring to next week's G-8 meeting in Scotland.

In an open letter to the G-8 leaders, which appeared in several British newspapers Saturday, Geldof said the summit will disappoint the world if it fails to deliver an extra $25 billion in aid to Africa.

"We will not applaud half-measures, or politics as usual. This must be a historic breakthrough," the letter said. "Today there will be noise and music and joy, the joy of exuberant possibility. On Friday (the end of the summit) there will be great silence as the world awaits your verdict. Do not disappoint us. Do not create a generation of cynics."

London concertgoer Tula Contostavlos, 19, said she was there to see Mariah Carey and to send a political message.

"Obviously some people are here for just music," she said, "but they're forgetting what's important and what they're here for."

On the Net:

http://www.live8live.com

Posted by Jonathan at 05:40 AM | Comments (4)

June 13, 2005

The path to righteousness is not so clear for Bob and Bono

by Ian O'Doherty, Belfast Telegraph

When U2 drag their massive tour around America and Europe, punters are guaranteed several things. They know, for instance, that they will be bombarded by corporate sponsorship at every turn. They know that they can expect to pay over the odds for food and drink. And they know that they can look forward to an evening of tub-thumping entertainment from a band who, even their critics accept, are an astonishing live act.

The high prices are hardly U2's fault, given the way the costs of running a tour have escalated so much in recent years. And Bono's hectoring exhortations to give more money to Africa and other worthy causes have the added benefit of giving concert-goers the sense that they were at more than just another concert, that they were somehow celebrants in a very 21st century Mass.

What they probably won't know is that U2 have also thrown their lot in with Clear Channel, the American media giant which is staging the band's tour. Clear Channel is "the 800-pound gorilla of American entertainment", according to Eric Boehlert, an American journalist who has been following the company's inexorable rise over the last few years.

Bono's people would be quick to point out that you have to deal with the biggest when your own tour is that big, and music fans will remember with a wince Eddie Vedder's brave, if ill-fated, attempts to curb the power of Ticketmaster a few years ago.

Clear Channel is not just a music industry behemoth, it's also a company which proudly represents the very antithesis of what Bono and the band claim to be about.

In the early 1990s, Clear Channel owned 500 radio stations across America. Since then, it has acquired 1,500 stations in America, with more in Europe, and anyone working for it had better conform to the ideas and rules espoused by its overtly Republican leadership.

In 1992, for instance, Clear Channel paid for billboards throughout Florida boasting a picture of George W Bush with the slogan "Our Leader" under his face.

As one local Florida politician commented at the time: "The first thing I thought was, when was the last time I have seen a president on a billboard? Didn't Saddam Hussein have his picture up everywhere? What next, a statue?"

The company first came to European prominence in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, when it issued a list of more than 150 songs which were banned across its empire. Management subsequently sacked several DJs who played prohibited tracks.

Songs such as Walk Like An Egyptian and, incredibly, What A Wonderful World were banned, although Killing An Arab by The Cure wasn't mentioned.

Many Americans frustrated by the increasing stranglehold Clear Channel has over both radio and live music might be forgiven for thinking that Bono's time would be better spent trying to wrestle with that corporation rather than posing for photographs with European foreign ministers.

But it's not just Bono who has made strange bedfellows with the corporation - it is also staging the Live8 show in Hyde Park next month.

In a depressing sign of the times, Clear Channel has decreed that the best vantage points in Hyde Park will now be taken up by 15,000 "Gold Circle" corporate guests, while people who actually pay for their ticket will be left languishing in the poorest vantage points.

In what could be an interesting insight into the real control - or, rather, lack of real control - Bob Geldof actually has over the event, he is believed to have expressed concern that the television cameras will focus on what he refers to as: "the quail's eggs and champagne brigade". He may be uncomfortable with it, but there doesn't seem to be a lot he can do.

So while Bono and Bob flounce around the world, lecturing foreign leaders and the rest of us about what to do, perhaps they should try and sort out who they do business with first, before wagging their jewel-encrusted fingers at us the next time.

Leave it to the French to come up with the daftest idea of the century so far. Last week, Jacques Chirac - supported by the Germans - suggested a mandatory surcharge of up to €20 on all airline flights, to help generate aid for Africa.

Anyone who knows France's disgusting record of meddling in Africa's affairs - which continues to this very day - will have been allowed a bitter laugh at the chutzpah of a French leader attempting to lecture us on this matter.

As Rwandan commentator Paul Mugenzi wrote in the Kigali New Times last month: "They (French troops) fought along Habyarimana forces from the beginning to the end. They operated artillery pieces. They commanded troops. They were seen and heard by RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) soldiers in Byumba. People saw them having smeared themselves with black polish camouflage during the March offensive by RPA in 1993."

Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, son of Francois, is currently being investigated for illegal arms exports to both Rwanda (who funded les genociders) and Angola.

Maybe people would take their proposal for a new tax for Africa more seriously if they had suggested putting a tariff on every bottle of French wine and every block of French cheese sold.

Now that would have provided some interesting scenes.

Posted by Jonathan at 07:20 PM | Comments (3)

May 31, 2005

McCartney, Stones, U2 and Madonna lined up for 'Live Aid II': British newspaper

LONDON (AFP) - A who's who of popular music including Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, U2, Madonna and Prince are scheduled to perform this July in a massive successor concert to the Live Aid charity event of 1985, according to a newspaper report.

The event is scheduled to be announced by Irish pop star-turned development activist Bob Geldof in London later Tuesday, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported.

It said that a series of stars had already been confirmed for the July 2 event, which will take place simultaneously in London, Philadelphia and, possibly, other countries worldwide.

Names already confirmed also include British girl group the Spice Girls, whose original five-member line up last performed together in 1998, and the classic line-up of veteran British rockers Pink Floyd, the paper said.

Although the concert is being seen as a successor to Live Aid, also organised by Geldof, which raised huge sums for African famine relief, the purpose of the new event is very different, the report said.

It will be called "Live 8", and is timed to take place just before the July 6-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, of leaders from the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations' club.

Aligning itself with the Make Poverty History campaign, which is championing trade reform, debt relief and other development issues, the intention of the concert will be to raise awareness rather than money.

As well as the main concerts in London's Hyde Park and in Philadelphia, there were rumours of satellite events in places including France, Germany and South Africa.

The event is being organised at the last minute, according to U2 singer Bono -- also a noted campaigner on development issues -- who is helping persuade acts to take part in the concert.

"Geldof has been telling me 'no' for two years (about organising a Live Aid successor) and only finally agreed to it six weeks ago," Bono said, complaining about the pressure this had placed him under.

"Now I have to spend every spare minute hitting the phones to try to drum up support. American stars tend to plan six months ahead, not six weeks. It has been incredibly difficult," he told the paper

In a separate report, the Daily Mirror said that the Spice Girls, whose return has been much predicted in recent months, had actually been turned down by Live 8 organisers.

Citing a source in the BBC, which is to broadcast the show, the paper said the group were seen as too manufactured and not in keeping with the event's serious purpose.

Posted by Jonathan at 03:13 AM | Comments (4)

April 07, 2005

Brad Pitt, Bono Among Celebs on New PSA

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Brad Pitt is among the A-list celebrities featured in new public service announcements for a campaign led by U2 singer Bono to fight poverty and AIDS.

The campaign was not immediately asking for donations but simply raising awareness and recruiting new advocates, Bono said Wednesday at an event announcing the public service announcements

"We're not just asking for people to put cash in the pot here," Bono said. "Americans are generous, we know they'll do that. We're not actually asking for their money, we're asking for their voice."

Pitt, who visited Africa after being inspired by Bono's advocacy, said he was struck by how extreme poverty there has made it difficult for the sick to gain access to drugs to minimize the effects of AIDS.

"I've seen it, I've been there, and to walk away from it and turn my back makes me culpable," Pitt said. "And I can't do that."

"Do we really believe in our hearts that we're all equal? And if we believe this, what are we going to do about it?" he said.

Pitt said he believed deeply in Bono's effort, titled "ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History."

"We can do this. We can do this," he said of eliminating poverty. "It's ambitious, but we can do it."

Pitt, who stars with Angelina Jolie in the upcoming "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," said he was returning to Africa in several weeks but was unsure what else he would do for the campaign.

"This is just a beginning for me," he said.

Bono, who has been nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, said it was "wholly unacceptable" for children to die for lack of cheap immunizations.

"I'm going to spend the rest of my life on this, I'm going to make that kind of extreme poverty history," Bono told reporters.

"I'm in," Pitt responded.

Bono and Pitt were joined by Jack Valenti, the former top lobbyist for the film industry, and actor Djimon Hounsou, a native of Benin.

A 60-second ad to air Sunday night on various networks and cable channels features actors, musicians and religious leaders. Among them are Jewel, Penelope Cruz, Tom Hanks and Mos Def.

Also featured are Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, and Hounsou as well as evangelist Pat Robertson and the Rev. Frank Griswold, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States.

Completing each other's sentences, each appear in black-and-white, peering into the camera and saying a few words.

Posted by Jonathan at 04:59 AM | Comments (3)

June 01, 2004

Bono Denies Plans for a 'Live Aid 2' Concert

6.1.04 - Reuters

By Gideon Long

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish rock star Bono played down rumors on Tuesday that he and his friends in the music industry are planning a second Live Aid concert to raise money to fight AIDS.

He said a "Live Aid 2," nearly 20 years after the first epoch-defining event to help the starving of Ethiopia, would not raise enough cash to adequately tackle the AIDS crisis.

Instead, he urged the countries of the European Union to fulfil their pledge to commit 0.7 percent of their national incomes to overseas aid.

"At this point there are no plans for a Live Aid 2," Bono told reporters as he entered a meeting of EU development ministers in Dublin. "It's always there in the background but right now, no.

"Right now we're after billions (of dollars) not millions. A Live Aid 2 would help, but it wouldn't fix the problem."

Bono, frontman of rock giants U2 and a long-time campaigner on development issues, said a Live Aid concert would not be needed if governments in the developed world kept their promises on aid.

"We saw those pictures (of the starving in Ethiopia) 20 years ago. I don't want to see those pictures again," he said.

"There are plans being discussed on these tables (at the EU) which, if implemented, mean we wouldn't have to see those pictures again."

Bono, dressed in a purple suit and wearing his trademark wrap-around sunglasses, said the Scandinavians were alone in the EU in fulfilling their pledge to give 0.7 percent of their national income to overseas aid.

"There are some laggards hanging out here, and I'm going to be putting my hand in their wallets," he said as he headed in through the imposing doorway of Dublin Castle to meet the ministers.

"For me it's not really about charity at this point, it's about justice."

Bono said some EU countries had reneged on their promises because, as their economies expanded, they had realized that 0.7 percent of their national income was more, in absolute terms, than they had anticipated.

"This is renegotiating your deal with God downwards," said Bono, a committed Christian.

Bono, 44, was involved with the first Live Aid concert at London's Wembley Stadium in 1985 -- the brainchild of his friend and fellow Irishman Bob Geldof.

Both men have pressed Ireland to give development issues a higher profile during its presidency of the EU, which runs until the end of this month.

Posted by Jonathan at 03:40 AM | Comments (1)

November 30, 2003

Beyonce and Bono Leads AIDS Show

11.30.03 - BBC News

Beyonce Knowles and Bono were among global stars who performed at Nelson Mandela's South Africa gig to boost the fight against Aids.

The five-hour charity show, at the Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town was broadcast on the web.

The duo sang American Prayer, accompanied on the guitar by U2's The Edge and Eurythmics' Dave Stewart.

The show, organised by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, also featured Eurythmics, The Corrs and Queen.

Bono said his song with Beyonce was about asking "churches to open their doors, to give sanctuary that breaks the stigma that goes with being HIV positive".

He added: "If God loves you, what's the problem?"

He then brought former South African President Mr Mandela onto the stage, prompting the biggest cheer of the evening.

Mr Mandela, 85, who watched the show alongside his wife Graca Machel and US TV presenter Oprah Winfrey, has said Aids is a bigger challenge than apartheid.

In South Africa there are more people living with HIV/Aids than anywhere else in the world, and globally the number of those infected is now more than 42 million.

"Aids is no longer just a disease. It is a human rights issue," said Mr Mandela.

"46664 was my prison number for the 18 years that I was imprisoned on Robben Island. I was supposed to be reduced to that number."

He added that "millions of people infected with HIV and Aids are in danger of being reduced to mere numbers unless we act. They too are serving a prison sentence for life so I have allowed my prison number to help drive this campaign".

Thousands of music fans lined the stage for the outdoor show, which featured a huge sculpture of Mr Mandela's head.

Bob Geldof, who was knighted for his work to overcome famine in Africa with the Live Aid show in the 80s, also sang and spoke to the crowds.

"Aids has ceased to be something to be ashamed of - it's just another medical condition, but if the condition is medical the solution is political. And that's what we're here to reinforce today," he said.

The overall aim for the show was to make it the most widely distributed and broadcast programme on HIV/Aids ever, reaching a global TV, radio and online audience of about two billion.

It could be viewed for free on the campaign's website at www.46664.com and each song performed is downloadable online for 69p.

Peter Gabriel sang his song, Biko, with the Soweto Gospel Choir, saying he was delighted he now had the "chance to sing it in this country".

Steve Biko, a leader of the black consciousness movement in South Africa, died of major head injuries in South African police custody on 12 September 1977.

And British R&B star Ms Dynamite threw condoms into the crowd in between songs, and sang: "Don't throw your life away."

The concert also featured recorded messages from well-known faces including former US President Bill Clinton, Robert De Niro, Sir Ian McKellen and Annie Lennox.

And crowds heard a song requested by Mr Mandela, who asked Dave Stewart of Eurythmics and the late Joe Strummer to write a song including 46664 in its lyrics for the show.

Another song which had its debut was a track by Queen, called Invincible Hope, which features samples of Mr Mandela's voice, prompting the band members to joke that he had become a rap artist.

46664: BEHIND THE SCENES

*Global net service providers and music portals worked with net company Tiscali to show the gig free *Streamed live in 14 European countries and South Africa *Other major net service providers and broadcasters like BBCi, Real Networks and MTV Online also streamed it *Cash is raised through donations, tracks downloaded and sales of a DVD and CD of the gig *Tracks can ordered by telephone around the world *Stewart finished the song, Long Walk to Freedom, with Bono earlier this year and they performed it for the crowds, paying tribute to Strummer, who died last December.

Posted by Jonathan at 03:24 AM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2003

Bono, Beyonce Knowles & Others To Play AIDS Benefit In South Africa

10.22.03 - Launch

U2 frontman Bono and Beyonce Knowles have signed on for an AIDS benefit concert called 46664 at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa, on November 29. They'll be joined by Western artists including Eurythmics, the Coors, Anastacia, and Queen, and African stars like Youssou N'Dour, Ladysmith Black Mombazo, Angelique Kidjo, and Johnny Clegg. The concert, which should be released on CD and DVD early next year, is named for the prison number former South African president Nelson Mandela wore while he was a political prisoner in Cape Town for 18 years.

The 46664 show will air live over the air and on the Internet. It will also be made available free of charge to all TV and radio outlets for broadcast on December 1, which is World Aids Day.

Besides the concert, funds will be raised through a special telephone campaign. In the U.S., callers to the toll-free number 866-614-6664 will be asked to make a credit-card contribution after a brief statement from Mandela or another celebrity, which could be Knowles, Britney Spears, Pink, Shakira, 50 Cent, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, or actor Robert DeNiro. Callers will also be able to buy and listen to a new song called "46664 (Long Walk To Freedom)," which was written by Bono, Stewart, and the late Clash singer-guitarist Joe Strummer, and which was recorded by Bono, Stewart, Youssou N'Dour, and Abdel. The track is only available by phone for now, and it will also be sold eventually through the website 46664.com, where phone numbers for other countries can also be found.

Mandela was joined in London yesterday (Tuesday, October 21st) by Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor, Eurythmics guitarist Dave Stewart, and British hip-hop artist Ms. Dynamite to announce the campaign, which is subtitled "Give One Minute Of Your Life To Stop AIDS." The goal is to direct world attention to the effect AIDS has had and continues to have in Africa. Among the statistics noted in the launch is that there are currently 30 million Africans living and dealing with infection with the HIV virus, on top of the 17 million Africans who have already died.

For years, Bono has been speaking out about the AIDS crisis in Africa. At a United Nations event in New York City two weeks ago (October 8), he said it's up to everyone to defeat the problem. "We have to act collectively to be effective here," Bono said. "The scale of the response has to match the scale of the problem. I've got this song that I am singing, and I keep thinking that if I sing it loud enough and insistent enough, well then, popes or presidents, bankers, bureaucrats, heads of extraordinary corporations, will join the growing chorus of the sane response to what is an insane situation."

Posted by Jonathan at 03:16 AM | Comments (0)

May 28, 2003

Pavarotti Holds Benefit for Iraqis

5.28.03 - Associated Press

Luciano Pavarotti has a habit of inviting some friends to spend the evening in song with him. This year's gang included Ricky Martin, Bono, Queen, Eric Clapton, Andrea Bocelli and Liza Minnelli, all belting out tunes to help Iraqi refugees.

A decade ago, the opera singer began "Pavarotti and Friends," an annual benefit concert in his hometown of Modena, and the latest edition on Tuesday night was organized to help the United Nations deal with the humanitarian emergency in Iraq.

Besides proceeds from ticket sales, money was also pledged by viewers of the event, which was broadcast in Italy and several other countries.

Bono, teamed with Pavarotti, sang a version of "Ave Maria," substituting the Latin words with English, beginning the song with "where is the justice" in the world. Pavarotti stuck to the Latin prayer words.

Minnelli broke her right kneecap when she tripped in a hotel in Bologna on Sunday. In a television hookup during the concert, she performed a few bars from the musical "Cabaret."

"What good is sitting alone in your room?" Minnelli sang, surrounded by hospital staff and family as she sat with her right leg in a full cast stretched out before her in an Italian hospital where she was scheduled to have surgery.

"I'm proud to be a part of it any way I can," Minnelli said of the benefit concert.

Nearly a decade ago, Pavarotti and Bono teamed up in a benefit concert for children in Bosnia after the war there.

Posted by Jonathan at 03:01 AM | Comments (0)

April 08, 2003

Pavarotti And Bono Sing For Iraq

4.8.03 - BBC

Opera singer Luciano Pavarotti and U2 star Bono are teaming up for a charity concert to raise money for Iraqi civilians affected by war. The pair will appear together at the 10th annual Pavarotti and Friends charity concert in the tenor's home town of Modena, Italy, in May.

The funds will go to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), which is preparing for a refugee crisis in the Middle East.

The opera star has been joined by big names including Bryan Adams, Liza Minnelli and Elton John for past televised extravaganzas.

This year's concert will take place on 27 May.

In 2002, he was joined by stars including Sting, Lou Reed and Andrea Bocelli for a show to raise money for Angolan refugees.

The previous year, the Pavarotti and Friends concert and related activities raised $3.3m (£2.1m) for Afghan refugees, while $1m (£645,000) was raised for refugees from Kosovo in 1999.

Pavarotti was awarded the top global award for services to refugees, the Nansen Refugee Award, in 2001.

He first sang with Bono to raise money for victims of the Bosnian war in 1995.

Bono has also been a high-profile campaigner for charity and justice around the world.

He has met President George Bush and French President Jacques Chirac to encourage them to contribute more aid relief to developing countries.

Posted by Jonathan at 02:52 AM | Comments (0)

December 02, 2002

Bringing Star Power To AIDS Fight

12.2.02 - Omaha World-Herald

By Corey Ross

LINCOLN - As the lead singer of the rock group U2, Bono has toured America several times, but never like this.

Instead of a tune, the singer and social activist came to Lincoln carrying a message. Sporting a military-style cap, he implored a sellout crowd of about 2,300 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Lied Center for Performing Arts on Sunday night to join him in the fight against the African AIDS epidemic.

In a 15-minute address, as part of a two-hour program, Bono was funny, emotional and logical in trying to rally support to combat AIDS, which is killing 6,500 Africans a day.

"We can't fix every problem," he said, "but we must fix the ones we can."

The Lincoln stop, which was part of Nebraska's E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues, was the first of an 11-city tour, which is scheduled to wrap up in Nashville, Tenn., on Dec. 9. The Heart of America tour rolls to Iowa City today.

Besides a message, Bono is bringing star power. Aside from scheduled speakers Bono and actress Ashley Judd, world cycling champion Lance Armstrong made a surprise appearance. Omaha investor Warren Buffett attended a press conference to lend his support.

Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson, said he consulted Buffett when he was planning the tour and welcomed his advice. "He told me not to appeal to the conscience of America but to the greatness of America," Bono said. The messages from celebrities accompanied a heart-rending tale of Agnes Nyamayarwo, a Ugandan woman who is living with HIV. AIDS has claimed the lives of her husband and son.

JoAnna Pope, 30, of Wahoo, Neb., said the woman's testimonial most put the crisis in perspective.

"That really brought it home," Pope said. "That and the exuberance of the African youth (who performed). It was a very informative and very uplifting evening."

Bono said he chose the Midwest for his tour because he thinks that is where the country's "moral compass" resides. "There's a sense here of community and family. We came to the Heartland to get at the hearts and minds of America."

Some of those hearts and minds showed up very early to get in line to hear Bono speak. Lindsay O'Brien, a 20-year-old sophomore at Doane College in Crete, Neb., was one of four people who began standing in line at 7 p.m. Saturday.

O'Brien said she was looking forward to hearing the message as much as seeing the man.

"I learned about the cause through being a fan," O'Brien said. "It's nice to see him, but it's great that he's spreading the word about AIDS and debt trouble."

O'Brien said she hoped everyone else would be as interested in Bono's cause but thought that many people were attracted only to his celebrity. Still, that's better than no interest at all, she said.

"If it were a professor lecturing on African economics, it wouldn't get nearly this much attention."

Bono and Judd spent much time trying to tell Americans why they should care about Africa now when terrorism and a shaky economy are foremost in their minds.

"There are 10 potential Afghanistans on the subcontinent of Africa," Judd said. "Chaos breeds an atmosphere in which terrorists breed."

At the close of the program, Bono performed a new U2 song called "American Prayer."

Bono told the Nebraskans in attendance Sunday night that, instead of donating money, they should write their congressmen and President Bush, urging them to give U.S. financial aid to Africa.

"They will pay attention," he said. "I promise you."

World-Herald staff writer Rainbow Rowell contributed to this report.

Posted by Jonathan at 05:19 PM | Comments (0)

November 19, 2002

Bono To Be In Lincoln For World AIDS Day

11.19.02 - Omaha World-Herald

Bono, lead singer of the rock group U2, will appear in Lincoln Dec. 1 in conjunction with World AIDS Day. AIDS and debt relief in Africa are Bono's chief political causes.

According to Joe Gerstandt of the Nebraska AIDS Project, Bono and several African colleagues will conduct an evening program at the Lied Center for Performing Arts to raise awareness of the growing public health crisis on the continent.

Bono chose Lincoln, Gerstandt said, because it's home to Save Sub-Saharan Orphans, a volunteer group that raises money for African orphanages.

AIDS and debt relief in Africa are Bono's chief political causes.

Details of the visit were still being worked out Monday, Gerstandt said.

This is the 14th World AIDS Day. It was started in 1988 to promote understanding of the disease and to bring about social tolerance.

Last May, Bono traveled to Africa with U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill to draw attention to the continent's needs.

The singer and activist is a member of Artists Against AIDS Worldwide, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and money needed to help those affected by AIDS, especially in Africa.

AAAW members raise money from the general public, governments and corporations and encourage countries to forgive debt of Third World nations.

Posted by Jonathan at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)

June 01, 2002

Bono, O'Neill End Africa Tour, Leaving Africans Wondering What Will Change

6.1.02 - Associated Press

By Andrew England, Associated Press Writer

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - The Irish rock star and the American treasury secretary joked and argued their way across Africa for 12 days, raising awareness of the problems faced by the world's poorest continent, but also displaying the differences between the passionate liberal's and the pragmatic conservative's ideas on how best to help.

U2's Bono, wearing designer wraparound glasses, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill in his Wall Street business suits, were nicknamed the odd couple during their visits to African hospitals, schools and businesses.

Most of the Africans they met had never heard of either man before, but they don't much care who brings attention to them, if the high profile trip will bring more aid. Those with experience dealing with the international community, though, doubt it will.

"One cannot exaggerate the political significance of it because the key constituency O'Neill deals with is very different to the people Bono speaks to," said Yao Graham, coordinator at Third World Network (Africa). "(But) it will take more than this trip ... for the attitudes and views of the Bush administration on African problems to change."

The trip, which ended Thursday after visits to Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and Ethiopia, was conceived after Bono cajoled a skeptical O'Neill into seeing for himself how important debt relief, fair trade and effective aid are to Africa.

Throughout the tour, where they shook hands with HIV (news - web sites)/AIDS (news - web sites) victims and hugged orphans, the two debated and joked - O'Neill, 66, sometimes put his arm around Bono, 42, and described how they had bonded.

At an Ethiopian coffee company, where workers earn less than a dollar a day, they discussed why the Ethiopian firm got so little - 4 U.S. cents per kilogram - for coffee compared to the price of the brew in the United States.

The rock star and the politician often disagreed, but there was plenty of backslapping, and both said they had benefited from the experience.

"I think everyone on this trip is going to be changed by it. He's (O'Neill) not the suit and tie you all tend to think he is. He has a hard head, but he also has a heart," Bono said.

O'Neill was noncommittal about possible policy changes.

"I want the advantage of a week or 10 days to reflect on all of the many things we have seen ... before we try to condense these 12 days into advice and recommendations to the president about policy changes," he said. "We are determined that we are going to do whatever we can together to make a difference and make it fast."

Bono hogged the limelight and was hailed as the compassionate rock star.

"We feel the United States has totally distorted African development, whereas people like Bono. He's trying to find out what the people really need," said Opa Kapijimpanga, a Zambian who is coordinator of the Zimbabwe-based African Forum for Debt and Development.

The fact that few Africans had heard of Bono was irrelevant, Kapijimpanga said - Africa has little to lose.

"Anybody, and it doesn't matter where they come from, anybody who tries to push for a more democratic global system is welcome," said Kapijimpanga.

Colonial and Cold War policies, corrupt governments and unfair trade polices between poor and rich nations have been blamed for Africa's woes. Half the continent's population - 340 million people - live on less than $1 a day.

World leaders believe African economies need to grow 7 percent per year to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015, but the chance of many succeeding is unlikely. Last year, the continent achieved real GDP (news - web sites) growth of 3.4 percent.

African Development Bank president Omar Kabbaj said official development aid will have to at least double if the growth targets are to be met.

Foreign aid to Africa was dlrs 19 billion in 1990, but has fallen to dlrs 12.7 billion, said Jamie Drummond, spokesman for Bono's DATA advocacy group.

Despite the praise for Bono, most people realize that it's O'Neill who will have the biggest influence on U.S. policy.

"For us I think the only interest is in the treasury secretary in terms of whether the United States can be persuaded to provide some more funding to Uganda." said Vincent Edoku, chairman of the Uganda Debt Network. "I heard about the treasury secretary but didn't know he was coming with that Bono man."

Posted by Jonathan at 04:43 PM | Comments (0)

May 24, 2002

O'Neill, Bono Road Show at HIV/AIDS Epicenter

5.24.02 - Reuters

By Glenn Somerville and Nick Kotch

SOWETO, South Africa (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury chief Paul O'Neill and Irish rock singer Bono took their road show on Friday to the world's biggest hospital in South Africa, where they were told how aid for HIV/AIDS victims had been wasted.

The world's most powerful finance minister and the frontman of rock band U2 expressed shock and anger at tales of the mismanagement of foreign aid meant for pregnant mothers infected with HIV and their children.

At a private briefing at Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital -- a 2,888-bed hospital listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's biggest -- hospital staff and donor agency officials told them that although $50 million came in yearly for AIDS, most of the 2,000 HIV positive mothers at the unit, who would need just $2 million for treatment, remained untreated.

The drug Nevirapine, developed by private German company Boehringer Ingelheim, has been shown to cut by half the risk of an HIV-infected mother passing the virus to her baby.

South Africa is the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS pandemic hitting Africa with estimates of one in nine South Africans infected with HIV/AIDS -- around five million people -- and 70,000 to 100,000 babies born HIV-positive each year.

"I am speechless," said Bono, known for his interest in African development issues.

O'Neill, his voice quivering with anger, told reporters: "This whole business about having so much money...and it not going primarily to treatment is just a stunning revelation."

"Before we ask for more money, for God's sake what are we doing with what we've got?"

As the unusual pairing toured Soweto, students protesting poor conditions in schools rioted in the city center a few miles away, bringing traffic and commerce to a standstill.

O'Neill dressed in a dark tie, dark suit and white shirt, and Bono, hands in pocket, unshaven, with gold earrings and ever-present sunglasses, were welcomed by a female choir singing a local Zulu song "All who are outside, call them."

They left the hospital to visit a housing project in Protea, Soweto, where Bono was greeted by schoolchildren dancing to the U2 song "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." When their tape recorder broke, Bono stepped in to finish the song.

FACTORY TOUR

Earlier Friday, O'Neill and Bono toured the Ford motor plant in Pretoria, the biggest auto assembly plant in sub-Saharan Africa with a workforce of 3,500 workers. It is considered to have an exemplary HIV/AIDS policy.

"I am saying to Bono, it's great when you have big industrial companies like this working on the (HIV/AIDS) problem," O'Neill told reporters during a tour of the plant.

Bono replied: "I love hearing the secretary like this."

President Thabo Mbeki has drawn international condemnation for his controversial stance on AIDS, questioning the link between HIV and AIDS. But he has recently eased his position.

Bono said "he (Mbeki) is turning. I think we've got to give him a bit of room. I think we've got to stop beating him up."

The pair met Mbeki and Finance Minister Trevor Manuel on Thursday. Bono said he expected to meet the South African leader again before leaving the country.

Friday, O'Neill defended himself against reports that that he was against foreign aid to poor nations.

"I am reading quotes that say 'O'Neill against foreign aid'. It's never, ever been true," he said.

Bono and O'Neill met about a year ago and agreed to a tour of Africa, originally set for late 2001 but delayed because of the September 11 attacks.

O'Neill, an ardent advocate of private enterprise, said he had already seen enough in the opening part of his four-country visit while in Ghana to show that easy and practical solutions to some basic needs were readily available.

O'Neill, Bono and Manuel also discussed issues of African development and NEPAD -- the New Partnership for Africa's Development initiative, which aims to drive Africa's recovery.

Bono and O'Neill are to visit Uganda and then Ethiopia after South Africa, where they were also due to spend the night in a game park. O'Neill returns to Washington on May 31.

Posted by Jonathan at 04:23 PM | Comments (0)

May 14, 2002

Touring Odd Couple: Paul O'Neill and U2's Bono Heading For Africa

5.14.02 - Associated Press

By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer

Talk about odd couples - Paul O'Neill, the ramrod straight, silver-haired Republican treasury secretary, and Bono, the shaggy-haired, Irish rock star with the wraparound sunglasses.

They are pairing up, not for the summer concert circuit, but a 10-day tour of some of the most destitute countries in the world in sub-Saharan Africa.

The idea for the tour, which will make stops in Ghana, Uganda, South Africa and Ethiopia, was hatched after an initial meeting in O'Neill's office a year ago, a discussion O'Neill says he was first very reluctant to have.

"I said, 'He just wants to use me and I don't have time for this,'" O'Neill recounted recently. He relented and agreed to a 30-minute meeting which expanded into a 90-minute brainstorming session with O'Neill coming away impressed at the depth of Bono's knowledge and commitment.

"He understood economic theory and he understood the impact of colonialism. He knew what it was like to go into an HIV-AIDS clinic and see three people in a bed all dying together and care about it and know it doesn't have to be that way," O'Neill said.

Bono's concern about Africa dates back to 1984 when his rock band U2 participated in concerts to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Bono and his wife spent six weeks working in an orphanage in Ethiopia to learn first-hand how bad conditions were.

Since then, he has become a tireless advocate for Africa, first in a lengthy campaign to get the Group of Eight top industrial countries to provide greater debt relief for the world's poorest countries and now as the founder of Debt, Aid, Trade for Africa (DATA).

"I am a pest. I am a stone in the shoe of a lot of people living here in this town, a squeaky wheel," Bono said after an appearance with President Bush back in March when the president announced a program to boost U.S. development aid to $40 billion over three years, an increase of $10 billion over current projected U.S. support.

However, the administration's proposal, dubbed the Millennium Challenge Account, comes with strings -- a demand that the money be given only to countries that are working to eliminate corruption and reform their economic systems.

O'Neill has been a major proponent inside the administration for this tough-love approach, contending that trillions of dollars in aid has been wasted.

Bono, who was a favorite of the Democratic Clinton administration, has proven adept at working in more conservative times.

Earlier this year, he traveled to Africa with Republican Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee, a surgeon. Frist has now teamed with Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., to support a $500 million program aimed at halting transmission of AIDS from pregnant mothers in Africa to their children.

"There is no reason why we cannot eliminate, or nearly eliminate, mother-to-child transmissions of AIDS," argues Helms, who says he regrets spending so much of his early career fighting AIDS programs.

Rep. Sonny Callahan of Alabama, a key Republican on foreign aid matters in the House, has joked that Bono has spent so much time in his office lobbying for Africa that the two should be called the "the Sonny and Bono show."

On the May 20-31 Africa trip, O'Neill and Bono will visit schools, AIDS clinics and various World Bank development projects. O'Neill is hoping to use the extra press attention generated by Bono's presence to promote the administration's development overhaul plans.

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the issue of fighting poverty to eliminate a major breeding ground for terrorists has gained momentum and will be a top agenda item of the G-8 countries at their June summit in Canada.

"It is possible for the two of us to see life through each other's eyes," O'Neill said last week in previewing the trip. "I'm going to get a set of blue wraparound glasses and I'm going to give him a gray wig."

Associated Press reporter Jeannine Aversa contributed to this report.

Posted by Jonathan at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2001

Bono, Dupri, Durst All Have Own Ideas About 'What's Going On'

9.26.01 - Sonicnet

Charity Marvin Gaye cover will now appear in three all-star versions.

There's a lot more going on with the all-star remake of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," including a rock version that will include the frontmen from Korn and Stone Temple Pilots.

The release date for the Bono-organized, Jermaine Dupri-produced project has been bumped from December 1 to October 23, and there will now be an R&B version by Dupri, a slower version produced by Bono and a rock version manned by Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, according to the project's publicist.

Durst's version will include rock singers Jonathan Davis, Scott Weiland and Perry Farrell. Monica, Usher, Maxwell, Jagged Edge and TLC's Chilli and T-Boz will be included in Dupri's R&B version. The collaborators on Bono's version will be announced later this week.

Originally recorded to benefit AIDS research, the single will now have its profits split between AIDS research and the United Way's September 11th Fund.

Bono and other organizers of the project are talking to video directors and will choose one by the end of the week, the publicist said. The video will feature the same audio as the version currently airing on MTV, but the video footage will be different from the special clip put together by the channel.

That version includes such top-tier talent as Destiny's Child, 'NSYNC, Britney Spears, P. Diddy, Nelly, the Backstreet Boys, Eve, R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe, Nelly Furtado, Christina Aguilera and No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani (see "Fred Durst, P. Diddy, Aaron Lewis, More Join In On Gaye Remake").

Most of the first remake was recorded the week of MTV's Video Music Awards, prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, though Durst's rap, which includes lyrics about the tragedy, and Jennifer Lopez's chorus were recorded a few days after.

- Corey Moss

Posted by Jonathan at 04:03 AM | Comments (0)

April 30, 2001

Bono On Oprah?

4.30.01 - dotmusic

Bono is set to appear on the Oprah Winfrey show with Nelson Mandela, as he continues his crusade to wipe-out Third World debt.

The U2 frontman has upped the ante in his mission to cut debts owed by the world's poorest nations, as the Irish rock superstars continue their American tour.

Speaking during a press conference in California, Bono said he felt the Jubilee 2000 campaign had so far been a failure.

Despite playing a key role in the axing of debts from 22 out of 41 targeted countries, he insists there is plenty more work to do: "We're going to get to the heartland in some way on this," he explained.

"There is a scandal in that one of the widest movements for any issue like this since the anti-Apartheid movement feels let down they feel after all their campaigning they haven't achieved the results they're looking for."

During the conference, Bono said he had a "feeling" that new US President George W. Bush would be supportive of the campaign.

Posted by Jonathan at 03:32 AM | Comments (0)

June 23, 2000

Debt Campaign to Bombard World Leaders with E-Mail

6.23.00 - Reuters

By Ashley Seager

LONDON (Reuters) - International debt relief campaign group Jubilee 2000 will Friday launch a global e-mail campaign aimed at persuading world leaders to make good on their promises to write off poor country debt.

Jubilee 2000 said it had the support of a host of rock stars such as Bono, Thom Yorke of the group Radiohead and the band Travis. They will send thousands of e-mails to their fans who log into their Web sites and urge them to spread the word.

``We hope this will take off exponentially and establish the new world record for a petition in the run-up to the G7 summit in Okinawa on July 21-3,'' Jubilee 2000's Jamie Drummond told Reuters. The current world record is 22 million signatures.

``Despite all their promises, Blair, Clinton and the other world leaders have failed to cancel the debts of the poorest countries. 19,000 children still die each day from debt.''

Jubilee 2000 is an international coalition of non-governmental organizations and church groups.

It has become increasingly frustrated at a lack of progress by the G7 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- in meeting a pledge made in the German city of Cologne a year ago to write off $100 billion of debt of the world's 40-odd poorest countries.

Its e-mail action is supported by global debt activists Web site www.dropthedebt.org which will also be launched on Friday.

Anyone receiving the e-mail, called ``Drop the Debt at the Okinawa Summit,'' will have a link to www.dropthedebt.org and will be able to register their support straight from the e-mail. Their message will be automatically bounced to G7 government Web sites.

``The G7 leaders are trying to hide from us on a little island off Japan for their summit. But we are going to make a dramatic impact online,'' said Drummond.

``They are talking about the 'digital divide' at this summit -- that poor countries can't afford to get on the Web. But until the 'debt divide' is dealt with, they can't deal with the digital divide.''

Posted by Jonathan at 11:26 PM | Comments (0)

January 03, 2000

300,000 on the Mall for the countdown

1.3.00 - Irish Times

By Joe Carroll

WASHINGTON: An estimated 300,000 people gathered on the Mall for the millennium gala at the Lincoln Memorial and the countdown to midnight which triggered off a fireworks display at the Washington monument.

President Clinton, in his fourth speech of the day, called for Americans to welcome and embrace change in the new century. He cited the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and urged the nation to remain true to the enduring principles of "our freedom, our faith, our ceaseless pilgrimage towards the ideals of our founders".

Earlier, the President and Mrs Clinton hosted a millennium dinner at the White House for 360 guests representing the arts, science, entertainment, and donors who helped pay for the gala. The attendance included Bono and his wife, Ms Ali Hewson, Senator Edward Kennedy and his sister and former ambassador, Ms Jean Kennedy Smith.

Bono later sang at the gala concert at the Lincoln Memorial which also featured gospel and folk music, opera, jazz and rap and dancing. There was also a 20-minute film made by Steven Spielberg commemorating the achievements of the century. At the White House, Chelsea Clinton for the first time joined her parents in the receiving line. The President began the dinner with a toast and asked his guests to make a wish and he would do likewise. He spoke of "a better future that I hope every American will take a moment to imagine on this Millennium Eve".

At midnight, the Washington Monument was illuminated by a firework display as the date on the side of the 555-ft obelisk changed from 1999 to 2000. An even bigger firework display finished the celebrations an hour later. At the headquarters of the CIA, the FBI and the White House the centres set up to monitor any Y2K problems had little to report as the new century arrived without any major glitches. A computer failure at midnight Greenwich Mean Time cut communications with one of the Pentagon's spy satellites for about three hours but the world scarcely noticed.

Posted by Jonathan at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)

October 11, 1999

Bono, Wyclef, And Others Receive Mixed Reaction At NetAid

10.11.99 - Launch Online

NetAid, staged in Geneva, London, and New Jersey on Saturday (Oct. 9), received a mixed reception from fans.

The purpose of the concerts was to generate traffic for the website www.netaid.org and promote awareness of Third World poverty. The goal was to steer more than 1 billion hits to the website through coverage on VH1, MTV, and radio.

While the number of hits on the NetAid website weren't released at press time, the attendance and response to the shows suggested that organizers weren't able to reach as many people as they had hoped.

While Geneva was a private, invite-only show, the concert in London at Wembley Arena actually went off quite well. By the time Bush hit the stage, the venue was packed to capacity, with more than 60,000 people in attendance. The same couldn't be said about the show at Giants Stadium, which was more than half empty.

The New Jersey show left some fans wondering if the concert should have been dubbed SleepAid rather than NetAid. The concert featured Zucchero, Wyclef Jean, Bono, Jewel, Counting Crows, Sheryl Crow, Mary J. Blige, Puff Daddy, Sting, Cheb Mami, Jimmy Page, Busta Rhymes, and the Black Crowes.

Attendance for the show was anemic, but organizers put a spin on the show, saying that they wanted an "intimate" setting of close to 35,000 for the show. Giants Stadium holds a capacity for close to 75,000, but the entire top decks of the stadium were draped with NetAid banners. That may have been an effort to save some face after the less-than-impressive tickets sales. Outside the stadium, scalpers took a bath as they sold $50 tickets for $10.

Crow, who played midway through the show and participated in the worldwide sing-along, "Net Aid Unity," said she wasn't concerned about the attendance. "I thought that they were great," she said. "I have to admit that when I walked out at 5:15 today and did the sing-along moment that I was concerned that perhaps it wasn't advertised enough or, like my Central Park gig, there was a presence of control there, but I think people were getting off work. It's more like people just show up when it gets dark to see people play rock 'n' roll, and they were really into it. I really loved it. For an event like this it's as much about the TV presence as anything, because you're trying to draw awareness."

A main figure in the NetAid concerts was Jubilee 2000 supporter Bono, and Jubilee 2000 organizer Jamie Drummond. Drummond told LAUNCH that Jubilee 2000 is the charity and NetAid is just a platform to get the word out.

Bono, however, was quick to keep the two camps separate. "They're different though. It's really important to differentiate the two," he said. "I got involved with the Jubilee 2000 campaign about 16 months ago. I heard there was this idea that might actually change the world. I'll pay attention if I think I can be involved in some process of real change rather than some hippie idealistic idea, 'Let's hold hands and poverty will go away' kind of a deal."

In spite of the poor attendance, the New Jersey show had a few highlights, but those were few and far between, as there was a lot of downtime between set changes. During the show, fans were bombarded with announcements that seemed to take the juice out of the crowd.

The concert opened with an all-star jam by all the performers on the Wyclef Jean/Bono collaboration "New Day," which is the NetAid anthem. Unfortunately only about 4,000-5,000 were on hand to enjoy it.

After a spirited performance by Zucchero, Jewel took the stage. Her set included "Hands" and "Jupiter." Following her performance, a taped segment regarding Jewel's new organization aired. Before her set, Jewel spoke about why she came to NetAid. "My mom and I founded an organization for Higher Ground For Humanity. And a launching of one of the suborganizations of that is called the Clearwater Project. What we're doing is we're installing the technology in Third World countries to clean up the water, and ultimately they'll be able to bottle it and sell it and have their own economic system. And that's something that we're launching here, and have been glad to have the opportunity to do it here at NetAid."

One bit of irony to note is that her announcement said that people should not drink bottled water, because it only makes us less likely to clean up our water supply. Yet most of the artists were drinking bottled water and the stadium vendors were selling it to the fans at Giants Stadium.

Counting Crows were introduced by actress Meryl Streep. The band, led by singer Adam Duritz, who sported an old-style hat and straightened dreadlocks, played a set of mostly new material.

Sheryl Crow's set began with a misstep. Her microphone was dead for the beginning of her opening song, "If It Makes You Happy," but the technical glitch was fixed about halfway through the song. Her set also included a rousing rendition of "Every Day Is A Winding Road." She easily had the most interesting outfit of the night--a top made of dark blue yarn knit and leather pants.

The staging at the New Jersey show looked more like a business convention with all the sponsors on it, from Cisco Systems to the UNDP to KPMG, who worked on the website. Organizers presented a check from the employees of the company to NetAid for $1 million.

After a set by Mary J. Blige, Puff Daddy took the stage to perform what many felt was the highlight of the night. After rising through the floor of the stage, he went on to play a set punctuated with pyrotechnics.

There were musical pyrotechnics, as well. Former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash came on to play "All About The Benjamins," with Lil' Kim and Lil' Cease. Puffy's set also featured a choir. Jimmy Page, looking healthy and wearing all black, played guitar on the "Kashmir"-based song from the Godzilla soundtrack, "Come With Me."

Sting's set included "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" and "Brand New Day," among others, and included an appearance by Cheb Mami.

As speculated, the Black Crowes were joined by Page on a number of Led Zeppelin songs. The Crowes and Page opened up with an instrumental version of "Dazed And Confused" then went into "In My Time Of Dying." Particularly impressive was their version of the Zep classic "Whole Lotta Love."

By the time Wyclef took the stage, some time after 11 p.m. (ET), the crowd had thinned out again. Halfway through the event, Wyclef told LAUNCH why there were a lot of empty seats. "The answer [will be] real simple by the time Sting gets on, by the time 8 p.m. comes." He added, "One thing about New Jersey--'cause you know, I'm from Brooklyn, but I was raised in New Jersey--We don't show up until 8 p.m, that's the first thing. The second thing is this thing is on the Net at the same time, so that's my answer. So if I'm home on a Saturday night and I've got my computer in the house, all I'm gonna do is invite over a cutie, get some popcorn, get some Pepsi, and pop it on the Net. Why do I want to be around 34,000 people when I can get a vibe of intimacy. If you check the Net you'll see that there is a lot of people hitting the concert, and everyone is at home watching it live. So that's really the answer for it."

Wyclef's set featured a reprise of "New Day" with Bono. -- Darren Davis, New York

Posted by Jonathan at 06:33 AM | Comments (0)

September 09, 1999

NetAid Gets Star Powered Launch

Wyclef, Bono, Bowie, Quincy & Puffy unite with world leaders to mark the start of NetAid

"We're declaring war on poverty," Quincy Jones proclaimed. John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, Inc., echoed that with, "The power to end extreme poverty is now online." But it was Bono who cut through the cliches at this afternoon's NetAid press conference in New York to get to the heart of the matter.

"I'm kind of suspicious of the warm, fuzzy feeling aspect of what we're doing," the U2 frontman said when he took his turn at the mic to explain the goals of the just-launched www.netaid.org, touted in the press pack as "the world's most powerful Web site to fight extreme poverty." "To be honest with you," Bono continued, "it's a really hard sell."

What they're selling is the idea of the Internet being used to spearhead an ongoing campaign to promote awareness of worldwide poverty and to combat it through education, volunteerism and the donation of goods and money. Up until now, most talk of NetAid has concerned the three all-star benefit concerts scheduled in New Jersey, London and Geneva on Oct. 9. Each of the speakers at today's press conference in the Millennium Hotel -- including United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and entertainers Wyclef Jean, David Bowie and Sean "Puffy" Combs -- made it clear that NetAid is an ongoing crusade.

"The difference this time," said Jones in comparing NetAid to past benefits like Live Aid, "is that the Internet enables people to take action over and over again, and do much more than contribute money one time." To wit, the NetAid homepage includes separate sections addressing ways to not only fight hunger and poverty, but how to help refugees, secure human rights and save the environment. The first "clicks" on the Web site were made by President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former South African President Nelson Madela, each of whom voiced their support of NetAid and its goals via satellite.

"I commend all the sponsors of NetAid for their generosity and vision," said Clinton. "And like many of you people, I'm looking forward to the simultaneous concerts on Oct. 9..."

Following Clinton's address, Quincy Jones took the floor to announce the lineup for the New Jersey show at Giants Stadium. The concert, which will be broadcast on VH1, MTV and on the NetAid site, will feature Mary J. Blige, Busta Rhymes, Counting Crowes, Puff Daddy, Jimmy Page and friends, Sting and Cheb Mami, Bon Jovi, Zucchero and Jean with Bono. The London show at Wembley Stadium will feature Bowie, Bush, Bryan Adams, Eurythmics, the Corrs, George Michael, Bryan Ferry, Robbie Williams, Catatonia and Stereophonics, while the Geneva show at the Palais des Nations will have Des'ree, Michael Kamen and

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