Recently in the Awards and Honors Category

by John D. Luerssen, Spinner

It was a beautiful day for trophy maker Stuart Allcock when he got a call recently from his favorite band looking for help. One of the two Grammy Awards that U2 were awarded for 'The Joshua Tree' had been dropped and wound up in three pieces.

Allcock -- a big fan who caught his first U2 show during that album's campaign back in 1987 and runs Alpha Trophies -- told the Daily Telegraph that although working on the iron statue was stressful and "complex," he was stoked that U2's management asked him to fix the prize. The gramophone had to be welded back on and other parts had to be glued together and re-sprayed.

As for the call from the band's camp, at first Allcock, of Taunton in Somerset, UK, thought his friends were pulling a gag. "I thought it might be a joke and said, 'Is this Bono?'" he said, adding. "If it wasn't a U2 Grammy, I wouldn't pay a fiver. But it's priceless."

Jill Marino, U2 Examiner

It was a beautiful day for U2 today, as the band received a nomination for a Golden Globe award.

"Winter", the song U2 contributed to the film "Brothers", was recognized in the Best Original Song category. The band is up against legend Paul McCartney for his work on the film "Everybody's Fine". Music from the movies "Nine", "Avatar", and "Crazy Heart" are also vying for a win.

U2 are no strangers to the Globes, having won for "The Hands That Built America" from "Gangs of New York". Whether U2 will win this year is up in the air, but they might have a better chance at the Grammys instead.

"Variety" has the full list of Golden Globe nominees here. The ceremony will be held on Sunday January 17th, 2010.

CaribWorldNews

Grammy Award-winning Haitian, singer, songwriter and producer is raking in the honors - the human rights honors.

Jean, along with U2`s Bono, was presented with Ripple of Hope Award at Chelsea Pier in New York City last night by The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.

The Haitian ambassador at large was honored for his work to strengthen and inspire change in his native country of Haiti through his Yéle Haiti organization.

`As champions of justice, Bono and Wyclef have brought the national spotlight to human rights violations, empowered local activists, and transformed the lives of millions of people living in poverty from Port-Au-Prince to Darfur,` said Kerry Kennedy, founder of the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights. `Their efforts evoke the spirit of my father and we are honored to recognize them.`

By Tim Mohr, AlterNet

Would-be revelers divided by a fake Berlin Wall shuffled along in the rain looking for a way out of a festival of freedom.

It was immediately obvious wandering through Berlin last weekend that the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall were in trouble.

In Alexanderplatz subway station, the main eastern transport hub, wall-sized billboards advertising the Fest der Freiheit -- Festival of Freedom -- were side by side with huge Burger King ads for a new grilled cheese snack. The tag line: "The Cheese Revolution."

Sure, it's easy to celebrate the events of November 9, 1989, in the abstract. After all, what's not to like about casting off the shackles of a dictatorial system in which people couldn't freely express their opinion and were shot for trying to leave, in which tens of thousands of citizens spied in each other, and in which you might be denied a place at university or a job if your parents weren't party members -- But when it comes to putting on an actual celebration, as the city of Berlin learned, it gets trickier.

Rolling Stone

Over two nights at New York's Madison Square Garden last month, rock history was made again and again: Bono, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and more legends united on one stage to celebrate the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th anniversary with a pair of concerts featuring some of the biggest talents of the past six decades. Metallica rocked with Lou Reed. Stevie Wonder sang with Smokey Robinson. The Black Eyed Peas' Fergie and Will.i.am joined U2 and Jagger for "Gimme Shelter." Rolling Stone has the story behind these epic concerts, and an unprecedented look behind the scenes of one of the greatest rock events ever in our new issue, on stands today.

Get a look at all of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's inductees.

Pitchfork Media

Stadium-rocking pop titans met last night at last night's MTV Europe Awards when Jay-Z came out during a U2 performance in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. With the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall coming November 9, the collaboration took on a justly political air, with U2 doing "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and Jay-Z unleashing some of his most ripped-from-the-headlines-style lines since his verse on M.I.A.'s "Boyz" remix.

"Out in Iran the election is fixed/ Out in Rwanda the genocide is sick," he rhymed. "Don't make me have to motherfuckin' build some schools!" Then Bono tried to rap with less effective results. Watch the whole performance below. (Via MTV.)

In other (more shameless) Jay-Z news, the rapper recently re-teamed with his "Empire State of Mind" co-star Alicia Keys for something called "Empire State of Mind Part 2", according to MTV News. The sequel will feature a new verse from Jay and show up on Keys's upcoming LP, The Element of Freedom, which is due out December 15.

And Jay has announced some new, Young Jeezy-assisted U.S. arena dates for 2010. Check those out, along with the U2/Jay-Z live video, after the jump:

Performance at the Brandenburg Gate celebrated 20 years since Germany was reunited.

By Kyle Anderson, MTV.com

It was 20 years ago that the Berlin Wall came down, successfully uniting East and West Germany and putting a metaphorical stake through the heart of the Cold War. The historic significance was not lost on the producers of the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards on Thursday (November 5). To commemorate a reunited Germany, show host Katy Perry threw to U2 live at Brandenburg Gate -- the former threshold between East and West Berlin that now stands as a national monument -- where thousands had gathered for a historic performance.

DEREK SCALLY in Berlin, Irish Times

TONIGHT'S FREE U2 concert at the Brandenburg Gate to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 will take place behind a wall erected by organisers, metres from the original.

The wall means that only 10,000 holders of free tickets - and very tall people - can find what they're looking for.

The irony was not lost on Berliners yesterday.

"The Brandenburg Gate is the symbol of our unity, the view should be open to all, at all times," said Hans-Joachim. "One wall was more than enough."

Rolling Stone

As the second night of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th anniversary came to its climax, after nearly four hours of jaw-dropping musical collaborations, almost anything seemed possible. By this point Metallica had played with Ozzy Osbourne, Ray Davies and Lou Reed; Jeff Beck had jammed with Sting and Billy Gibbons; and U2 brought out Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen and the Black Eyed Peas for their closing set. Yet, few people were prepared for what happened when U2 began playing the intro to "Gimme Shelter" with Will.i.am at the keyboard and Fergie recreating Merry Clayton's apocalyptic vocal intro. Without a word of introduction by Bono, surprise guest Mick Jagger sprinted onstage as the capacity crowd at Madison Square Garden let out one of the loudest cheers I've ever heard.

Relive the Rock Hall's second giant night in live photos.

The show began, as it did on night one, with Jerry Lee Lewis alone at the piano. This time he did "Great Balls of Fire" -- concluding with the 74-year-old legend violently kicking over his piano stool. A short film about gospel and soul music preceded Aretha Franklin's entrance, who looked radiant in a bright red dress. Backed by a huge band that featured her son Teddy on guitar and a horn section, Franklin's set featured a cover of "New York, New York" and her 1970 hit "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)," which she dedicated to the song's co-writer, Ahmet Ertegun. Annie Lennox, who bowed down to Franklin as she took the stage, dueted on "Chain of Fools" and Lenny Kravitz joined the Queen of Soul for "Think." An encore of "Respect" had the entire crowd singing "R-E-S-P-E-C-T."

By David Bauder, Associated Press Writer

U2 brought three generations of chart-toppers -- Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and the Black Eyed Peas -- with them onstage Friday at another night of mix and match magic at Madison Square Garden.

Metallica brought the thunder to Lou Reed and Ray Davies. It was the second of two concerts to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and they will be edited into an HBO special to be seen on Thanksgiving weekend.

During U2's set, Bono was waxing poetic about the spiritual, physical and political power of rock 'n' roll until finally the Boss had had enough.

"Let's have some fun with it," Springsteen said. They performed U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," with Bono and Springsteen trading call-and-response vocals during the final verse.