Patrick Barkham, Guardian.co.uk
More than 30 years a rock star, Nobel peace prize nominee and honorary knight - but what does Bono have to do to become a Twitter trending topic?
The band's frontman became a villain on the web today moments after he turned up as a support act at the Tory conference. While the Tories hoped Bono's surprise address - via a giant videoscreen - would provide a shot of welcome celebrity pizzazz, the singer could hardly have imagined his appearance would have such a swift impact on his profile.
Many of the responses on Twitter were hostile as the tag #BonoToryScum quickly spread over the social networking site. "Look for U2's new song called Where the Streets Have No Low-Income Housing," tweeted Deadeye_Dick.
Captainrobs tweeted: "So, he's appearing to talk about charity work for a party that has just announced poo-loads of spending cuts if they get in power?" Another said: "Let's hope he does a duet with Phil Collins soon. Could swing the election."
Introducing Bono, William Hague, the foreign secretary, teased the audience by promising someone "you don't normally hear from at Conservative conferences".
In a turn likely to prove less significant than the Sun's shift of allegiance, Bono stopped short of endorsing the Conservative party, perhaps because he also popped up on video at the Labour party conference last week.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2009
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