December 2011 Archives

Footage of Grafton Street show emerges online

Footage of Bono busking in Dublin over Christmas has emerged online - scroll down and click below to view a clip of him singing 'Silent Night'.

The U2 frontman hit Grafton Street in the Irish capital for his annual festive fundraising performance on December 24, where he was joined by Damien Rice and The Frames singer Glen Hansard.

However, according to the Daily Star, local police didn't recognise the famous trio and tried to move them on.

The 'source' commented:

He was surprised when the police tried to stop him. Bono found the funny side though and the issue was soon resolved.

The 'mole' continued: "Although he always dresses down for the tradition, it was strange the police failed to spot one of the nation's most iconic men."

Bono speaking on behalf of
The Ireland Fund on May 6, 2010

Bank pledge continued support to Irish scheme

By Buzz Brady, IrishCentral Staff Writer

(Originally posted on December 13, 2011)

Irish rock legends U2 have pledged to support Ireland's talented youth with their continued investment into the Music Generation Scheme.

The Irish band have pledged to invest $2.2 million (€1.7 million) to help young people in Cork City, Laois and Wicklow get both vocal and tuition access in their locality.

U2 guitarist the Edge said: "Access to music for children and young people is something that is very close to our hearts. We believe that every child should have the choice to get involved in music, irrespective of their background.

by Ray Waddell, Billboard

Any year in touring that includes the figure $736,421,586 can only be considered a good year for business.

That mind-blowing sum is the final tally for U2's historic 360° tour, a three-year behemoth that shattered preconceived notions (and capacities) for stadium shows, forever changed the paradigms of concert production and moved more than 7 million tickets around the globe.

When it wrapped in July, 360° went down has the highest-grossing and biggest ticket seller in the history of the business. Of those totals, $293.3 million in box office and nearly 3 million in ticket sales were generated during the Billboard touring calendar, which ran from Nov. 1, 2010, to Nov. 8, 2011-and easily enough to make 360° the top tour of the year.