November 2014 Archives

By Marc Schneider, Billboard

Bono just can't catch a break, can he? On the mend after suffering a nasty fall from his bike earlier this month, the rocker and his band U2 have topped GQ's highly influential Least Influential People of 2014 list.

As you can expect, the mag slices into Bono (the "Tom Friedman of rock") and the boys for colluding with Apple to plop their new album, Songs of Innocence, into everyone's iTunes library, unsolicited and free of charge. "The worst part was the way both Apple and U2 treated this, like it was some kind of noble gift to The People; in fact this was a $100 million marketing campaign," GQ writes. "Yes, $100 million to turn U2's socially conscious dad-rock into a piece of direct mail."

Bono's New York bike crash injuries could force group to postpone North American opener

by Shane Doran, Independent.ie

BONO'S cycling accident in New York could force U2 to postpone their new world tour. The Sunday Independent has learned that the band plan to kick-start their new tour in North America next June.

However, sources last night said Bono would need at least three months to recover from the painful injuries he suffered in last Sunday's collision.

The singer suffered multiple fractures that required two separate operations after he crashed while trying to avoid another cyclist. X-rays and tests at a leading Manhattan hospital revealed Bono fractured his left eye socket and broke his left shoulder blade in three places. He also suffered a left elbow fracture that left the bone in six pieces.

Bono underwent a five-hour operation at the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Centre and Hospital for Special Surgery on Sunday night, during which he had three plates and 18 screws inserted. The following day he had surgery to repair a fracture to the little finger on his left hand. Orthopaedic trauma surgeon Dr Dean Lorich confirmed Bono was expected to make a full recovery, but would require a lot of therapy.

A source told the Sunday Independent: "The injuries will take at least three months to recover. Bono plays guitar a lot, and his arm and shoulder will need extensive physiotherapy if he is going to be ready for the tour. It all depends now on how quickly he can recover."

Bono's cycling accident was more serious than previously thought, with the singer having to endure five hours of surgery for his injuries.

by Aoife Kelly, Irish Independent

U2's frontman was involved in a bike accident in Central Park, New York on Sunday and new details have emerged on the extent of his injuries.

According to Rolling Stone Bono crashed when he attempted to avoid another cyclist and was involved in a "high energy bicycle accident".

He was rushed to New York Presbyterian/Well Cornell Medical Center where he underwent five hours of surgery.

The magazine list his injuries as including a "facial fracture involving the orbit of his eye", three fractures of his left shoulder blade, a fracture of his little finger, and a fracture of his left humerus with the "bone shattering in six different places and tearing through his skin".

Speaking to Rolling Stone, orthopedic trauma surgeon Dean Lorich, MD, said that a "nerve trapped in the break was moved and the bone repaired with three metal plates and 18 screws".

'Films of Innocence' will combine animation with live-action shorts inspired by band's latest album

by Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone

U2 have tapped 11 urban artists to create a collection of new short films to accompany their latest album, Songs of Innocence. The aptly named Films of Innocence sees release on December 9th and is available to pre-order now on iTunes.

A 40-second trailer for Films of Innocence is also available to watch on iTunes as well. The clip offers a quick peek at all 11 videos, which comprise an eclectic mix of animation styles -- from pop-art to surreal psychedelia -- and live-action, cinematic grandeur (the two wolves barreling down an alleyway in slow motion is especially arresting).

Films of Innocence was directed by Jefferson Hack, and features contributions from Oliver Jeffers, Robin Rhode, D*Face, Mode 2, Chloe Early, Ganzeer, Vhils, Maser, ROA, DALeast and Todd James. Working only with U2's music in mind, the artists were given complete creative control to explore their personal reactions to the songs. As the iTunes description teases, "Their works scale the globe, play with time and weave between heightened reality and animated dreamscapes."

O'Connor (left) at the Band Aid 30 recording on Saturday

The singer also targeted Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga and Prince in new interview

by Kory Grow, Rolling Stone

Sinéad O'Connor wishes her countrymen in U2 had just put out their latest album, Songs of Innocence, rather than pushing it onto people involuntarily. "What they did with iTunes was a badly judged move," the singer recently told The Daily Mail. "There was something almost terrorist about it. I'm really not a U2 fan but it wasn't at all kosher invading people's lives like that. It was bad management."

O'Connor participated in the interview ostensibly to promote her involvement in Band Aid 30, an update of the charity recording project Band Aid, which recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in 1984. Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof originally started Band Aid to raise money for people affected by famine; Band Aid 30 will raise money to fight Ebola in west Africa. (U2 frontman Bono is also one of the singers who participated in Band Aid 30.)

"I'm involved for one reason alone, and that's because I love Bob," O'Connor said in the interview. "If he ever asked me to mop his kitchen floor I would, willingly."

"It looks like we will have to do our 'Tonight Show' residency another time," the band said. "We're one man down"

by Jason Newman, Rolling Stone

U2 was forced to postpone their upcoming, weeklong residency on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon after Bono underwent surgery for a cycling injury.

"It looks like we will have to do our Tonight Show residency another time - we're one man down," the band wrote on their website. "Bono has injured his arm in a cycling spill in Central Park and requires some surgery to repair it. We're sure he'll make a full recovery soon, so we'll be back! Much thanks to Jimmy Fallon and everyone at the show for their understanding."

It's unclear which groups will replace the band and when the Songs of Innocence rockers will return to The Tonight Show. A representative for U2 declined to elaborate on the incident past the band's statement.

Bono states that "Ebola is a political failure, not a medical failure" and that he wishes "we didn't have to do this (recording) and see the same old faces again" and that "we've been trying to make this kind of event a thing of the past".

The video premiered on the X Factor and Bono sings 2 lines in the video:

Other winners at the event held at the Stage Theater in Berlin, Germany are actress Uma Thurman and former F1 driver Michael Schumacher.

by AceShowbiz,

Ariana Grande was among the winners at the 66th Bambi Awards. The singer took home the Best Newcomer trophy during the ceremony held on Thursday, November 13 at the Stage Theater in Berlin, Germany.

Grande, who rose to fame for playing Cat Valentine on Nickelodeon's "Victorious" and its spin-off "Sam & Cat", already has released two albums. Both peaked at No. 1 on Billboard 200. This year, she dominated the singles charts with her hits "Problems", "Break Free" and "Bang-Bang".

"Ariana Grande is a young singer with a powerful voice who knows how to combine pop, soul, hip-hop and electronic music to form an irresistible dance sound. Her hits set new records on iTunes, her concerts sell out and she has millions of fans on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Her unmistakeable voice and unusual range spanning five octaves make her one of the exceptional talents of our time," the Bambi jury explained why the pint-sized diva deserved the award.

Another international star who won a Bambi in music field was U2. The Irish rockers were the winners in the Music International category. "U2 create rock music with attitude and poetic texts that Bono, their charismatic singer, verbalises with his unique voice. Guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. provide the unmistakeable U2 sound of strong rhythms and melodies," the jury said of the group's win.

By Andrea Rothman and Richard Weiss, Bloomberg

A private jet carrying Irish rock star Bono, the frontman of U2, had its baggage door shear off mid-flight during a trip between Dublin and Berlin.

The hatch and bags from the Bombardier Inc. (BBD/B) Learjet disappeared over German territory during the flight yesterday, Germany's air accident investigation bureau said. The jet landed safely at Berlin's Schoenefeld airport at 12.26 p.m.

"A door on the plane to the cargo hold became detached, and apparently two pieces of luggage fell out," the bureau said. "Bono was on board. We are investigating the incident."

The Learjet's baggage compartment is located in a rear section that's separate from the passenger compartment, said Paul Hayes, a safety expert at London-based Ascend. Since the hold isn't pressurized, passengers would have been in no danger of being sucked out of the jet when the door opened, he said.

Geldof and Midge Ure will re-record a new version of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' with producer Paul Epworth on Saturday (November 15)

by David Renshaw, NME

Chris Martin of Coldplay, Foals and Ed Sheeran will all feature on a new Band Aid 30 charity single, marking the 30th anniversary of the original Band Aid's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'.

Announcing the news at a press conference in London today (November 10), original Band Aid organisers Midge Ure and Bob Geldof said all money raised from sales of the single will go towards the fight against Ebola in west Africa. Ure confirmed that the lyrics to the original song will be tweaked ahead of recording to reflect the challenges affecting today's Africa, with references to hunger taken out.

Geldof said: "We know we can contain Ebola; we have the doctors, the nurses, medicines and state systems, we have money. [People are] dying again because they are extremely poor. That is radically unacceptable."

U2 are to perform at the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA) in Glasgow.

by BBC News,

The Irish supergroup are among a number of big names who will take to the stage at the SSE Hydro on Sunday night.

This will be U2's fourth MTV EMA performance after Rotterdam in 1997, Stockholm in 2000 and from Berlin's Brandenburg Gate in 2009.

The Glasgow awards show is being hosted by rapper Nicki Minaj, who will also perform. Other acts include DJ Calvin Harris, Ariana Grande and Ed Sheeran.

It is estimated that the show will generate up to £10m for the city's economy.

Irish rockers will bring five nights of 'Songs of Innocence' to Jimmy Fallon's stage

by Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone

The late night music wars are on. Just days after it was revealed that Metallica would spend five nights performing on the last week of The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, and less than a month after Foo Fighters enjoyed an all-star weeklong residency on Late Show With David Letterman, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon has recruited U2 to join him and house band the Roots for an entire week. Your move, Kimmel.

"U2 is coming back Monday, November 17, for an entire week," Fallon told his viewers Monday night. Incidentally, both U2 and Metallica will spend the same week performing every night on late night TV, but thankfully the Ferguson and Fallon time slots don't overlap, as Stereogum notes.

U2 previously appeared on the debut episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon back on February 17th, performing their charity single "Invisible." U2 also sat down on Fallon's couch to perform a unique rendition of "Ordinary Love" alongside the Roots.

NIN's Trent Reznor with Bono at the 2005 Grammys

by Brett Buchanan, Alternative Nation

Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor discussed U2's Song of Innocence being released via Apple's iTunes in an interview with Billboard. Reznor defended Bono and U2, while acknowledging the mistakes that were made with the release strategy.

"As an artist, when I make a piece of music, I'd like you to know it's out there. I don't want to force it down your throat, but I would like you to know that if you'd like to, you might brush against it -- it exists somewhere. So I can see the incentive behind what they wanted to do. I was with Bono that day. I was at the Apple event and we were hanging out after they did it. There's an immense sense of pride toward the album he just spent several years making. He was very proud of what he did.

I think the misstep was the wording: If it would've been, 'Here it is, if you want it, come grab it...' I am assuming the momentum of that situation led to the oversight in not thinking that people might feel intruded upon."

Five years of standing in a room with three other men to try and make a more emotional album than your last one can be hurtful and brutal, U2 tell Brendan O'Connor. But when you dig back deep into grief and adolescence, God walks through the room and brings the opera.

by Brendan O'Connor, Independent.ie

We are talking about Bono's late mother, who died when he was fourteen and set him on the path to becoming an artist, because after grief, he says, comes rage, and rage led him to punk which led to U2. We are talking about her, because she, and grief, pop up a bit in U2's brilliant new album Songs of Innocence, along with friendship, mortality and love.

We are talking about her because one of U2's mentors, Jimmy Iovine, told Bono some time in the difficult five year gestation of Songs of Innocence that he needed to go back to the roots of why he started doing this in the first place. And so Bono looked at first journeys, and made an album about the forces that shaped him 40 years ago. A 54-year-old man, having a crisis of the relevance of the greatest rock and roll band in the world, made a teenage angst album, an album about home. A friend joked to him in an email recently that it took U2 all this time to make their first album.

One of the strongest tracks on the album, Iris, an instant U2 classic, is about Bono's mother. She also appears in another song. I wonder if Bono thinks his mother knows what happened to him, how his life turned out.