April 2016 Archives

Taken from the the book "Bono: In Conversation" by Michka Assayas:

"These white rock stars, they think they're authentic, and that Prince is just some sort of showbiz Christmas tree. But he has more soul in his little finger than a whole harbor full of these rock bands."

Photo from 1995.

Photo by Damien Eagers

U2's the Edge yesterday paid a moving tribute to his "one-off" dad who passed away aged 84 at the weekend.

by Deirdre Reynolds, Irish Independent

Bandmates Bono, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton rallied around the rock star and his siblings Richard and Gill as their father Garvin Evans was laid to rest in north Co Dublin.

Speaking to the congregation at Howth Presbyterian Church, the guitarist - whose real name is Dave Evans - praised his father's "unswerving" positivity in the face of a decade-long battle with illness and vowed to follow in his "truly amazing" footsteps.

He said: "What can I say about my dad? He was a one-off - a bundle of energy.

"His ceaseless optimism was awe-inspiring, particularly during the last 10 years of his life when he had every reason to be despondent. I can honestly say I never saw a single moment of negativity. He loved life and he lived it always looking forward."

by Eimear Rabbitt, Irish Independent

John Garvin Evans passed away in the Bon Secours Hospital in Dublin on Saturday following a long illness.

Originally from Wales, Mr Evans and his wife Gwenda moved to Dublin in the 1960s and settled in Malahide.

They had three children, David, who went on to become The Edge, Richard, and daughter Gillian.

Gwenda passed away in 2012.

Mr Evans' heartbroken family said he died "peacefully after a long and courageous battle with illness met with typical joie de vivre, in the wonderful care of the staff of the Bons Secours Hospital."

Illustration by © Simon Prades

by Bono, New York Times

I'VE recently returned from the Middle East and East Africa, where I visited a number of refugee camps -- car parks of humanity. I went as an activist and as a European. Because Europeans have come to realize -- quite painfully in the past year or two -- that the mass exodus from collapsed countries like Syria is not just a Middle Eastern or African problem, it's a European problem. It's an American one, too. It affects us all.

My countryman Peter Sutherland, a senior United Nations official for international migration, has made clear that we're living through the worst crisis of forced displacement since World War II. In 2010, some 10,000 people worldwide fled their homes every day, on average. Which sounds like a lot -- until you consider that four years later, that number had quadrupled. And when people are driven out of their homes by violence, poverty and instability, they take themselves and their despair elsewhere. And "elsewhere" can be anywhere.

But with their despair some of them also have hope. It seems insane or naïve to speak of hope in this context, and I may be both of these things. But in most of the places where refugees live, hope has not left the building: hope to go home someday, hope to find work and a better life. I left Kenya, Jordan and Turkey feeling a little hopeful myself. For as hard as it is to truly imagine what life as a refugee is like, we have a chance to reimagine that reality -- and reinvent our relationship with the people and countries consumed now by conflict, or hosting those who have fled it.

by Billboard/Associated Press

U2 frontman Bono brought his star power to Capitol Hill Tuesday as he called on members of Congress to take swift action to deal with the global refugee crisis and violent extremism.

In testimony before a Senate subcommittee, Bono drew a bleak picture as he described the flood of people fleeing their homes in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. The human torrent threatens the very idea of European unity, he said, as he urged lawmakers to think of foreign aid as national security instead of charity.

"When aid is structured properly, with a focus on fighting poverty and improving governance, it could just be the best bulwark we have against the extremism of our age," Bono said.

"We want to dedicate this award to artists from around the world who are innovating in very difficult circumstances," guitarist says

By Kory Grow, Rolling Stone

U2 received iHeartRadio's Innovator Award at a Los Angeles ceremony Sunday night. "Innovation, I think it's something about searching out the future before it's arrived," Bono said during his and the Edge's acceptance speech. "[It's] making 'what might be' the 'what is.'"

Pharrell Williams presented the singer and guitarist with the trophy, saying, "These guys have literally, literally, literally changed the world, and they speak up for the voiceless and they tell the truth, no matter the cost." He cited their work with Amnesty International and Bono's One Foundation and the band's work with (Red) as examples. Bono responded to the compliments by calling Williams the "essence of rock & roll," as well as a "miracle man" and "risk taker." Williams received the same award in 2014; Justin Timberlake accepted it last year.