atu2.com: @U2 Forum member hawkmoon2e shares news that a well-known Christian pastor got a chance to hear some of the new U2 songs while visiting Bono (and the band) in Dublin recently. [ more]

interference.com: It seems a group of fans were treated to a U2 jam session as Larry, Edge and Adam arrived at the studio to work out a couple of songs. The Edge's guitar tech Dallas Schoo promised the fans "Your gonna hear some great music today", and he did not dissapoint. He plugged the guitars in upstairs so the music could be heard outside the building. [ more]

mumble.de: Der irische «U2»-Sänger Bono hat zwar im Rockgeschäft alles erreicht, was man erreichen kann - ist aber dennoch unzufrieden. «Es gibt Augenblicke, da wäre ich am liebsten ein Country-and-Western-Sänger», sagte Bono einem Bericht des «Express» zufolge. «Wenn ich in ein Hotel komme und da singt jemand "Oh, Ruby...", dann bin ich aufrichtig neidisch. Ich wäre gerne ein Crooner.» [ more]

thestar.com: Paige Pedlar autographed Bono's book and he autographed hers.

It was that kind of day.

The day before, the 7-year-old Grade 1 student was sitting in F.M. Heard School in Whitby. At about 2 o'clock, her mother, Anna, got a phone call. It was the Prime Minister's Office, saying the man himself would like to see the book Paige wrote and illustrated about AIDS orphans, Who Will Cuddle Them When They Sleep?

The next day, dressed in a black skirt, sweater and tights, Paige went to Parliament Hill, where she got to meet with Paul Martin and Bono, the lead singer of U2, who was in town to applaud Martin's announcements about new spending for HIV/AIDS.

Paige sat on the rock star's lap and her 2-year-old sister Erin in Paul Martin's, while people took photos. "You're an amazing little girl," Bono told Paige. She gave him her book and he said, "I have a little book to give you too."

He then gave her a book and CD of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, which he illustrated with help from his daughters Jordan and Eve.

"Love to the amazing Paige, from Bono, 2004," his autograph says, beside a drawing of himself. The night before the big day Paige told her friends she was going to meet "the singer guy." Then her family drove to Ottawa.

She got the idea for the book when she was watching television around the time of World Aids Day in December.

bbc.co.uk: We've got the short and sweet stats of the big money (earned and spent) by our lush celebs uncovered by the finance fiends from Liquid Assets. Bono is the latest to reveal his figures... which are quite handsome for a strong-minded singer from Dublin.

We reckon Bono can bank on a personal fortune totalling around £108 million - having earned around £26m of it from U2's songs. And that's despite splitting all profits not four, but five ways - with all band members and manager Paul McGuinness.

Because artists in Ireland are exempt from paying tax on royalties or artistic incomes, Bono's saved millions of pounds over the years. The band's royalty rate is believed to be 28% making them one of the highest earning acts in pop history. [ more]

usatoday.com: There's a lot not to love about Howard Stern. Janet Jackson and U2's lead singer, Bono, may not be your favorites, either.

But because the government has decided to target them in a new, censorious war on live broadcasting, all three deserve enthusiastic support. If we let the government win, a dreary world of bleeped, canned and punch-pulling television and radio awaits.

The FCC found that Bono's spontaneous use of a single expletive during the live broadcast of last year's Golden Globes Awards was indecent and profane. "This is really, really, f——— brilliant!" is the exclamation by Bono that ultimately upset the FCC.

The Bono edict may be the most troubling of the post-Super Bowl developments. Previously, the FCC's indecency rules — dubious to start with — were enforced only in cases of "deliberate and repetitive" uses of expletives.

Now, the commission says that the isolated or fleeting use of taboo words can lead to the revocation of licenses. And it has broadened the definition of forbidden words to include those that are "as highly offensive as the 'F-word.' " Blasphemy, as well as "personally reviling epithets," terms that are vulgar, irreverent and "grossly offensive" will also raise red flags now. [ more]

atu2.com: People Magazine's reports that Bono celebrated his birthday by attending the Troy premiere and afterparty at New York City's Cipriani last night. Bono and Ali were accompanied by their daughter Jordan, who was also celebrating a birthday (her 15th).

u2log.com: Last week U2log asked our friend Derek McAllister to check in on the “In the Time of Shaking” exhibition opening at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, where Edge introduced Yoko Ono to a gallery filled with socialites and media. Asked if he was happy with the new album to date, Edge told Derek,... [ more]

belfasttelegraph.co.uk: U2 LEAD singer Bono and Belfast legend Van Morrison appeared at a concert organised by actor Robert de Niro to bring life back to downtown New York.

Bono appealed to Americans to help fight Aids in Africa and thanked Pope John Paul II for his work in fighting poverty and disease in Africa.

Bono's lengthy speech at the concert was introduced by de Niro, who helped organise the festival two-and-a-half years ago in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks... [ more]

U2-Frontman Bono feiert heute seinen 44. Geburtstag!

Paul David Hewson, wie er mit bürgerlichem Namen heißt, wird heute, am 10. Mai, 44 Jahre alt. Seine Fans kennen ihn allerdings besser unter seinem Künstlernamen 'Bono', Frontmann und Sänger der irischen Rockband 'U2'.

Bereits seit über 20 Jahren ist Bono mit seiner Truppe eine Kultfigur und in der internationalen Rockszene nicht mehr wegzudenken. Verkaufsrekorde bei den Alben 'The Joshua Tree' und 'Rattle and Hum', könnten sogar den Beatles Konkurrenz machen.

Bono wuchs in den politischen Wirren Nordirlands auf. Seine Mutter starb früh. 1976 gründete er eine Band und wurde dort Sänger. Bereits 1978 gewannen sie einen Wettbewerb. Kurze Zeit später entstand 'U2'.