Bono is planning to transform some of Australia’s most famous landmarks into a sea of red to mark World AIDS Day. As the founder of AIDS organization Red, the 50-year-old U2 front-man has been invited Down Under to change the colour of Sydney’s Harbour Bridge and Opera House next Tuesday as part of the charity’s global awareness-raising day. The Daily Telegraph reported that Premier Kristina Keneally and Governor-General Quentin Bryce will host the ceremony and other landmarks of international fame, such as the London Eye, will also be given the same treatment.
Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry suffered some injuries from a car crash in Middleborough, Massachusetts on Thursday. The rock star was transported to Morton Hospital and Medical Center to assess the damage. Luckily, the injuries were pretty minor and he has since been released from the hospital. The crash occurred on Route 44, where Joe was hit from behind by a sedan. It’s good that he wasn’t hurt too bad. I wish him a speedy recovery from the injuries that he sustained. Stay healthy! Why are rock stars so injury prone? Bono’s been injured. Jon Bon Jovi’s injured. And now Joe. Huh.
Good news for U2 fans! Bono is feeling better and will come back on stage in August to continue the European tour , only 3 months after being hospitalized for an operation on his back. The band was forced to delay the North American tour and give up the Glastonbury performance. Now that Bono is feeling better, the band will hold their first concert of this tour, in Torino, Italy, in August. Also the Irish guys reprogrammed a few concerts from the North American tour, and the first concert will take place in Denver in next year’s May.
Well, their music is going to the World Cup anyway. ESPN has recently struck a deal with Bono and the rest of the boys to use their music for their coverage of the World Cup. More so, a gospel choir from South Africa has also recorded their own versions of some of U2’s songs for ESPN to use. Bono must be so proud of all of this… now he and his band mates can spiritually be at the World Cup competition, even though they might be off celebrating some other success of theirs in some other exotic part of the world.
The new version of ?We are the World?, benefiting Haitian earthquake relief efforts, premiered during the opening of the Winter Olympics. The star-studded remake of the song and video include Akon, Bono, India Arie, Patti Austin, Tony Bennett, Justin Bieber, Bizzy Bone, Ethan Bortnick, Brandy, Jeff Bridges, Toni Braxton, Zac Brown, Kristian Bush, Busta Rhymes, Natalie Cole, Harry Connick Jr., Kid Cudi, Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, Snoop Dogg, Drake, Earth Wind & Fire, Faith Evans, Fergie, Melanie Fiona, Jamie Foxx, Sean Garrett, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Groban, Anthony Hamilton, Keri Hilson, Julianne Hough, Jennifer Hudson, Enrique Iglesias, LL Cool J, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Randy Jackson, Taj Jackson, Taryll Jackson, TJ Jackson, Al Jardine, Joe Jonas, Kevin Jonas, Nick Jonas, Rashida Jones, Gladys Knight, Adam Levine, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Benji Madden, Joel Madden, Mary Mary, Katharine McPhee, Jason Mraz, M?a, Jennifer Nettles, Orianthi, Freda Payne, P!nk, A. R. Rahman, Nicole Richie, Raphael Saadiq, Carlos Santana, Nicole Scherzinger, Isaac Slade, Trey Songz, Musiq Soulchild, Jordin Sparks, Barbra Streisand, Swizz Beatz, T-Pain, Robin Thicke, Rob Thomas, Usher, Vince Vaughn, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Will.i.am, Ann Wilson, Brian Wilson, Nancy Wilson and BeBe Winan. Bravo!
An impressive list of top stars have arrived in Los Angeles to record a charity single to raise money for the victims of the Haiti earthquake.
The singers and actors all met at the Jim Henson Studios in Hollywood on Monday afternoon to begin the recording of We Are The World.
Among those spotted entering the studio were: Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Justin Bieber, Vince Vaughn, Kanye West (pictured) and girlfriend Amber Rose, Julianne Hough, will.i.am, Wyclef Jean, T-Pain, Randy Jackson, Gladys Knight, Brandy, Keri Hilson, Faith Evans, Rob Thomas, Nancy Wilson, Nicole Scherzinger, Harry Connick jr, Katharine McPhee, Robin Thicke, Josh Groban and India.Arie.
Other stars rumoured to be participating included Miley Cyrus, Bono, Lady GaGa, and Sheryl Crow.
Producer Quincy Jones – the man behind the 1985 original version of the song that featured Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and many others – confirmed the remake.
He said: “It’s the 25th anniversary and it’s perfect timing. It’s not an accident, man. That’s God. It will be We Are The World for Haiti.”
The Broadway adaptation of ?Spider Man? is having difficulty getting into the Great White Way but that?s not stopping U2?s Bono from giving away details about what the show is supposed to be like, including describing what kind of character the superhero would be. The singer said ?Our Peter Parker is much more?not Kurt Cobain, but a kind of slacker, a more kind of shy sort of guy.? Bono also said that the show will touch both opera and rock n roll. It?s not surprising considering it?s a musical of a different kind. What is surprising though is Bono?s praise for actress Evan Rachel Wood, saying ?She’s the greatest actor of her generation, she’s the one to watch. She happens to sing like a bird, it’s like a true voice. She’s a very pure spirit and a very bright mind and she brings the part of MJ to life really.?
Bono and The Edge have used their background as rock ‘n’ roller kids on the outside, looking in, to write the score for the upcoming Spider Man Turn off The Dark,.
“We were open to the idea of musical theatre but Spider Man – that?s a different thing again,” Bono told Rolling Stone. “Because that?s comic books and there?s a whole series of relationships between punk rock and rock bands and comic books. That goes back years.”
Then U2 frontman then added: “But to mess with all these aspects of pop culture, put ‘em in a blender and see what could come out at the other end …?
The Edge said the film’s hero Peter Parker was like any kid who was a geek and got bullied at school. “He’s not from another planet. He’s not been constructed out of some strange substance. He’s a human being, he’s a kid who came up through a regular high school and got bitten by a spider. It could happen to anyone!
“He’s sort of like every rock and roll star’s story in a weird way. In parallel. Every rock and roll star probably started out as the geek who was bullied in school and eventually their form of revenge was to write songs and play guitar. Or to sing and play drums. And some of us ended up in big bands.”
Bono countered that he was more of a green goblin, saying: “Edge is the nerdy guy.”
The Edge said the audience for rock music and for comic books is the same. It’s “kids like ourselves” at 15 or 16 out in the suburbs. He said: “In in our case [it was] Dublin city but it could be any city in America or in Europe. It seems at that moment in your life that there’s this world out there you just can’t get access to and the only way you can connect with it is through music or comic books or movies.”
