Quick facts.
joelcairo said:
Let's give full credit to U2: that pompous blowhard Bono - even his made-up name is a joke - and his buddies have already made 5 or 6 good tunes in their 25 year career. Forget about these ageing overpaid self-loving bores.
Your entitled to your opinion but there are about, oh, say a couple hundred million people who would disagree with you wholeheartedly.
Bono is only part of his "made up name." The original name was "Bono Vox" which is latin for "good voice." He used it in an add to find band mates when he was in high school. Bonos real name is Paul Hewson.
He is considered by many to be one of the greatest humanitarians of our time, and he is in fact one of the most influential people in the world.
He uses his influence, fame and fortune to help the poorest people in the world through tireless efforts to get politicians to forgive third world debt, give more aid to help combat the AIDS crisis in Africa, provide vaccinations against diseases which have been eradicated in the first world such as malaria, provide clean drinking water for African villages, end torture and the imprisonment of political prisoners, etc etc etc...the list goes on and on, all of it evidence of his selflessness.
Surprisingly he himself has remarked that he and musicians in general are overpaid for what they do. He takes that money however and puts it where his mouth is by giving huge sums to the causes he supports. This is why U2 fans are happy to pay hundreds of dollars for a single ticket to see them. Bono has unquestioned credibility and integrity.
U2 is arguably the greatest Rock Band on the planet, all due respect to the Rolling Stones. They are the only band that can sell out large stadiums on EVERY continent other than Antarctica (and if they held a concert there you can be sure a bunch of U2 fans would find a way to go). This is not speculation, they have done it already and are going to do it again with sold out dates in South Africa, Asia, Australia, South America, Europe and North America.
You are right about one thing, they are aging, which is all the more amazing that they continously pull in more and more fans of all ages with every album they make. They are constantly changing their sound so as not to become stale and they incorporate many different genres of music into their albums which can only be described as masterpieces. Nearly everyone in the music industry wants to work with Bono and U2 and they are held in the highest esteem by their colleagues no matter what type of music they play.
5 or 6 tunes does not a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee make, sorry to tell you. They were inducted earlier this year by one of their biggest admirers, The Boss, Bruce Springsteen himself.
Why someone would write such unfair, untrue, and mean spirited remarks about Bono or U2 is beyond me. He is quite simply the John Lennon of our generation. A person to be listened to and learned from, a person to be cherished. But then again there were those who chanted for Christs crucifixion so maybe I shouldn't be so surprised.
