U2start.com | Sick of Bono

i think i am a bit sick of bono unfortunately... on so many levels.

i've said most of what i wanted to say in other topics and other people have made certain points so i won't go into too many details or repeat what's already been said but basically i think his non musical activities have got far FAR out of hand. up until the start of this decade he had the balance right.. he was simply seen by non fans as the singer of U2.. people generally either liked U2 or not - but because of the music! i remember when i became an absolutely massive U2 fan around 1995 every one of my school friends had an opinion on U2 but entirely based on the music which is the way it should be. now when anyone i meet (and nearly all of my current group of friends) form an opinion on U2 it is nearly ALWAYS based not around the music (which isn't much good these days but thats a different story) but primarily around bono who they all not only hate but hate passionately with a vengeance!

and it will never change now. he can't and won't go back. he's come too far to take a step back and make being a rock star his first job and as a fan, for me, that is the worst thing. no more re-invention ala 1991.

and on the infinitely more trivial levels i hate his image and those horrible horrible uncool rubbish designer sunglasses he is never ever ever ever ever ever EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRR seen without!

if i wasn't a long time fan of the band and the music and was constantly subjected to this irritating billionaire rockstar popping up EVERYWHERE preaching about africa and poverty and god knows what else, wearing shit sunglasses every time i saw him, i reckon i would hate his guts with a passion too and no matter how good the music of his (side project) band was i wouldn't be able to get into it simply cos of him!

it's hard to believe i used to actually think he was cool in the 90s and consider him one of my heroes....

oh and that article was spot on - i hope he reads it

u2spear

14 years

I don't hate him at all, he's still one of my heros.

People should just chill out. He makes beautiful music, and had provided us U2 fans with thousands of hours of delight and entertainment.

He's a 50 year old man and he is still doing many different things. I don't think many 50 year olds can stand up for 2 hours let alone sing and jump and perform.

Why criticise what he wear, he can wear what he wants, he's a millionaire and he doesn't let anyone tell him how to dress. Who cares what he looks like.

It sounds like we are a bunch of bitchy girls discussing what Cheryl Cole looks like these days. People should just get on with their own lives and stop being so sad as to pick faults in other peoples.

yeah

14 years

You have an interesting idea of age. He's 50, not 90. It's not that spectacular.

I agree that it doesn't matter what he wears or how he looks like, though. But as far as I can tell, noone here really blames him for that. What most people can't stand is the way he acts, not the way he looks.
And his campaigning calls for criticism, imho.

u2spear

14 years

Originally posted by yeah:You have an interesting idea of age. He's 50, not 90. It's not that spectacular.

I agree that it doesn't matter what he wears or how he looks like, though. But as far as I can tell, noone here really blames him for that. What most people can't stand is the way he acts, not the way he looks.
And his campaigning calls for criticism, imho.

To be honest I'd like to see you do everything he does when you are 50. I know he's not decrepid but to be fair he is very energetic for his age.

I do sometimes think if he cares that much why doesn't he just give some of his millions but why should he be criticised for helping poor people?

I think U2 fans don't like it that he sometimes campaigns to help poor people instead of making a new album, which is very selfish

ric

14 years

look i know it doesn't REALLY matter what he wears etc! as i said it is trivial and me moaning about what style of sunglasses he wears is also trivial! but you have to admit the sunglasses 100% of the time thing is ridiculous! i don't believe for a minute that at the start of the HTDAAB era he suddenly developed some condition that causes him to have to wear sunglasses every second of every day! that just sounds like a poor excuse with no grounding in medical fact. yes rock stars wear sunglasses but they also take them off too just like bono did up until the end of the elevation tour. it must have become some kind of obsessive compulsive thing with him... he must be quite insecure about something or other! thats the only explanation i can think of

yeah

14 years

Originally posted by u2spear:[..]

I do sometimes think if he cares that much why doesn't he just give some of his millions but why should he be criticised for helping poor people?

I think U2 fans don't like it that he sometimes campaigns to help poor people instead of making a new album, which is very selfish

Well, some people think that what he does doesn't really help the "poor people" but, in the best case is just a drop in the ocean and in the worst case makes the situation in Africa worse.

ric

14 years

Originally posted by u2spear:[..]

I think U2 fans don't like it that he sometimes campaigns to help poor people instead of making a new album, which is very selfish

sometimes you say? haha understatement of the century perhaps?

if you are one of those people who think bono cannot be criticised and can do no wrong then maybe you shouldn't be looking at a thread called 'sick of bono' cos it's just going to annoy you!

obviously i think very highly of bono and yes he has written some of my favourite songs of all time and he used to be one of my number one all time heroes. but at the same time i disagree with a lot of things he does, ESPECIALLY these days and i'm not ashamed to talk about it! whether it's his music, his campaigning or his sunglasses!

u2spear

14 years

Wikipedia:

" very sensitive eyes to light. If somebody takes my photograph, I will see the flash for the rest of the day. My right eye swells up. I've a blockage there, so that my eyes go red a lot. So it's part vanity, it's part privacy and part sensitivity."

I know, probably not the most reliable source but...hey

u2spear

14 years

Originally posted by ric:[..]

sometimes you say? haha understatement of the century perhaps?

if you are one of those people who think bono cannot be criticised and can do no wrong then maybe you shouldn't be looking at a thread called 'sick of bono' cos it's just going to annoy you!

obviously i think very highly of bono and yes he has written some of my favourite songs of all time and he used to be one of my number one all time heroes. but at the same time i disagree with a lot of things he does, ESPECIALLY these days and i'm not ashamed to talk about it! whether it's his music, his campaigning or his sunglasses!

I don't have a problem with anything he does, no. Yeah I am getting annoyed about it because I'm sure 99% of the people here don't even know him so how can you get sick of someone you don't even know?

I cannot agree or disagree with everything he does because I don't see and what I do see I have no problem with. U2 fans don't criticse anyone else who does carity work...

ric

14 years

Originally posted by u2spear:[..]

I don't have a problem with anything he does, no. Yeah I am getting annoyed about it because I'm sure 99% of the people here don't even know him so how can you get sick of someone you don't even know?

I cannot agree or disagree with everything he does because I don't see and what I do see I have no problem with. U2 fans don't criticse anyone else who does carity work...

i'm not sure what point your trying to make? i don't know him personally no! - i'm sure he's a very nice person and i've never disputed that! but not knowing him personally has nothing to do with the way i feel about him!. i know as much about him as it's probably possible to know without being personally connected to him or anyone else closely connected to him! do you know him personally? do you know him better than '99% of the people here'?

and as for not criticising anyone else who does charity work - why would i?! they aren't bono! what relevance would criticising other people have in this thread? i suppose i could compare they way other people go about their charity in more discreet and less damaging ways (both to themselves and the cause they are campaigning for)....

Thib6992

14 years

Well, if he can use his popularity to help people, can't see where's the problem.

But I think the problem for some U2 fans is that Bono does not separate his activities. I mean, during gigs, you can have speeches lasting five minutes about AIDS, poverty, Aung San Suu Kyi...

I'm not that disturbed by this though. I can't remember how much money the Vertigo Tour's ads for the One Campaign that he made every gig raised but I think it's a lot. So, even if we are disturbed by Bono speeches for five minutes, come on, it helps people...

yeah

14 years

Originally posted by Thib6992:Well, if he can use his popularity to help people, can't see where's the problem.

But I think the problem for some U2 fans is that Bono does not separate his activities. I mean, during gigs, you can have speeches lasting five minutes about AIDS, poverty, Aung San Suu Kyi...

I'm not that disturbed by this though. I can't remember how much money the Vertigo Tour's ads for the One Campaign that he made every gig raised but I think it's a lot. So, even if we are disturbed by Bono speeches for five minutes, come on, it helps people...

His popularity doesn't help people, that's the problem.

And the mixing you mention is something I'm sick of, too. As I mentioned before in this topic, I'm glad that U2 is a political band. And it's okay to mix these things into the shows like they did on 360. What pissed me of was the preaching during the Vertigo tour, but I guess they learned from that.

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