Latest U2 News / Sightings

Originally posted by KieranU2:[..]

Keep their tickets and the shows will be reschuled for 2011.

Originally posted by U2bonox:According to several French sources (U2france, U2achtung), The entire band was gathered at the private Villa of Bono in Eze, Yesterday, and would do a few rehearsals. What is strange here is that according to the sources, the whole group participated, even Bono would normally be at rest after his back injury.

Originally posted by Risto:Rehearsal can mean Bono on couch with or without mic

Originally posted by drewhiggins:[..]

I wasn't expecting him to rest. Maybe it's part two of Stand Up Comedy: Sit Down Pain.

Originally posted by Irish

Bono and Ali risk millions in bid to save ethical fashion

By Anne-Marie Walsh

[image]
Bono and Ali in New York in 2005



Monday May 31 2010

BONO and his wife Ali Hewson risk losing millions of euro if they fail in a new bid to get their ethical clothing line off the ground.

Ali has admitted their venture, Edun, has not made a profit yet but she is trying to reverse its fortunes since the family moved to New York last year.

She also admitted the "aesthetics" of the fair trading fashion range she founded with Bono and fashion designer Rogan Gregory in 2005 has been overshadowed by its mission to increase employment in Africa and developing regions.

Less than three years ago, Edun had $3.6m (€2.9m) in outstanding bank loans and owed its three shareholders $7.9m (€6.4m), but the Hewsons hope to turn the business around after partnering with global luxury goods giant LVMH last year.

LVMH, which owns numerous high-end brands including Givenchy, Moet & Chandon, Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Christian Dior, took a minority stake in the socially conscious fashion company.

Edun, which has a base in the trendy Tribeca area of New York, plans to bring out a collection in time for the World Cup, with designs by children living in slums in Nairobi.

"It hasn't made money -- it hasn't made a profit yet," said Ali of Edun. "But it's growing. It's growing...

"The first five years of the company is about putting money in and building the trade. So of course we had to support it. We're still here supporting it now, because we believe in it."

She said the family's decision to move from their home in Killiney, Dublin, to a penthouse in the Upper West Side of New York helped her to grow the business, which she insisted is "very strong and ambitious".

"I've been seeing how the operation was being upgraded on a daily, weekly basis," she said.

"It's been amazing to see how far it has come in six months.

Homesick

"I couldn't have done that if I was in Dublin, as I'd have to keep going backwards and forwards."

Ali also said that her youngest children wanted to get back to Ireland "fast" after spending almost a year in the US. She said Elijah (10) and John (9) were homesick and missed their Dublin pals since they moved last September.

They were also upset that a planned trip home had been cancelled after their dad injured his back.

U2 were forced to cancel tour dates, including one at Glastonbury next month, after doctors advised Bono to take two months off to recover from an emergency operation.

His injury has put the future of the band's 360 tour across the east coast of America in jeopardy.

But the Hewsons' move to the US has had its advantages, and has meant Bono and Ali are closer to their daughters Jordan (21) and Eve (18) who are studying at Columbia and New York University.

Ali said she enjoyed daily walks through Central Park with her sons to their "very rigorous" Jewish school on the Upper East Side.

She said that Bono was well aware of public fatigue at celebrity charity activists.

"He's always known, if you want to get anything done you've got to stand in the firing line sometimes," she said. "He doesn't do it for the warm fuzzy feelings. He does it to actually bring some change about, and highlight issues that were being pushed under the carpet. And he does it very effectively.

"Bono will say to you, 'I'm sick of Bono, and I am Bono'."

- Anne-Marie Walsh

Irish Independent

Originally posted by MacStripey:delivering from the Irish Independent as usual

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