U2.COM : Remembering Frank Barsalona

"He taught U2 and myself something that has stood us in good stead - that an artist has two parallel careers: one on record and one live. The fact that record success came later for U2 was compensated for by their much quicker rise to fame as one of the great live attractions."

Frank Barsalona, founder of Premier Talent, was the man Paul McGuinness sought out when he flew to New York in 1980, while U2 were still recording their debut album 'Boy'. He was a man, as Bono remembers, 'who believed in U2 as much as we did.'

U2.COM : 'Crowd Is Gathered In Black And White...' [video]

New Year's Day is one of 15 tracks on Edge's Picks, a limited-edition live CD that comes with From The Ground Up:U2.com Music Edition. Here's what it was like at Croke Park, Dublin in July 2009. Remember it ?

U2.COM : Get On Your Boots (taken from Edge's picks) [video]

U2.COM : U2 vs Tiësto - Pride (In The Name Of Love)

On Tuesday Tiësto releases an exclusive compilation album, DANCE (RED), SAVE LIVES, featuring artists like Calvin Harris, Avicii and Diplo.

The album is designed to mobilise dance music fans in the fight against AIDS - and raise vital funds ahead of World AIDS Day. More information here.

One of the stand-out tracks is a collaboration between Tiësto and Bono on a remix of Pride (In The Name Of Love) - and for U2.com subscribers we've got the premiere.

Take a listen on U2.COM - and let us know what you think.

U2.COM : DANCE (RED), SAVE LIVES

(RED) have announced a collaboration with one of the world’s leading DJs and electronic dance music pioneers, Tiësto.

Next Tuesday, November 27, Tiësto will release an exclusive compilation album, DANCE (RED), SAVE LIVES, followed by a global livestream – powered by YouTube - from Melbourne’s Stereosonic Festival over World AIDS Day weekend on December 1st and 2nd.

The compilation features artists including Calvin Harris, Avicii and Diplo, as well as an exclusive collaboration between Tiësto and Bono on U2's 'Pride'.

Mobilizing the huge global community of dance music fans in the fight against AIDS, Tiësto and his fellow DANCE (RED), SAVE LIVES artists will livestream their sets from the Stereosonic Festival on YouTube, bringing fans an unforgettable live global music experience. The stream will be available at www.youtube.com/joinred.

The announcement comes as (RED) and its partners mark an important milestone in the fight against AIDS, having generated $200 million for the Global Fund.

Speaking about his collaboration with (RED), Tiësto  said; “When I went to Africa in 2006, I was struck by the devastating effect of AIDS. Now the world has an incredible chance to make sure that babies are born HIV free by 2015, and the dance community is going to make a lot of noise to help make this happen.”

Bono, wife and Diesel launch new line 'made in Africa'

 
U2 lead singer Bono Vox together with his wife Ali Hewson and Veneto-based Diesel owner Renzo Rosso said on Friday that they will be launching a line of jeans 100% made in Africa.

The line of jeans will be produced under the label Edun+Diesel and sold in Diesel outlets across the globe.

The trio announced the project at the IHT Luxury Conference 2012 in Rome and said that the first jeans will be ready to hit the shelves by February.

"When we first spoke about it, I thought oh no, another solidarity project. Instead, this is business," said Bono at the conference.

 Source: ANSA

U2.COM : 'The Power of the People'

In Washington DC this week Bono met up with activists and politicians from all sides ahead of the 'fiscal cliff' budget discussions. His focus has been to draw attention to how US development assistance saves millions of lives in the poorest countries - and the ways in which social movements can drive real change.

'The power of the people is much stronger than the people in power,' he told 700 students and activists at Georgetown University, quoting Wael Ghonim, the Google exec who helped ignite Egypt's democratic revolution.  Watch the whole speech.

At the White House he met with Vice President Joe Biden to talk about global development, AIDS, and poverty and at the World Bank joined Group President Jim Yong Kim for an open conversation asking 'What Will It Take To End Poverty?'
'We know there’s going to be cuts,' said Bono. 'We understand that. But not cuts that cost lives.'
Find the conversation storified here  or watch it all again.

Roles were reversed on Wednesday, at a Newsweek & Daily Beast event to honour people who change lives around the world. Bono nominated New York Times columnist Nick Kristof as his hero - and then interviewed him.

The week out of the studio finished up in Rome, where he joined Ali to launch a new collaboration between Edun and Diesel - a line sourced and made entirely in Africa. Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune hosted a  conversation with Renzo Rosso, founder of Diesel, Erastus Kibugu of Technoserve and Ali and Bono which you can catch up on here.

For the latest news on Bono's campaign work in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases, keep checking in with One.

U2.COM : Electrical Storm (taken from Edge's Picks) [video]

U2.COM : What Did Edge Pick ?

A limited-edition CD that's only available with a subscription to U2.com, Edge's Picks comes with From The Ground Up:U2.com Music Edition.

We know it features 15 tracks live from U2360°. But what do we know about the tracks?

We know from the video player on the U2.com home page these last few days that Electrical Storm, live from Milan, is one of the tracks.

We know from the audio player on the home page that New Year's Day and Get On Your Boots are also on the CD. (Some more 'Boots' below.)

 We know that when you subscribe (or resubscribe) you can instantly download two bonus tracks, No Line On The Horizon and Spanish Eyes. That rules them out of the 15.

And we can rule out another 22 tracks - the 22 on U22, our earlier CD set from U2360°.

We also hear that each song on Edge's Picks has previously been released as a single or album track.

And (drum roll...) today we can reveal that the CD opens with Breathe...  and closes with "40".

So what other tracks are you betting will be on Edge's Picks? Make your predictions in the comments below.

(You can refresh your memory of what the band were playing on the road between 2009 and 2011 here.)

Incidentally, as jmcca93 says here, 'I need some of Edge's Picks - normal picks don't get the same chime sound.'

So what are Edge's Picks?

Bono’s Georgetown speech on social activism uplifts and inspires

Direct link ---> http://www.georgetown.edu/webcast/bono-social-enterprise.html

 ONE Co-founder Bono gave a powerful speech on activism and global social movements to a crowd of 700 students at Georgetown University last night. His nearly hour-long speech received a standing ovation and praise on Twitter and Facebook. Many students walked away feeling inspired and uplifted.
“Best speech ever,” one student remarked as he left the building. “This is going to be all over YouTube tomorrow,” another said.
The event, hosted by the Global Social Enterprise Initiative at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, kicks off Bono’s week of meetings with US bipartisan congressional lawmakers and senior Obama officials to stress the effectiveness of US foreign assistance programs.
Bono joked about taking on the role of “professor” for the evening, calling his speech “Pop Cultural Studies 101.”
“Today, we’re gonna discuss why rock stars should never, ever be given the microphone at institutions of higher learning,” he said.
Bono spent the next hour proving that statement wrong. He began his speech talking about the “biggest obstacle in the world”: extreme poverty. He then talked about the incredible ability for social movements to make real change, citing the Arab Spring and social media, and touched upon the work that ONE does in the fight against extreme poverty. Technology, especially the “Afro-nerds” in Africa, are helping to speed things up and increase transparency, reducing corruption and poverty.
He warned students of the looming fiscal cliff and encouraged them to take action (which you can do at the bottom of this blog post) to protect our US international affairs budget, which funds life-saving programs for AIDS, hunger and preventable disease. “We must not let this economic recession become a moral recession. that would be double cruelty,” he said of the potential cuts.
He also said that extreme poverty is not a “right-left” issue… it’s a “right-wrong” issue, and noted that presidents from both sides of the aisles have made great strides in reducing poverty around the world, praising Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Bono ended his speech with a call on Georgetown students and activists around the globe to lift up their voice for the world’s poorest people. “The power of the people is much stronger than the people in power,” he said.
Bank of America CEO and President Brian Moynihan, Senator Norm Coleman, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senator Patrick Leahy and USAID Administrator Raj Shah were also in attendance.

source : http://www.one.org/

U2.COM : 'Like Being In an iPod'

'From the Ground Up' is the story of U2360°,  the inside track of what became the biggest rock'n'roll tour in history. The newly announced 'U2.com Music Edition' of this essential book, adds the soundtrack - Edge's Picks, a 15 track live CD curated by The Edge.

In this edited extract, writer Dylan Jones is backstage on showday in Moscow, describing how the band get ready each night - and how they hear each other during the show.  'Being on stage,' reflects Adam. 'Is sometimes like being in an iPod.' (And that stunning photo above ? It's from the book. They're all sensational!)

U2.COM : From The Ground Up, U2360° Tour Photobook... now with sound.

'The story of the 360° tour is as epic as the numbers, from the seven million people who bought tickets to the logistics of moving three identical sets around continents each one taking 150 trucks to transport. Above all it was an epic experience led by the music and the show. This is the story of U2's biggest tour to date and biggest tour of all time.'

With these words U2's manager Paul McGuinness introduces From The Ground Up, the inside account of the 360° Tour which takes readers behind the scenes from Bono's kitchen table where he first tries to imagine a new stage design to the final night of what became the biggest tour ever.

The lavish 260 page large-format hardback photobook, with text by Dylan Jones and photography by Ralph Larmann, is the definitive account in words and images of the epic two years that was U2360°.

And for U2.com subscribers From The Ground Up now comes with sound!.

U2.COM : What is it about... Bad?

'If you twist and turn away...'

We asked you to tell us your stories about an unforgettable U2 song - the one that matters most to you and why.

You wrote about scores of different tracks from the U2 canon but certain songs just kept coming up - again and again.

This is what you told us about 'Moment of Surrender'.

Here we've pulled more of your stories together to answer the question, 'What is it about... Bad?' And, from the archives, we've dug out the Barry Devlin directed video from The Unforgettable Fire tour back in 1984.

Not yet told us a story about your own unforgettable song ? You still can. Does '40' lift you up out of the miry clay? Does 'Please' get you up off your knees? Are you walking on because of Walk On? (You get the idea...) Tell us about that song here.