Don’t get me wrong, I like U2. I’ve even spent the hundred bucks to go see them myself - and that was the cheap seats. But Bono sometimes seems to be so eager for the camera (or visa versa) that strange things can come out of his mouth.
What triggered this was an article titled “Bono Praises U2 Fans in Argentina,” where he reportedly was thankful that Argentinian fans were as passionate about music as they were about soccer. Well, if they were passionate about Mozart or Shakira, I’m not sure he would have seen fit to comment.
To be fair, I’m not sure how far the praise went. Every concert I went to included the phrase “Thank you (insert city name here)!” During good concerts, they get the name right. It just seems that it’s such a NON news story that it makes the news. Make the title generic and you have “Singer Thanks Those Who Showered Him With Cash.” That applies to everyone, except for maybe Axl Rose.
Then again, Bono has been known to open his wallet to help out and has been a very big advocate of other people opening their wallets for the causes he supports. It was mentioned that he met with Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva where he discussed the government’s anti-poverty program (and probably the benefits of going by one name instead of five).
So when it comes down to it, I’m not sure if I should be harder on the press or Bono. I mean, Bono has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, which is worth like ten AMA awards, and that’s good enough for me. And if that means that non-news makes the headlines, so be it.