U2 and Bob Dylan producer Daniel Lanois has admitted he is lucky to be alive after he was involved in a motorcycle accident last month.

The Quebec-born musician and producer broke six bones, cracked his pelvis and suffered internal bleeding in his right lung following the crash in Los Angeles.

“I was on my bike with a friend of mine on the back and a guy coming the other way decided to turn in front of me into a variety store,” he told Rolling Stone.

“I veered to miss him, but I hit an industrial box on the sidewalk going 35 miles per hour. I blacked out and when I came to I was laying on my back in the parking lot and people were telling me, ‘Don’t move.’ Then they hauled me away to a hospital and I had to lay there like a vegetable for three weeks.”

The producer has been in a wheelchair ever since he was involved in the crash at the beginning of June.

The accident also forced the postponement of a series of tour dates with his new group Black Dub, who were due to play the Jazz Café in London yesterday (July 27).

- NME

Even though U2 topped Forbes’ recently released list of top-earning music acts of last year, the band’s insurance firm isn’t quite so lucky.

Bono (and U2) performs at Croke Park

Insurance broker Robertson Taylor incurred a bill of $17 million in the wake of the back injury Bono sustained during tour rehearsals, according to The Sun.

Bono required emergency surgery, and the band had to subsequently table their US summer tour and cancel their first-ever headlining appearance at the Glastonbury festival.

Along with Bono’s pain and suffering, and the band losing millions in tour revenue, the insurance company also took a hit.

Bono is currently focusing on his recovery and the band’s tour is being rescheduled for 2011.

Who is your favorite member of U2: Bono or The Edge? Who has a cooler name?

—Amy Sciarretto

U2 are reworking two of their classic songs in collaboration with Dave Hollister, a member of the American R&B group Blackstreet.

Hollister revealed his involvement with the Dublin band by posting on his Twitter page: “In the studio working with U2! Man I’m excited! Bono baby!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Apparently, the two tracks being reworked are ‘All I Want Is You’, from the 1988 album “Rattle and Hum”, and ‘Grace,’ from 2000’s “All That You Can’t Leave Behind.”

U2 will be returning to their tour next month following Bono’s back surgery. The rock star has declared he’s now “fighting fit” after undergoing the procedure.

- IrishCentral.com

Live Nation Entertainment announced today that the U2 360° tour dates in the US, which were recently postponed due to Bono’s emergency back surgery, have all been rescheduled for Spring/Summer 2011 with all tickets being valid at the rescheduled performances.

The 2010 European tour, which has not been affected, begins as scheduled on August 6th in Turin.

U2’s manager Paul McGuinness thanked fans for their ongoing support, “We’re delighted the dates are rescheduled and in all the same venues we originally planned to play. It hasn’t been easy to accomplish this and I’d like to thank the managers of the many venues and sports teams across North America and Live Nation Global Touring for their help and cooperation in making this complex new plan possible. Above all we want to thank the U2 fans for bearing with us. They’re the best and the band wants to get back to where they belong, surrounded by their audience.”

The U2 360° Tour is produced by Live Nation Global Touring and sponsored in 2010 by BlackBerry.

The North American Tour rescheduled dates, are confirmed as follows:

Tickets for the previously scheduled performances will be honoured at the door. Tickets for the rescheduled performances will be available at www.livenation.com and all usual outlets.  Refunds if required available at point of purchase.

Additional dates and cities to be confirmed.

- U2.com

(RTTNews) – U2 frontman Bono and his private equity firm Elevation Partners have reportedly purchased a large stake in social networking giant Facebook. Last November, the firm bought 2.5 million shares in the company and have now added an additional five million shares, says blog TechCrunch.com.

To date, Bono and his crew have invested a whopping $210 million dollars in Facebook. The large purchase comes on the heels of a disastrous investment in failing mobile device maker Palm Inc. last year.

Bono’s big investment in Facebook is not the only business news surrounding the band this week. They were also collectively named number seven on Forbes Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Powerful Celebrities. The list considers each celebrity’s overall standing including income, tv ratings, radio rankings and Internet presence.

by RTT Staff Writer

Muse were joined onstage by U2 guitarist The Edge as they headlined Glastonbury tonight (June 26).

The space-rock trio played the closing Pyramid Stage for the second time in six years, bringing the second day to an epic finish.

The band brought their special brand of bombast, despite a relatively-stripped down show compared to what they are used to, although the biggest surprise was reserved for the encore.

The band left the stage for a lengthy breather after finishing the initial set with ‘Stockholm Syndrome’. When they returned, they were joined by The Edge, who added his trademark guitar to a version of U2′s ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’.

“This is our friend The Edge,” Muse frontman Matt Bellamy said simply at the end of the mass sing-along.

U2 had been due to headline Glastonbury last night, but were forced to pull out after Bono seriously injured his back. They were replaced by Gorillaz.

Muse appeared relaxed onstage throughout the gig, with Bellamy, dressed in white trousers and a red T-shirt, telling the audience; “I can’t believe it’s not fucking raining. I’ve been waiting 15 years for it to be sunny at Glastonbury. Shout out to Michael Eavis! And his daughter [Emily]!”

Muse’s return to Glastonbury was heavy on material from current album ‘The Resistance’, but they threw in curveballs such as ‘Nishe’, the B-side to 2000 single ‘Unintended’, and their traditional cover of ‘Feeling Good’, the song made famous by Nina Simone.

Muse played:

‘Uprising’
‘Supermassive Black Hole’
‘New Born’
‘Map Of The Problematique’
‘Guiding Light’
‘Citizen Erased’
‘Nishe’
‘United States Of Eurasia’
‘Feeling Good’
‘Undisclosed Desires’
‘Resistance’
‘Hysteria’
‘Time Is Running Out’
‘Starlight’
‘Stockholm Syndrome’
‘Where The Streets Have No Name’
‘Plug In Baby’
‘Knights Of Cydonia’

- NME