BY BETH LANDMAN KEIL AND DEBORAH MITCHELL

First Sinead O’Connor became a woman of the cloth. Now another Gaelic rock star is bringing the Bible to the masses.

In a partnership that practically defines the term creative synergy, U2 front man Bono will write an introduction to the Book of Psalms in a new paperback edition of the King James Bible due out November 1 — All Saints Day — from Grove/Atlantic. The edition, which assistant editor Brendan Cahill modestly calls “the most radical repackaging of the Bible since Gutenberg,” will also include authors E. L. Doctorow on Genesis and Thomas Cahill on Luke.

The Psalms introduction features Bono revealing (in his elliptical stream-of-consciousness style) the spirituality that has fueled religious-themed U2 songs like “40.” Specifically, Bono describes a lifelong obsession with Psalm writer (and proto-rocker) King David: “At age 12 I was a fan of David, he felt familiar . . . like a pop star could feel familiar. The words of the psalms were as poetic as they were religious and he was a star . . . the Elvis of the Bible, if we can believe the chiseling of Michelangelo (I still can’t figure out this most famous Jew’s foreskin).”

Mysterious ways, indeed. What’s next — The Edge on the Koran?

© 1999 New York magazine. All rights reserved.

U2 Star Voted One Of World’s Top Rockers

by Neil Michael

BONO has been named as one of the greatest rock stars of all time.

In next month’s Q music magazine poll, the charismatic U2 frontman comes in at number 18 beating the likes of Mick Jagger and Bruce Springsteen.

John Lennon was voted the top rocker, above fellow Beatle Paul McCartney, Elvis Presley and Madonna.

The only other Irish inclusion is Elvis Costello who was ranked 94 in the poll.

Boyzone and The Corrs, despite their huge international success, were not included in the list.

Bono, who also beat Led Zeppelin’s Robert Clamp and blues legend James Brown, is described: “He saved the world with his silly glasses and leather trousers.

“History often records only the mullet and the flag waving, but from the start Paul Hewson blew in like a fire storm.

“He was the most motivated front man since Joe Strummer and the least bit bothered with stilted notions of cool,” says Q magazine.

“The passion and bravery of his IRA-bating speech in 1988’s Rattle And Hum – which left him in a very vulnerable personable position – has been very widely respected.

“Elsewhere he deserves to be saluted for his pioneering stage-diving tactics, his early hymn-like song writing and his later Dylanesque delight in the lyrically incisive and ironic.

“He also deserves to be saluted for his continual work as a political figurehead and for his standing as the most magnetic on-stage performer of the post-punk age.”

Despite this glowing praise, Bono has been quoted as saying: “I don’t really believe in the rock star role.

“For me, after many years of trying to dodge, I have at last found a way of playing with it.”

© 1999 The Mirror. All rights reserved.