Latest U2 News & Information

THE architect at the centre of the 1990s regeneration of Temple Bar yesterday said if ambitious plans like those for U2’s Clarence Hotel were on the table back then he would have backed them.

James Howley, who oversaw much of the regeneration of the cultural centre of Dublin, told a hearing of An Bord Pleanala into plans to transform the Clarence site: “It is important to understand the meaning and essence of the term conservation, which is often mistakenly confused with those of preservation.” Read the rest of this story »

The lead singer for the Irish rock band U2 is expected to attend the 10th anniversary celebration of the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland on Friday, April 11. He will be one of over 200 expected guests to attend. Ireland’s Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, former British premier Tony Blair, US Senator George Mitchell, Northern Ireland politician John Hume and Africa campaigner Bob Geldof are also expected to attend.

The Good Friday Agreement, signed in Belfast April 10, 1998, led to the creation of the administration between pro-British Unionists and pro-Irish Nationalists in Belfast.

Ahern has stated, “It is particularly appropriate that we honour Tony Blair, his achievements and his huge personal commitment to the cause of peace in Northern Ireland as we mark the 10th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.”

- Finditt

After an Easter break, U2 is back in the studio in Dublin to work on its next album with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. “Everyone [is] still hoping the new album will be out this year,” reads a post on U2.com.

The as-yet-untitled disc will be followed by a 2009 tour, U2’s first since recently cementing a 12-year deal with Live Nation Artists.

In other U2 news, Universal has set a July 22 release for remastered, expanded editions of the band’s first three albums: “Boy” (1980), “October” (1981) and “War” (1983).

Guitarist the Edge is overseeing the reissues, which will include the original album on a single-disc, 180-gram vinyl and in a two-CD package featuring B-sides, rare tracks and live material.

The reissue program began last fall with “The Joshua Tree,” which featured a previously unreleased video for “Red Hill Mining Town” and a host of other rarities.

- Billboard.com

April 9, 2008 — AFTER more than two years, Bono has finally found a buyer for his co-op apartment at 300 Central Park West. The Post’s Braden Keil reports that the U2 frontman sold his three-bedroom, fourbath co-op in the Eldorado for $4.9 million after first listing it for $5.5 million. Under his given name, Paul Hewson, the singer and his wife, Ali Hewson, paid $3.4 million for the 16th-floor pad in 2001. The couple listed the place after buying a larger duplex penthouse down the street in the San Remo from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 2005 for $14.9 million.

- New York Post

In ‘The View Presents… The Edge’ the guitarist talks about the responsibilities of fame, creativity and the band’s longevity.

Commenting on how U2 have remained so cohesive a unit over 30 years, he says: “Maybe it’s because we were friends before we were a band. So in a sense the friendships were solid, so when it came to those moments of conflicts or difficulty, we kind of were able to skirt around the big conflicts and diffuse the situation and so we’re operating in pretty much the same way now as we always did.”

The View Web page

THE Sunday Independent in Ireland published its annual list of who’s making what over there, and to absolutely no one’s surprise, U2 top the list of wealthiest entertainers, with a healthy bank balance of €900 million. Nice! “The band, which has traditionally split earnings equally among Bono, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen, the Edge and manager Paul McGuinness, has begun to divide up its vast portfolio among their respective families,” says the Indo. Clearly, the relatives won’t have any financial worries in the future!

Coming in second is Michael Flatley, who’s said to have €590 million to his name. Chicago-born Flatley resides full time at his Castlehyde mansion in Co. Cork with wife Niamh and son Michael Junior. “He has a wide range of investments,” says the paper. Putting it mildly! Read the rest of this story »