A 14-minute poem written by U2 frontman Bono about Elvis Presley is to receive its premiere next Wednesday (May 13).

Entitled ‘American David’, the poem is thought to have been written by Bono in 1994. A spoken word version of the piece – read and recorded by the U2 frontman two years ago – will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 11pm (BST) next Wednesday.

Originally recorded during a documentary about the history of Sun Records, Bono was convinced to recite the poem by director Des Shaw.

“I said I’d love to hear it and he ran upstairs and grabbed it and just read it for us,” Shaw explained to The Times. “He said, ‘There you go, do with it what you want’.

“I suppose, really, it’s his thoughts on Elvis. He’s a huge fan and he knows an awful, awful lot about his music.

“We’ve been tossing ideas around for two years, keeping on going back to it and trying to work out how we’d use it. It took a while to work out how to produce it in a very effective but bonkers way. It’s a difficult one for Radio 4.”

The poem is set to be preceded with a warning about its language. It includes the following lines:

“Elvis the bumper stickers/Elvis the white knickers/Elvis the white nigger ate at Burger King and just kept getting bigger”.

- NME

Shot in Morocco, directed by Alex Courtes, starring Adam, Larry, Edge and Bono… could only be the video premiere of Magnificent. Enjoy.

A few weeks back the band headed out to Fes, Morocco, to make a video for the new single, Magnificent . Here’s our exclusive behind-the-scenes doco on the shoot.

The new single is Magnificent and it’s now on release – along with a series of very happening remixes. Pete Tong, Redanka, Fred Falke, and Adam K and Soha have all come up with completely new takes on the track. Check them out in our new Media Player.

Visit U2.com to check audio samples.

I AM in Midtown Manhattan, where drivers still play their car horns as if they were musical instruments and shouting in restaurants is sport.

I am a long way from the warm breeze of voices I heard a week ago on Easter Sunday.

“Glorify your name,” the island women sang, as they swayed in a cut sandstone church. I was overwhelmed by a riot of color, an emotional swell that carried me to sea.

Christianity, it turns out, has a rhythm — and it crescendos this time of year. The rumba of Carnival gives way to the slow march of Lent, then to the staccato hymnals of the Easter parade. From revelry to reverie. After 40 days in the desert, sort of …

Carnival — rock stars are good at that.

Read more of Bono Op-Ed >>

U2’s Bono is the latest artist to speak out in favor of the Performance Rights Act, which would call for radio stations to pay roylaties to artists for playing their music. Bono joins other supporters such as Smashing Pumpkins founder Billy Corgan, will.i.am, Sheryl Crow, Herbie Hancock and Emmylou Harris, who have all joined the musicFIRST Coalition on Capitol Hill to lobby in favor of the Performance Rights Act.

Bono released a statement on the matter via musicFIRST, which is an advocacy group for artist rights. “While we have many friends at radio, and appreciate the many things that radio has done for our band over the years, we believe it’s only fair that when radio makes money by playing a recording artist’s music and selling advertising, the recording artist should be compensated just as songwriters are already,” said Bono. ”This is a principle accepted by radio broadcasters in virtually every country in the world. The music business is in a state of freefall at the moment, and while, thankfully, this no longer really affects us – there are many young recording artists out there who can no longer earn a living from the sale of their music, or from touring or selling merchandise… yet they remain a vital part of radio playlists throughout the USA. They should not be denied their fair share. In this time of so much positive change coming from Washington, we hope this bill will be embraced and become the law.”

In response to Bono’s statement, NAB EVP Dennis Wharton commented, “The irony is that it will be the less-established performers who will be hurt most by a performance tax. If radio stations are forced to pay to play music, program directors will be less likely to take a chance playing unknown artists and will instead stick with established musicians like Bono. New artists and niche formats will suffer, and Bono and Britney Spears will become wealthier.”

The House Judiciary Committee has been holding hearings on the legislation, and numerous broadcasters have testified that radio is facing an extremely difficult time in this economy as it is, and enacting a performance royalty would be devastating to the industry.

- FMQB