It’s Bono’s World…�

Last month saw a busy Bono dashing between meetings with Kofi Annan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Bill Gates at the world Economic Forum in New York, where he pushed the case for fighting Africa’s AIDS epidemic and crippling debt.

“When a politician meets me, it’s really our audience that he’s afraid of,” the singer explained. “I would like to see us be the salt in the process.”

The following week U2 provided half-time entertainment for the 800 million TV viewers tuning into last month’s Super Bowl. The performance included “Beautiful Day,” “Where the Streets Have No Name” and a giant scrolling backdrop that bore the name of the victims of the 11 September terrorist attacks.

Further praise for Bono’s work, or rather his “political and philanthropic contributions to improving living conditions in developing countries,” came from R.E.M. and No Doubt at Love Rocks, a Valentine’s Day tribute concert held in the singer’s honour in Hollywood.

This year’s Grammy nominations confirmed U2’s current omnipotence, with the band trousering eight nominations — extavagant garnish for a band who famously launched their most recent album by, according to Bono, “reappling for the job of the biggest band in the world.” Their previous high-water mark, 1987’s The Joshua Tree, has now sold 17m copies worldwide, yet All That You Can’t Leave Behind has already passed 10m sales since its release in 2000. What’s more, last year’s Elevation Tour, which deliberately opted for smaller arenas, has generated $109.7m, making it the second most successful tour of all time — $12m shy of the Rolling Stones 1994 stadium tour.

“Of all the bands who’ve emerged over the last 20 years, U2 are probably the only ones to have success comparable to the generation before, the likes of the Stones or the Beatles,” suggests Paul Williams, news editor of industry bible Music Week. “Certainly they’re the only band who’ve sustained success on that level.”

With rumors of a homecoming show in Dublin this summer, seemingly the only thing currently beyond U2’s control is the city’s council. Plans to redevelop the band’s Hanover Quay studios will be demolished, although they recently spent enough time there to demo eight new songs.

“There’s no sense of accomplishment,” explained Larry Mullen, “but there’s a sense that this is really amazing, and its only the beginning.”

© Q magazine, 2002. All rights reserved.