U2.com Will Stream Zoo TV: Live From Sydney On April 19th
All U2.com subscribers are invited to a watch party where fans can screen 1993’s Zoo TV: Live From Sydney. The concert was filmed November 27, 1993. The Zoo TV tour remains a fan favorite decades later and while many fans might own the DVD, this screening offers the opportunity to watch it in real time with fans around the world. The Zootopia team will be online engaging with fans and @U2 will be live-tweeting the concert and posting concert screenshots. This watch party follows last month’s screening of U2 eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE – LIVE IN BERLIN. The event will begin at 12pm PST / 3pm EST / 8pm BST on April 19th and streaming for 48 hours after. Log into your account on U2.com for more details.
U2 Donates €10 million To Fight Against Coronavirus In Ireland
U2 has committed €10 million to buy personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical workers across Europe. The first shipment for 40 tons of PPE was delivered by plane on April 8th. U2 is working with public and private companies to source PPE and ventilators to bring into the country. The group is also leasing planes from Avolon, an Irish aircraft company, to deliver them. “This entire project was conceived and executed in just ten days,” Emmet Moloney of Avolon told RTÉ. Read more about their donation on RTÉ here.
Bono Speaks To South Korean President To Bring PPE To Ireland
A few days later, we learned that Bono reached out to South Korean President Moon Jae-in to purchase PPE and diagnostic kits. Bono also asked for any insights Moon had in the fight against coronavirus. Bono and Moon met in South Korea when U2 played its first concert ever in the country in Seoul on December 8. Read more about their correspondence on RTÉ here.
Three Frequent U2 Collaborators Passed Away This Week
U2 lost three collaborators in the space of a week:
- Hal Willner: A longtime music supervisor on Saturday Night Live, Willner worked with U2 for nearly 20 years. He collaborated with Bono on the soundtrack to Million Dollar Hotel and produced An Evening With Gavin Friday And Friends at Carnegie Hall. He was also behind the band’s encore at the Apollo Theater show in 2018. Willner’s tribute album honoring Marc Bolan and T. Rex is still unreleased. U2.com posted an article on April 8th discussing the band’s thoughts on his passing. He passed away on April 7th from coronavirus.
- Bert van de Kamp: Known for his work in music journalism and in Dutch music magazine OOR. He was an early supporter on The Virgin Prunes and U2. Van de Kamp wrote En zij noemden hem Bono [And They Called Him Bono] based on interviews with U2 from 1982-2001. @U2 interviewed him for his book in April 2011. He passed away on April 9th.
- Orlando Puerta: A recent collaborator with U2, he worked with the band to promote Songs of Experience. He also created remixes of songs from the album to pass to DJs, bringing U2’s sound to a new audience. Read more about his history in the music industry on Billboard here. He passed on April 11th from a respiratory infection.
Want to spend less time reading the news and more time reading about your favorite band? Head to AtU2.com! We are hard at work creating new content to entertain U2 fans all year round, even when the band is on hiatus. Take a #PermissionToPause and read Heidi’s road trip to the Joshua Tree or ask Fake Bono and Fake Edge for advice on Twitter (@DearBAEatu2).
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