Week in Review: April 27, 2020

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Week In Review: April 27, 2020

 

U2, Elton John and Gavin Friday Contribute Tracks To Marc Bolan Tribute Album

U2 will appear on AngelHeaded Hipster: The Songs Of Marc Bolan And T.Rex, a tribute album to T.Rex singer Marc Bolan set to release on July 31. The album, organized by Hal Willner (a U2 associate who sadly passed away from COVID-19 complications this month), was originally set to release in 2017 but has been pushed back until this year.

U2’s contribution to the album is a cover of “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” recorded in New Orleans on September 14 2017, when the band stopped there for the Joshua Tree 2017 Tour. Elton John’s collaboration is apparently a piano track, which will be added to U2’s performance of the song. Gavin Friday performs solo on “The Leopards” and duets with Maria McKee on “She Was Born To Be My Unicorn”/”Ride A White Swan.” Other artists contributing to the album include Sean and Julian Lennon, Nick Cave, Kesha and Joan Jett. Check out the full article here.

 

Zucchero Performs “Let Your Love Be Known” To Mark World Earth Day

In honor of World Earth Day on April 22nd, Italian singer-songwriter Zucchero “Sugar” Fornaciari covered Bono’s new song “Let Your Love Be Known.” Bono wrote “Let Your Love Be Known” to honor the healthcare workers in Italy, and across the world, who are on the frontlines in the battle against COVID-19.

Zucchero, a longtime friend of Bono’s, stated that he was similarly moved by the video of Italians singing from their balconies. Performing in front of an empty Colosseum, Zucchero transformed Bono’s song into “Canta La Vita,” and during the performance Bono’s vocals merged with his.

Zucchero’s performance was broadcast on April 25th as part of the #OnePeopleOnePlanet marathon on the Rai Play streaming channel. If you missed the broadcast, you can watch Zucchero’s performance here.

 

California Announces Plan To Save Joshua Trees

Joshua trees have become sacred to U2 fans, synonymous with the band’s iconic album released in 1987. However, rising world temperatures are threatening the trees’ existence. Joshua trees can only live at elevations between 2,000 and 6,000 feet and rely on yucca moths to reproduce; as temperatures rise, the trees became more scarce, and so do the yucca moths. While the Joshua tree isn’t immediately in danger of extinction, the Center for Biological Diversity notes that the tree will “likely become endangered in the foreseeable future.”

To combat this, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has begun a review process to give Joshua trees permanent protections under California’s Endangered Species Act. Though such measures won’t protect the trees from climate change, it would make removing them from private land more difficult.

The Fish and Game Commission is scheduled to vote on accepting the proposed protections in June.

 

Keeping Up With The Edge: Wandering Through The Poppies

As the world continues to quarantine, some U2 fans have lived vicariously through The Edge’s adventures, shared to Instagram vis-à-vis his wife, Morleigh Steinberg (@cyanmogi). Last week, Edge made pizza. This week, Morleigh photographed him in a field of orange poppies in California. Hopefully he remembered to maintain a minimum of six feet of distance from other visitors!

 

© @U2/McClaskey, 2020