Due to Bono’s back surgery last week — you don’t think it gets any easier to carry the weight of the world and that ego once you’re over the hill, do you? — U2 has been forced to postpone or cancel several upcoming gigs, including a headlining slot in England’s Glastonbury festival. Glastonbury’s response? Replace one increasingly cartoonish band with a literal cartoon band: Gorillaz.
Because of Bono’s recent emergency surgery, following a back injury, U2 have been forced to cancel their Glastonbury headline gig, plus postpone their 16-date U.S. tour until 2011. In order to fully recover, Bono is under doctor’s orders to start a rehabilitation program and to recuperate for at least eight weeks.
The Glastonbury cancellation is the real bummer here; the band was set to headline the Pyramid Stage on June 25. No replacement has yet been named, but now there’s a mad dash to find a big name act to take U2′s spot.
Because the weight of the world can get awfully heavy sometimes, not to mention the ego, all of the opaque wraparound shades, and the guilt of releasing every post And All That You Can’t Leave Behind album (comments wall, I don’t care what you say, those albums are terrible), Billboard reports that U2’s Bono underwent emergency back surgery in Munich today.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa—huddle up here, America. Really, we’ve got to talk about this.
Yahoo Finance reported today that a recent Harris Poll of 2,320 representative American adults was held between March 1st through the 8th of 2010. The question asked was this: who is your favorite musician/ artist, and what is your favorite song by that person/ band? And I know what you’re saying about the #1 spot—Beatles, Stones, Elvis, hell, even the Boss, right? Because this is your favorite artist of all time.
This is where the disgust kicks in.
There were 63 songs in the running for an Oscar nomination this year, so the nominees for the final cut this year went from three to five – and we previously reported Randy Newman leading the selective top five songs for the big day. Although we’re a little bummed about Karen O and some other indie artists not being able to have a Swell Season-Grammy moment, we’re still excited for the nominees this year. The Princess and the Frog brought us back to the old Disney days with those two tunes, Newman should be proud for the work he’s put into material.
Still on their mammoth world tour in support of their most recent album, No Line on the Horizon, U2 are already looking ahead to making new music – and eventually the next studio album.
The Edge told EW.com that the band are working on a lot of new songs, and “…some of them are really, really happy.”
Director Jim Sheridan thinks so.
After losing out to singer Ryan Bingham and his theme from the film Crazy Heart in the Best Song category at Sunday’s Golden Globes, Sheridan figures Bono and Co. are still a safe bet to take home the Oscar at next month’s 82nd Annual Academy Awards. U2′s song “Winter” appears in Sheridan’s latest film Brothers.
Billboard (via Reuters) recently released their end of the decade issue and after going through numerous music charts based on Neilsen Soundscan, and when it comes to the top rock acts from 2000 – 2010, two main acts stand out in regards to sales: Linkin Park and Nickelback…
We know, we know. Linkin Park is tolerable but Nickelback with their trite songwriting? We want to ask Billboard – Why? Then again, it’s not really Billboard who is choosing these artist. They are merely the messengers. The people buy the music and request DJs to spin these tunes, so it’s really the people who have picked these over-accessible songs as the top artists of the decade. Check out who else got high honors from Billboard in rock this decade…
U2 are confirmed as the headline act for Glastonbury 2010 – the festival’s 40th anniversary.
Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis confirmed the news this morning that U2 is scheduled for the Pyramid stage’s top spot on Friday night (June 25th), the band’s first ever appearance at the festival. “The 26-year-old rumour has finally come true,” said Eaves on the the event’s official website. “At last, the biggest band in the world are going to play the best festival in the world! Nothing could be better for our 40th anniversary party.”
Next year’s Glastonbury festival takes place on Eavis’ dairy farm from June 23-27.
