^ And with that post, I have concluded that you haven't the slightest fucking clue what you are talking about. You don't actually know how MJB sang the song, you probably didn't even watch it, and your alleged instances of remorse on Bono's part have absolutely nothing to do with him performing One w/MJB for the Katrina benefit.
And what is this crap about singing scales? Do you mean sight reading? Do you even know what that technique refers to? Given what I know about MJBs career, I'd be willing to almost bet my last penny that not only did she not start like that, she doesn't sing like that now. I don't even know if she's classically trained, or if she is now she certainly didn't start out that way. And even if that were the case, that would mean that she was on key and Bono was off-key. A completely insane assertion. That is why I said she is very much like Bono in her respective genre, she sings with her ear and lets go. Have you ever read what Chaka Khan has said about her? Now...does Alicia keys sight read? I don't doubt it whatsoever, because she IS classically trained. But I'd be willing to bet she can also just listen to a song and nail it, she's very talented.
Bono and MJB sang it T-O-G-E-T-H-E-R. Live. Many times over during the Vertigo tour. The vocals from the single were also both from a live stage in Toronto, with two singers standing beside each other hearing the same thing, each others voices in their in ear monitors. Bono was not singing to her studio recording or vice versa. The single version was the first time they had done it together on a stage (other than soundcheck practice, obviously), but it clearly wasn't the first time she had heard the song, given her reinterpretation (which, again, would not correlate to her singing from scales), and they actually got in better sync as the tour progressed and she made her occasional appearance.
Your 'guide' needs to get out of the fucking classroom, clearly. MJB is called an RnB singer. Bono is called a rock singer. Both of their songs have become popular and have fallen into the pop category by virtue of volume of sales, not genre per se. How the fuck your 'guide' thinks that Joss Stone and Lauryn Hill are not "pop singers" and are more RnB than MJB is beyond comprehension.
Then again anyone who says that Annie Lennox and Carole King are "pop singers" and then in the next breath says that pop singers don't have great voices (thereby rendering Annie Lennox and Carole King into the category of those without great voices) needs their head checked. And Paul McCartney isn't a "pop singer"?