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Rocker with a cause has leaders' ears
Bono applies fame as musician to winning help for the desperate
John Soeder
Plain Dealer Pop Music Critic
When Elvis Presley shook hands with President Nixon in 1970, it wasn't much more than a fleeting photo op.
When Bono got together with President Bush for lunch at the White House in October, however, they spoke for nearly two hours about debt relief, AIDS and other issues.
Bono fronts the mega-popular Irish rock band U2, headlining a sold-out concert tonight at The Q.
But these days the singer is just as famous for his extracurricular activism.
He's the unshaven diplomat in the designer sunglasses who has been chewing the ears off presidents, prime ministers and other world leaders about humanitarian causes.
"People look at him as more than a rock star," says former Ohio congressman John Kasich. "For a lot of people, he represents hope."
Kasich was chairman of the House Budget Committee when his pal Arnold Schwarzenegger asked him to discuss foreign aid with Bono in 1999.
"I've never been keen on celebrities in politics," Kasich says. "But Arnold told me Bono knew what he was talking about. As it turned out, Bono really did know what he was talking about."
Three years ago, Bono co-founded DATA, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group whose name stands for Debt AIDS Trade Africa. The organization is dedicated to fighting extreme poverty and AIDS in Africa.
Bono's group was a driving force behind the Bush administration's Millennium Challenge Account, which earmarked $1.5 billion in assistance for developing nations this year.
To read the full article, go here.
Bono applies fame as musician to winning help for the desperate
John Soeder
Plain Dealer Pop Music Critic
When Elvis Presley shook hands with President Nixon in 1970, it wasn't much more than a fleeting photo op.
When Bono got together with President Bush for lunch at the White House in October, however, they spoke for nearly two hours about debt relief, AIDS and other issues.
Bono fronts the mega-popular Irish rock band U2, headlining a sold-out concert tonight at The Q.
But these days the singer is just as famous for his extracurricular activism.
He's the unshaven diplomat in the designer sunglasses who has been chewing the ears off presidents, prime ministers and other world leaders about humanitarian causes.
"People look at him as more than a rock star," says former Ohio congressman John Kasich. "For a lot of people, he represents hope."
Kasich was chairman of the House Budget Committee when his pal Arnold Schwarzenegger asked him to discuss foreign aid with Bono in 1999.
"I've never been keen on celebrities in politics," Kasich says. "But Arnold told me Bono knew what he was talking about. As it turned out, Bono really did know what he was talking about."
Three years ago, Bono co-founded DATA, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group whose name stands for Debt AIDS Trade Africa. The organization is dedicated to fighting extreme poverty and AIDS in Africa.
Bono's group was a driving force behind the Bush administration's Millennium Challenge Account, which earmarked $1.5 billion in assistance for developing nations this year.
To read the full article, go here.
