here is the transcript...
Transcription of FOX News Channel Heroes Bono Interview - aired
Thursday,
Nov. 22, 2001
Heroes with John Kasich
Segment title: The Band Plays On
(B= Bono, J = John Kasich)
J- You know we all do what we can - whether it's riding motorcycles or
selling lemonade or performing sold out concerts just to prove that
life will
go on. And one band is doing just that. The band is U2. A foursome
from the
streets of Dublin, they started as a punk rock band back in 1978.
Since
then, they have found their way. Twelve albums have earned them nine
Grammy
Awards. They have been called the most important band out there. The
lead
singer - a man called simply Bono. But there is nothing simple about
him.
The thing about Bono is when he sees something in the world that he
thinks
isn't right, he does something about it. In the beginning of
September, Bono
assembled a who's who of today's music stars from Jennifer Lopez to
the
Backstreet Boys to Alicia Keys to re-record the Marvin Gaye hit
"What's Going
On."
B - I have to say that all the ones that I called they didn't even -
the
conversations were like - I just - I didn't get past hello before
they'd say
"anything you want" and and then they were interested in the issue and
just
wanted to be a part of this.
J - The proceeds from that recording were to go to Artists Against
AIDS, and
then came September 11th.
The artists quickly decided that the proceeds would be split between
the AIDS
relief fund and the United Way September 11th fund. I sat down with
Bono in
New York, and as with so many conversations these days, we started
with that
day.
B - September 11th, um I was in Europe - I was on holidays with my
little
boy, Elijah, and ah, like a lot of people I watched it live on TV and,
you
know, with disbelief and horror and concern I suppose for the people
that I
know. So many that live in New York.
J - You are now approached in 80 directions by people that want you to
take
on their cause, you know - you have tributes for heroes - and I would
like to
know specifically how did you decide to do that?
B - You only get a few shots every year or every few years to stray
outside
of the music and to connect with a punch on a certain issue and in U2
at the
moment it's Africa. When September 11th happened, we got a call to be
a part
of the grieving of America and to contribute to that fund and we went
to a
secret location in London and as others went to in New York and Los
Angeles
and I'm very proud to be a part of that Tribute to Heroes.
J - Then U2 hit the road. What are you feeling out there now since
that
September 11th?
B- Well we put our tickets on sale after 9/11 and that's a great
thing. It's
not like we cancelled the tour - we started, we booked the tour after
September the 11th. I don't know what to make of it. We came on
stage at
Madison Square Gardens, I had never heard any noise as loud in my
life. And
then I realized they weren't screaming for us - they were screaming at
each
other, and that U2 was the smallest part of the occasion. That's
what's
happening to U2 on tour in the United States at the moment - we're
just a
conduit for all this joy and hope and despair and it's all coming out
-
People say "Oh, Rock and Roll is great - just take people's minds off
of it"
- No. That is not our job. Our job is to take peoples' minds
through it.
J - Bob Geldof and what you did with him many years ago - Live Aid -
you
played a big role in that. Was he a guy that sort of showed you the
way how
to be effective?
B - Yeah, he still is. Bob Geldof is still one of the biggest
influences in
my life. He's fierce, he's funny, and he went after what was right
when a
lot of politicians were ignoring Africa in the middle 80's. I got so
caught
up with it I ended up in Africa - I went to work with my wife, Ali, in
Africa.
J - And it was in Africa where Bono discovered his true passion -
forgiving
Third World debt.
B - When I found out that for every dollar in government aid to Africa
coming
from the West, they owed us 8, that sent me - and I knew that - I knew
that
if I could just get the air time, other people would agree. The
moment I
can't remember because these things, i mean if you're in a band and
you hear
one of these - you almost want to put it out of your head.
J - They certainly want - the members of the band certainly want you
to put
it out of your head
B - That's true, but you know they share, they share the same, they
share the
same, um, they have the same feelings, they just wish it wasn't so
unhip what
I'm doing. You know, they're like, being in a rock band, it's like
"oh God -
who's he going to be in a photograph with next? You know, how
uncool." I
always say, "but listen - it's as uncool for the politician you've got
to
remember it's a battle for both of us."
J - The other person I wanted to ask you about quickly was Jesse
Helms -
when you went to Washington to approach the Congress, you had - that
was an
odd couple to sit with Jesse Helms.
B - You know, my band think I've got a lot of unusual friends through
our
work for Africa. And, ah - I was delighted that some of the people I
met on
Capital Hill - even ones I wouldn't agree with everything on every
issue, but
they have some real convictions. Jesse Helms was a man with a burden
in his
heart for Africa as it turned out. He sat there, I spoke to him about
the
issues - people said "this is a tough guy - you have no chance with
this
guy." But you know what - he had a burden for Africa, not just
because it
is, it is, you know distance can not decide who is your neighbor - but
because I think he saw it in America's interest ahead of September
11th that
we have to deal with what's going on in Africa in order to protect our
own
freedom and I think…he came to our aid and I'm very grateful for
having him.
J - Bono is making friends wherever he goes and he's making a huge
difference. But he says that doesn't make him a hero. September 11th
taught
him and all of us what a hero really is.
B - I love the idea of heroes, actually - that's what this program's
about,
that's what that event was about, but it is never been clearer that
rock
stars, film stars, politicians, are not the real heroes and that it is
about
firemen, nurses and mothers - and I know that's what essentially what
your
program's about - it's about ordinary people doing extraordinary
things and
that's one of the great legacies about September 11th is the notion of
celebrity has been upended.
J - Thanks to Bono's hard work, last year then President Clinton
signed a
bill that gave 435 million dollars in debt relief.
