Bono Gets the "Red" Out

Bono has announced a partnership with several companies to sell products under the brand "Red" in a new push to fight HIV and AIDS in Africa. "This is really sexy to me," the U2 frontman said at a Thursday press conference at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "It is sexy to want to change the world."

The singer said that one percent of the proceeds from the products — which include red-themed items from American Express, Converse, Gap and Giorgio Armani — would go to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which supports half a million individuals receiving treatment for AIDS and children orphaned by the disease.

The partnership is designed as a long-term fundraiser for the organization and will include the Amex Red Card, shoes, T-shirts and sunglasses. "'Red' will bring a rising income stream . . . [and] increased awareness of HIV in Africa and the role of the Global Fund to finance programs to treat it," said fund executive director Richard Feachem.

Meanwhile, U2, who have won seventeen Grammys — more than any other rock band in history — are up for five more this year, including Album of the Year for the multiplatinum How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. "We're all just going to show up to the ceremony," guitarist the Edge told Rolling Stone. "And if we don't win, we'll try to look gracious."

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »

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