U2's Bono to Write For "New York Times" in 2009

In addition to penning "50-60 songs" for U2's upcoming album, Bono will also use his literary skills by frequently contributing to the New York Times Op-Ed section in 2009. NYT editor Andrew Rosenthal told journalism students at Columbia University that Bono will write between six and ten pieces for the newspaper, ranging on topics from Africa to poverty to the music of Frank Sinatra. Asked about Bono's fee, Rosenthal said the Irishman would be working for free, but it's not like Bono needs a journalist's salary anyway. The editor also expressed an interest in reacquiring Queen guitarist Brian May to pen some columns. This isn't Bono's first foray into journalism: Bono guest-edited an issue of Vanity Fair back in June 2007 and UK's The Independent in May of 2006. More recently, he blogged for the Financial Times during the United Nations Milliennium Development Goals event earlier this year.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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