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.

Related Stories:
• U2 Net $19 Million in Live Nation Shares In Touring Deal
• U2 Pen "Fifty to Sixty" Songs, New Album Pushed to 2009
• Exclusive: Bono Remembers U2's Boy

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
• 
  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

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 »

Twitter