Hack at work.
Killing Bono
"The best book I have ever read about trying to make it in the music business" - Elton John
"A fantastic book, which manages the difficult trick of being simultaneously very funny and very sad." - Bob Geldof
"I was Neil McCormick's fan in school. He was much cooler than me, a much better writer and I thought he'd make a much better rock star. I was wrong on one count. He's written a great book" - Bono
U2: how they stayed on top of the world -
In a rapidly shifting business, Bono and his bandmates have remained ahead of the game. Paul McGuinness reveals their strategies. Published July 31st, 2008
U2 are racing against deadlines to finish their new album in time for its planned October release.
With recording still ongoing, sleeve designs to be finalised, download visuals to be completed, and all kinds of marketing plans to be set into place, the atmosphere is of frantic concentration.
“It’s all hands on deck,” says manager Paul McGuinness, although his smile suggests that, if you have to spend summer in the recording studio, it doesn’t hurt to have your equipment set up in an enclave of luxurious chateaux in Provence, surrounded by holidaying family and friends. McGuinness may have a mobile in his hand and business to take care of, but at least he’s calling from poolside.
U2 have a reputation as idealists, a rock band with strong Christian ethics committed to political and charity campaigns to change the world. But there is another side to them that involves tax shelters, rights ownership and wheeler-dealing that has helped them become not just one of the most successful but also one of the richest and most powerful bands in music history.
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