Celeb Causes - Bono The Activist

Bono is involved in several charitable organizations and works his causes into some of U2's songs as well.

Courtesy of NBC

It's no surprise that lead singer of the Irish band U2, Bono, has been nominated for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. He is known as a social animal as well as an activist. He has rallied numerous actors, artists and activists to his causes - including his goal to end Third World Debt as spokesman for the Jubilee 2000 Debt Relief Campaign.

What He's Done

It seems wherever you look, TV, radio or newspaper, someone's talking about yet another campaign Bono's working on. As an active supporter of Greenpeace, Bono has been seen on the sandy beach of Seascale, Cumbria, UK, staging an anti-nuclear protest. In '95 Bono was joined by Pavarotti and released the Passengers Soundtrack, for the benefit of the War Child charity and the Cradle Foundation. Of particular interest is the song Miss Sarejevo which is about a beauty contest during the war in Bosnia. Contestants in the video, which was smuggled out of the country, held up signs pleading for help. After things calmed down, U2 returned and gave an free concert in Sarejevo.

The band also gave a surprise free concert in Ireland. In support of AIDS, U2 sang on the album Red Hot & Blue. The band has also done several other concerts in support of a variety of campaigns including Live AID, Net Aid, Self Aid, War Child and The Big One, a peace concert. Bono also had a big part in organizing the tribute song What's Going On, which was originally done to benefit AIDS, but was modified so that some of the proceeds would also benefit the Sept. 11th Fund. Some of us only joke about doing something to improve the world, while others, like Bono, obviously do something.

Awards

On March 3, 2003 Bono was awarded the Humanitarian Award at the Meteor Ireland Music Awards. He also recieved the Free Your Mind Award at the 1999 MTV Europe Awards held in Dublin, Ireland, for the work he was doing on the Jubilee 2000 project. This guy seems oblivious to the privileged lifestyle he has. One minute Bono's working a room full of wealthy socialites, then next he's chatting on the street with fans or handing out cash to the homeless. It seems Bono always has time to lend a helping hand.