U2 to receive Portuguese Order of Liberty

[tangerine]

from Reuters:

Irish Rockers U2 to Get Portuguese Award
By REUTERS
Published: August 9, 2005
Filed at 2:35 p.m. ET

LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal said on Tuesday it would award Irish rockers U2 the country's Order of Liberty to honor the band's humanitarian efforts.

President Jorge Sampaio will award the Dublin four -- lead singer Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. -- before a concert in Lisbon on Sunday.

"Over the last 25 years the band has allied its public exposure gained through musical success with the defense of humanitarian causes and human rights,'' a presidential spokeswoman said.

Bono was a major figure in the Live Aid concert for Ethiopian famine relief 20 years ago and has since campaigned for the world's poor. U2 were also involved in last month's Live 8 concert held to pressure rich nations to allieviate poverty.

 

[faust]

It's pretty ironic to receive a liberty award from a country that held colonies less than 50 years ago .

 

[tangerine]

^ now, you won't draw me into a political discussion about what is being done in the name of democracy, somewhere... against the rules, y'know...

 

[Erin]

tangerine, thanks for posting...

I'm totally biased on the topic of U2, but one thing I can say is that back in the 80's, when everybody was concerned with glitz and glam, U2 lived quite simply. As of late, they've lived a little more lavishly, but I think they're aware of the rest of the world. Bono especially... he and the band commits a good amount of time to humanitarian efforts, and some say Bono does it to get in the press. Well, that's complete bullsh*t because he's been doing this stuff since the early 80's, it's just that U2 wasn't popping out all of the hits at that time. They've taken their fame and rolled it into something more extravagant than nice cars, big homes, bling, and even designer fashion.

 

[faust]

^ now, you won't draw me into a political discussion about what is being done in the name of democracy, somewhere... against the rules, y'know...

that's right

Hey, Bono is still more of a man than most of them.

 

[PrinceOfCats]

It's pretty ironic to receive a liberty award from a country that held colonies less than 50 years ago .

To be fair, name a country which hasn't done something pretty shifty in the past 50 years...

Bono's a bit of an annoying pr*t with his music and those sunglasses but I guess he's alright then.

 

[faust]

To be fair, name a country which hasn't done something pretty shifty in the past 50 years...

I don't know. Faroe Islands?