Over the course of his career, U2 frontman Bono has put a serious shift in when it comes to using his platform to advocate for those far less fortunate.
He has campaigned to end extreme poverty and preventable disease with the ONE Campaign, raised funds to fight AIDS in Africa with (RED) and has lobbied politicians in the US to support funding for HIV/AIDS treatment.
Ahead of the release of the band's new album Carnaval de Luz, Bono told The Guardian that his confidence is low when it comes to shifting the dial with the Trump administration.
“There’s a permission you need to feel to do a certain task and if you feel it spiritually," says Bono. "You feel like: I think I might be able to help here.
“I have been invited [by the Trump administration], but I know I’m not up to that, I don’t have the ability to negotiate [with them], it’s too much. Maybe just leave that to someone else. I don’t feel … the leading, is that the word? That thing where you think you know what to do.”
The story recalls his successful negotiations with Republican senator Jesse Helms – whom the paper describes as "a virulent homophobe" – to agree to help fund the fight against AIDS. But now, today's Republicans appear to have a more rigid stance on such endeavors, initially freezing the funding for USAID and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2025.
“It’s a new world," he admits. "This is different. There’s a whiff, there’s a honk, and we’re all just trying to discern it. There’s a brand new dance and we do know its name. It’s a little… fascistic. And it needs a different response.”
Carnaval de Luz, the follow-up to 2023's Songs Of Surrender will be released on November 13, and is available to pre-order now.
The band have announced details of a world tour, dubbed The Greatest Show on Earth, which begins in Mexico City on February 23, 2027.
