‘A lot of fight’ between U2 band members over going public with PPE donation

Source: The Late Late Show / YouTube

There were many fights between U2 gang members over whether to go public with their € 10 million donation to obtain and purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) for front-line staff earlier this year, according to Bono.

The donation was part of an initiative that involved Irish aircraft leasing company Avolon, which was working with public and private companies to raise funds to buy tons of PPE equipment from China.

Bono and The Edge appeared last night on the last minute street music special to help the Simon community when asked about the donation they made in April.

“Any public announcement of giving away money is public relations,” Bono said. “So I just want to be clear about that,” Bono said.

”Sometimes with RED you have to declare yourself. Or Music Generation, we had to declare it yourself because we are trying to get equivalent money.

“But in this, it was very difficult. There were a lot of fights in the band over this. But we felt like we had to go out there and say, ‘Look, show solidarity in this … If we can’t be really helpful, let’s find the people who are and try to get them protective clothing.’

The Edge added that they ultimately decided to go public as “the people who risk their lives to help others; they really needed support and deserved support ”.

“Of course, you know, we are very lucky and many people were affected much more than us.”

Last night’s show raised over € 1.2 million for the homeless charity with the help of guests Glen Hansard, Danny O’Reilly, Róisín O, Imelda May and Hozier. Donations can still be made here on the SimonBusk website.

Source: The Late Late Show / YouTube