Rock star Bono says he’s tired of just dreaming about helping the world’s poor and sick. “I’m into doing at the moment,” the U2 singer tells Time magazine in its Feb. 24 issue, on newsstands Monday.
“I know how absurd it is to have a rock star talk about the World Health Organization or debt relief or HIV/AIDS in Africa,” he acknowledges.
But the 41-year-old celebrity has access to media and money, and power-brokers listen to him.
As chief benefactor of a debt-relief advocacy group, Bono recently sat on a World Economic Forum dais with Bill Gates, discussing how to save Africa from financial ruin.
“I refused to meet him at first,” Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill told the magazine.
But their scheduled half-hour session stretched to 90 minutes, and O’Neill changed his mind: “He’s a serious person. He cares deeply about these issues, and you know what? He knows a lot about them.”
Bono and his U2 band-mates are up for eight Grammy awards this week for their current album “All That You Can’t Leave Behind.”