Rolling Stone

The delayed Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Broadway show featuring music by U2's Bono and the Edge will have to find a new Mary Jane. Producers have confirmed that Evan Rachel Wood, the actress originally cast in the role of Peter Parker's love interest, has left the musical, Variety reports. Wood exited the production due to a "scheduling conflict"; financial troubles pushed Turn Off the Dark's opening well beyond its original February 25th preview premiere date. Variety writes that Spider-Man will likely begin its preview run in late summer and open around Halloween, though those dates remain unconfirmed by the show's production team.

"She's the greatest actor of her generation, she's the one to watch," Bono said of Wood after her casting was announced. "She happens to sing like a bird, it's like a true voice. She's a very pure spirit and a very bright mind and she brings the part of MJ to life, really."

Singer and actor Jared Leto has said that he would love to collaborate with U2.

Speaking to RTÉ.ie, the 30 Seconds to Mars frontman said: "Yeah, I'd love to do something with U2."

"To do a song with Bono would be great."

He also spoke about working with Kanye West recently, saying: "It was great."

"He was fun, easy, professional, creative and I think he did a great job on the song [Hurricane]."

© RTÉ 2010

By Candace Jackson, The Wall Street Journal

Of the dozens of art world events happening as part of Armory Arts Week in New York right now, one of the most buzzed about was last night's New Museum's opening of a controversial show that features highlights from the personal collection of Greek billionaire Dakis Joannou, curated by artist Jeff Koons.

At last night's opening party Koons, wearing a crisp black suit, wandered the galleries with his daughter. Speakeasy caught up with him on the fourth floor of the museum, which featured an eclectic mix of works including brown gouache paintings by Kara Walker and a sparkling sculpture called "Super Sister" by Liza Lou of an oversized bejeweled woman with an afro wearing short-shorts, platform red heels. "Skin Fruit: Selections from the Dakis Joannou Collection" marks the first time Koons has taken on the role of curator.

"I think I ended up dealing mostly with the body, inside and out," Koons said of his approach. But as for making a career out of putting together art exhibits in the future, Koons says his plan now is to "to focus on my own work."

Belfast Telegraph

U2's global 360-degree tour is generating enough cash to make your head spin.

New figures show that Bono and the boys raked in more money than any other music act in the United States last year -- earning a staggering £71 million from touring, record sales and other royalties.

According to the music journal 'Billboard', U2's earnings - which were dominated by ticket receipts from their ground-breaking tour - were almost twice as much as the next biggest earner on the list, Bruce Springsteen.

He had to make do with £37 million last year, although he will not have to split it five ways as Bono, the Edge, Larry Mullen, Adam Clayton and Paul McGuinness will with the U2 earnings.

by Kate Harper, CHARTattack

You know that vault full of change Scrooge McDuck has in DuckTales? Well, U2 could build one of those right now because they're truly swimming in dough.

The Irish quartet have topped Billboard.com's list of the top money makers of 2009, raking in a total of $108,601,283 U.S. (about $114.3 million Canadian) last year.

Singer Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. might have spent $750,000 U.S. (about $789,000 Canadian) per show on their 360 Tour, but they sold more tickets than they ever have according to Billboard.com. Their merchandise and website also helped them make even more money.

Bono insisted on specially-prepared food when dining out recently, it has been claimed.

The U2 frontman amazed fellow diners at New York eatery Butter on Tuesday (23.02.10) when he made a string of requests to restaurant staff - and then made sure they were carried out.

A source said: "He demanded that his salad be chopped. And he made sure it was when it arrived."

The 'One' singer - who was eating with his bandmate The Edge - sent staff into a panic when he asked for a specific type of bottled water not stocked by the eatery.

By Jennifer Steinhauer, The New York Times

MALIBU, Calif. -- The house that the U2 guitarist longs to build here would have a copper roof, fashioned to resemble fluttering leaves. Boulders that dot the property would be left in place and assigned charming names like Dinosaur Vertebrae and Cistern. The dirt dug up to build would be reused, when possible.

Yes there would be a pool, but its central purpose would be to ward off fire should the local native plants not do the job. And every imaginable green building technique would be used.

But all of this does not mollify those who police the mountainside along one of the most gorgeous stretches of American coastline, where public access versus exclusive seclusion is an ever-raging debate that even a member of the most vocally earth-hugging rock band on the planet cannot escape.

by Paul Cashmere, Undercover.com.au

Bono is saying the next U2 album will be called `Songs of Ascent'. He should know.

In an interview with Sean O'Hagan, Bono called 'Songs of Ascent' the sister album to 'No Line Of The Horizon', similar to how 'Zooropa' and 'Achtung Baby' were bookends.

Atu2.com says the album is expected to be produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois once again, with additional work by Steve Lillywhite.

Some of the songs are expected to be the leftover tracks from 'No Line On The Horizon', but some are older.

Songs expected to be used include 'North Star', an unused track from 'How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'.

U2's Larry Mullen Jr. will lend his voice to a pair of characters in the upcoming season of the Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show. According to the BBC, Mullen Jr. reached out to producers about guest voicing on the show's second season, and producers were only too happy to oblige. The drummer will voice two characters: a mobster and a bad Elvis impersonator.

Springfield Rocks: check out photos of music's biggest stars on The Simpsons.

"He came in and we hung out for a couple of hours. We just recorded him doing a couple of different parts and he was very funny," Mike Henry, who voices Cleveland, told the BBC. "It's a thrill for me to do all this. U2 is my favorite band of all time and David Lynch the film director plays a part on our show." (In other Cleveland Show news, David Lynch will also guest voice!) As for recording Mullen Jr.'s part, Henry said, "He's got his own studio so we just record it from Dublin. You don't have to record at a certain time. It's an easy gig and one that people like to do. It's very cool to have all these people from different walks of entertainment participating in what we're doing."

James Boyce, The Huffington Post

AC/DC's lead singer Brian Johnson gave an interview in Australia where he stood up and criticized both Sir Bob Geldof and Bono for the unforgivable sin of trying to make the world a better place and for helping those less fortunate than themselves. Or Brian, for that matter.

Certainly, Brian has a right to make his opinion, however, moronic it may be.

Any grown man willing to share a stage with a man in his 60s dressed as a school boy has more courage than most. Any man who, at the age of 62, can still claim to being knocked out by American thighs might also be worthy of respect on some levels.

However, when it comes to criticizing celebrities who stand up for causes and charities and especially when it comes to criticizing Geldof and Bono, Brian Johnson proves to be as ignorant as those music critics who don't recognize "Back In The Black" as a truly great song.

First, let's look at what Brian Johnson actually said: