1RAfter years of fighting third-world debt and AIDS in Africa, U2 frontman Bono is now taking on a new battle — this time with his Manhattan neighbors, The New York Times reported.
According to the report, the Irish rocker is locked in a dispute with neighbors including 1980s rocker Billy Squier over the use of fireplaces, with Bono saying smoke from other apartments drifts into his penthouse.
Bono's neighbors in the building — a 1930s block overlooking Central Park — include actor Steve Martin and director Steven Spielberg. Madonna tried to buy an apartment there in 1985 but was turned down.
Bono, who lives in the apartment with his wife and four children and who also has homes in southern France and Dublin, bought the apartment from Apple founder Steve Jobs in 2003, reportedly paying around US$14.5 million.
The New York Times quoted a representative of U2's Management company as saying Bono was not making unreasonable demands. "It's a building issue. It's about health and safety regulations," the unnamed representative said.
A searing biopic about the doomed lead singer of beloved British rock band Joy Division premiered in Cannes on the eve of the 27th anniversary of his suicide Friday.
Control by Dutch rock photographer Anton Corbijn tells the story of Ian Curtis, who cut his life short in 1980 while the band behind hits like Love Will Tear Us Apart was moving to the top.
Based on a book by Curtis' widow Deborah, the film revives the moody and magnetic frontman, played by Sam Riley of 24 Hour Party People, Michael Winterbottom's much lighter take on the legendary Manchester scene.
Corbijn, who has also directed rock videos for bands such as Depeche Mode and Nirvana, said he was drawn to the project because Joy Division's "industrial" sound, which rose from punk's still-hot ashes, literally changed his life.
"When Unknown Pleasures (the Joy Division album) came out, I thought: 'This is so good that I have to go there and be where that music comes from,'" Corbijn said.
Corbijn, who has also worked with bands such as U2, creating their iconic Joshua Tree album cover, said he aimed with his film — shot entirely in black and white — to capture the creative process.
Troubled British pop star George Michael admitted he is addicted to prescription drugs in an interview to be aired Saturday.
The singer also said his sex life was good enough to outweigh the bad press received for being caught allegedly "cruising" for gay sex with strangers.
The world would be a better place to live if more people smoked cannabis than drank alcohol, he added.
"What I am saying is that nobody ever came home stoned and beat up their wife."
US pop star Christina Aguilera, known for her racy act, can perform as she pleases in her Shanghai debut, her promoter said Thursday, in an apparent sign of greater tolerance by Chinese censors.
"There are no songs banned at all. In fact, it's been a very smooth process in terms of getting approvals," said Jonathan Krane, president of Beijing-based EMMA Entertainment, which is promoting Aguilera's June 26 show, her first in China.
China's culture ministry last year ordered veteran British rock band the Rolling Stones to avoid some of their raunchier hits such as Brown Sugar and Honky Tonk Woman when they performed in Shanghai.
Aguilera is to perform in front of an audience of 8,400 in Shanghai, part of a world tour that has taken her to Europe and the US, EMMA Entertaiconnment said.
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