Okay, it was World AIDS Day, so the show had to go on. But the big, free concert with U2 had to go on without Bono. And while they had a cavalcade of top-tier celebrities to fill in for him, if you wanted U2, you might have felt ripped off. They were replacing the face and the voice of the band. Can you do that? Because they might have to for the long haul.
The 54-year-old singer is having a rough couple of months. He had to bow out of the concert because he’s still in recovery from a pretty massive bicycle accident. He wrecked in New York’s Central Park, getting a compound fracture in six places in his arm, broken bones in his face, a busted left shoulder and a fracture in his hand. That: shortly after the band announced a tour for their new album.
They even had to cancel their week-long engagement with Jimmy Fallon. Jimmy took it in stride, simply doing his best Bono impression with the Roots playing behind him. Which makes us think about bands replacing their lead singer with a sound-alike.
Of course, bands have done that for years. Queen is touring with Adam Lambert in Freddy Mercury’s role; Boston got that guy who sounds like the old guy from Boston; Journey got that Filipino guy who sounds like Steve Perry; and every old Motown group ever is touring with new guys under the old name.
But are those the same bands? Bruce Springsteen and Chris Martin may be awesome of their own, but they’re not part of U2. Bono is U2. So our Man on the Edge, Robert Wilder, hit the streets to ask if anybody could replace Bono, and still be part of U2.
