Bono and Adam contribute items, including lyrics to “One” to Coronavirus Auction

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2020-05-07)

Originally published May 6, 2020, and now updated with information about Adam Clayton’s contributions.

Bono has contributed a hand written sheet of lyrics to the U2 song “One” and a Montblanc M (RED) Pen to a celebrity auction. The lot can be seen at the auction page. The lyrics are newly written out on May 1, 2020 and are signed with Bono’s name and the date “May day 20/20” and feature the lyrics written out by hand in Bono’s handwriting. The pen included in the auction is the one used to write out the lyrics. The current bid on the Bono item is £6,000 with 16 bids to date.

Adam Clayton has contributed three items to the same auction, the descriptions were written by himself:

  • Lot 128 – Limited Edition Pink Adam Poster: A Pink Adam poster given to me by the designer this is no 13/50. Measuring 30 × 42 cms. I have signed this and it is a great Artwork celebrating my 70’s style.
  • Lot 129 – Personal Bob Marley T-Shirt: My Bob Marley lyric T-shirt. This was an Island records promotions shirt given to me in the ‘80s. I wore it extensively in the 80’s and more recently I managed to get into it again for an IG photo.
  • Lot 130 – Personal Claddagh Ring From The 90’s: This is my Claddagh ring from the 90’s. I wore this on stage and every day on my index finger, it gave great weight to thumping the Bass!

The auction runs for another 2 and a half days, and will end on May 9, 2020. You can visit the links above to view the individual item lots.

The auction is organized by Chris Evans, a DJ on Virgin Radio in the UK. The auction includes other items from many celebrities including a number of items contributed by Rod Stewart, items contributed by Chris Evans himself, items by Geri Haliwell of the Spice Girls and her husband Christian Horner, and others.

Funds from the items sold are being donated fully to raise money for the NHS (National Health Service in the UK) and are being used to fund PPE during the fight against the Corona Virus. Evans mentioned that the money raised from these newer items will go to Glorious Scrubs, a voluntary sewing collaborative making non-surgical Scrubs for NHS workers. The money will be used to buy fabric to make garments for health care workers. Evans also mentioned additional items will be added throughout the auction, including a contribution from Adam Clayton. It is not known what Adam’s item will be. There will also be a draw at the end of the auction for additional items and some of those items will be U2 related.

This isn’t U2’s only contribution against the virus in recent weeks.

Bono wrote a song titled “Let Your Love Be Known” and has shared it with other musicians to record their own parts during the shut down. To date we’ve seen a version that features Will.I.Am, Jennifer Hudson and Yoshiki, and we’ve seen another version of the song performed by longtime Bono-collaborator Zucchero. Bono also shared his own version of the song, accompanied by his son on piano. The version by Will.I.Am, Jennifer Hudson and Yoshiki, is also being used in commercials for the World Central Kitchen during this time which provides food to families in need in the wake of natural disasters.

The Edge joined a group of Irish Musicians recently, organized by Niall Horan, to read from a script written by Horan and Hozier. The group urges the Irish to #UniteByStayingApart. The commercial also uses U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” in the ad.

U2 have also contributed a large sum of money, said to be €10 million, to the efforts to buy PPE for workers in Ireland’s health care system. The most recent flight containing this PPE included 2.1 million face masks and 32,000 surgical gowns, and arrived in Ireland by plane on May 3. Bono has also been actively reaching out to world leaders, and heads of International businesses during this time in an attempt to organize PPE supplies for Ireland. This most recent flight was the third and final flight.

Bono told The Irish Times “I just don’t think this is the moment for U2 to be doing a sort of Kumbaya thing. It just doesn’t feel right for me – it feels like a time for action rather than words.” Adam Clayton is due to appear on The Late Late Show on RTÉ Television in Ireland on May 8, 2020. At this point it is not known if he will discuss the auction, or if he will be appearing to discuss other topics. His appearance on the show was confirmed today on the Ryan Tubridy Show.

Again, many thanks to Linda for her assistance with this article.

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