Distraught Bono âIâm Ending U2, Iâm Sorryâ
âI thought an apology would be enough but it apparently was not enough,â said a tearful Bono over a phone interview from his compound south of Dublin, Ireland. âThe abuse myself and my band mates have received over the past month and a half is too much for us to bear. Weâve decided as a group that âSongs Of Innocenceâ will be the final U2 album. Iâm ending U2, Iâm sorry. I canât speak for the other members and their future endeavors, but I plan to devote my time even more completely to my philanthropic work.â Bono continued by saying that he âwished the band (U2) didnât have to end this way. We had a really great run but I completely miscalculated the negative impact of the iTunes publicity move. I accept full blame and responsibility for destroying all of the good will this band has worked hard to earn over the past 38 years.â Many music critics, such as Claude Webb of the music blog Musicella, have taken Bonoâs news in stride. âU2 hasÂ had a good run,â agreed Webb. âBono is definitely correct there. I can also see how all of the negative publicity and fan backlash has taken its toll on a group that has almost been around forty years. Bono has a lot on his plate and I think heâll be fine with one less thing to worry about. The rest of the band are talented musicians in their own right and Iâm sure they will land on their feet as well.â Critic Stan Huber with the blog Musicreads, disagrees. âI was done with the band when their new album showed up in my iTunes library without my consent,â explained Huber. âThatâs just beyond the pale for me. The amount of arrogance it took for Bono to do that is just incredible. And, letâs be real, the rest of that band had little to do with that decision and now they are left to suffer because he flew too close to the sun. It is very unfortunate that now music historians will look back shamefully at what used to be a great band.â Apple responded to criticisms from iTunes consumers by putting up a website thatÂ allow users to remove the âSongs Of Innocenceâ album from their library. Apple has had no comment on the reported dissolution of U2.