U2 was in Vancouver, Canada recently playing multiple shows on the first leg of their 2005 Vertigo Tour. During U2�s visit in Vancouver, lead singer Bono talked with the Canadian Broadcast Corporation over his disappointment with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin. Martin went back on a previous promise of meeting aid requirements to Africa. The promise was to equal 0.7 percent of Canada�s GDP by 2015 for aid purposes. Bono than called on Canadians too encourage Martin to change his mind on the issue releasing the Prime Ministers phone number on the air and later on the jumbo screens at their Vancouver concerts.

The Canadian incident is a reminder of how much power and influence Bono has in the world right now. The man has lobbied many world leaders and important government figures in increasing aid and dropping debt. Writer Tom Harrison wrote in the Vancouver Province �Like him (Bono) or not, he has been smart enough to use his power discerningly. He knows that whatever he says will be newsworthy, so he has been careful to align himself, with meaningful causes.  His stand on reducing third-world debt has resulted in people from the first world being aware that there is such a thing as third-world debt. That�s a very dangerous power, for which rock musicians usually aren�t prepared�.

Bono is probably the only celebrity to have both singer Beyonce�s number and British Prime Minister Tony Blair�s number on his cell phone. A tireless campaigner, Bono has aligned himself with the world�s most recognizable and powerful individuals. Last month he was seen with actor Brad Pitt to kick off the One campaign. A few weeks later he was a guest at Microsoft billionaire Bill Gate�s home.

Bono was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize last year, his second nomination.  No other musician before but Live Aid organizer Bob Geldof has been nominated. But for all the love and praise showered upon him there are his detractors as Ben Wener of The Orange County Register explained. �This always surprises the true believers, but there are people who can�t stand U2.� Wener than wrote �St. Bono, the living embodiment, for better and worse, of John Lennon�s social concern and indefatigable optimism. No wonder people grow resentful of his omnipresence. Best intentions aside, we love to destroy crusaders,� Wener added.

Another journalist told me recently how much he despised Bono but loved U2.  He explained to me how much he hated hearing Bono talk and because of that U2 had become a pretentious band.

I read an article last year by author John Waters who wrote the book �Race of Angels: The Genesis of U2�. In the article Waters wrote, �His (Bono) geopolitical adventuring, it seems, has become to U2 as a unilateral golfing obsession is to a dodgy marriage�. Waters blamed U2�s creative fall on Bono�s outside interests and activities. That Bono being away has resulted in the music suffering.

Bono knows that U2 offers him a stage to communicate his concerns to an audience unfamiliar with such issues. The marriage of rock and politics has been U2�s specialty since they formed over 25 years ago.  Recent U2 concerts have been described as �rocking temples of Bono worship.� The devotion seen at some of these concerts rivals that of religious gatherings. And to some it is similar to a religious experience.

Bono will always have his critics accusing him of ostentatious behavior but within this larger than life rock star may lay a humble man. A naïve, idealistic man who actually believes that music can make a difference. An individual still searching for purpose unwavering in his devotion to his causes.  Because behind the wraparound sunglasses may be a person trying to make peace, not only between world adversaries, but also with himself.