In the spirit of the Super Bowl, U2 released a new single, “Invisible”, on iTunes. For free. There is a catch, however. The track is only available for 24 hours. The song will be available for download until 11:59pm EST on Monday, February 3. For every download, Bank of America is donating $1 to the (RED) for the fight against AIDS. U2 frontman Bono co-founded (RED) in 2006. The recipient of the funds raised will be The Global Fund for to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The Global Fund provides testing and treatment services around the world. “We’re taking all the energy around the Super Bowl and interest in what U2’s doing and flipping it into the fight against HIV AIDS,” Bono stated in an interview with USA Today. “We have another song we’re excited about to kick off the album,” he said. “This is just sort of a sneak preview – to remind people we exist.” U2 has been working with renowned producer Danger Mouse on their next album, which is due out this summer. The new song is available for free download here – “Invisible” on iTunes.
U2 wrote their first new song in three years, “Ordinary Love”, as tribute to the great
crusader of peace Nelson Mandela. The track is featured on the soundtrack to the biopic, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom starring Idris Elba and is nominated for the Oscar Best Original Song at this year’s Academy Awards, which air on Sunday, March 2 on ABC. The track also garnered the band a Golden Globe for Best Original Song – Motion Picture. U2 released the song on 10-inch vinyl back November 29 for Record Store Day’s Back to Black Friday. The special vinyl also included a remastered version of “Breathe”, a track off the band’s last album, 2009′s No Line On The Horizon. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200, and #1 on nearly every other chart around the globe. U2 have reportedly enlisted renowned producer Danger Mouse to produce their next album, which is due out in April 2014. It will be the band’s first full-length LP in five years. U2 is undoubtedly one of the greatest artists of all time. Throughout their illustrious career, they’ve sold over 150 million albums worldwide. They have garnered 22 Grammy Awards, the most by any band in music history. In 2005, U2 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. – by Matt Bishop (Bottom Right Photo Courtesy of Paul Drinkwater/Reuters/NBC Universal)