DJ fast forwards U2's promotion of new single
Chart act U2 have had to re-think promotion plans for their new single after Bono handed a copy over as a wedding gift.
The singer gave a demo version of Electrical Storm to BBC Radio 1 DJ Sarah HB when she got married and the song ended up on Internet sites after she played it on her programme weeks before its official release.
So record bosses brought forward their plans by a fortnight after the play started a frenzy among the band’s fans.
The U2 star was in the south of France when he bumped into his old pal and gave her a rough copy.
He even decorated the eagerly awaited single, inspired by the aftermath of September 11, with a hand-drawn cartoon of the happy couple.
The DJ played the track on her Sunday morning show when she returned from her honeymoon.
But a friend of the DJ said: “She was unaware of the international frenzy she would set off as copies of the single were bounced around the Internet.”
A message on the band’s website explains: “It’s being aired sooner than planned after Bono ran into a pal on her wedding day and gave her a demo of the new track as a spontaneous wedding present.”
A spokeswoman for the band said: “Things had to be brought forward by about a fortnight.”
The track – which will be released on October 21 – is to feature on the band’s second greatest hits album The Best Of 1990-2000. The album is released on November 4.
