Gavin Friday Encouraged Best Pal Bono to Crucify Himself

Posted on Oct 2nd 2009 12:00PM by Steve Baltin
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If you think gift shopping for your friends is bad, imagine being best pals with Bono. What do you get arguably the most powerful rock star on the planet, a man who hobnobs with world leaders? Well, if you've got a sense of humor like Gavin Friday, the former Virgin Prunes member who's been friends with the U2 frontman for 40 years, you'd come up with a particularly amusing present. "For his 33rd birthday, I bought him a crucifix, three nails and a hammer and gave it to him with a letter saying 'DIY,'" Friday tells Spinner while cracking up. "He got rid of that one quick."

Now Friday has to start thinking of a new gift for Bono. It better be a doozy, as Bono is throwing Friday the party of the year for his 50th birthday. Friday turns half a century next Thursday, Oct. 8, and to celebrate, he and some friends -- all four members of U2, Courtney Love, Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons, Scarlett Johansson, Rufus Wainwright and many more -- are performing Friday's music with a few surprises at Carnegie Hall on Sunday night, Oct. 4.

"Some friends of mine said, 'We're making the most of it and it's all for a good cause as well,'" Friday says, referring to the fact the concert is part of the (Red) Nights concert series, with all proceeds benefiting Bono's (Red) organization, which goes to fighting AIDS in Africa. "It shook me up, which is a rare thing. It's taken on a life of its own. "

To prove his point, Friday recalled how Courtney Love got involved. "She's always been a fan of the Prunes and she bumped into Hal [Willner, musical director] in a restaurant and said, 'I have to be involved.' So she jumped aboard without us asking her," Friday says. "And then we rehearsed with her yesterday and it was pretty magical. I'm not gonna tell you what song it is but it's an old post-punk classic."

One of the highlights of the night will be the unique opportunity to see the four members of U2 perform individually and with different performers. "It is a really rare occasion. They don't do that that much" Friday admits. And don't expect to see it again soon. "It's a one-off event," he says. "It's a real privilege to be working with this. [But] it's exhausting at the moment. I'm gonna have a f---ing great big drink at midnight and have a good laugh."