U2 Brings It Home

It's negotiable whether U2 frontman Bono is now more closely associated with his epic power ballads or his save-the-world efforts. One thing is certain: The man is no bandwagon-jumper. He's been advocating and fundraising for a good long while, spearheading many a campaign fighting poverty and infectious disease, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. From headlining mega-concerts to shaking hands with presidents and diplomats, he has few peers when using entertainment and celebrity as a platform to do good things.

Now he and the band are bringin' it home. Literally. U2 just pledged to donate 5 million euros ($7.12 million) and their ongoing public support to a program building music education in Irish schools.

According to IrishTimes.com, living legend guitarist the Edge -- incidentally, an ongoing supporter of Music Rising, a nonprofit providing instruments to Katrina victims in New Orleans -- spoke up about how influential music studies were to them, and that supporting Ireland has always been an important goal for the band. The program will be directed by Music Network and the U2 donation is just the start of what one hopes will be an ongoing fundraising effort to expose young people to the joy of music right out of the gates.

Looks like their big hearts have come full circle.

Photo courtesy of chrisharte on Flickr, via Wikipedia Commons.