f13.net

Bono Gets Nobel Peace Prize Nod (http://entertainment.tv.yahoo.com/entnews/eo/20050218/110878410000.html)
   
Fri Feb 18, 7:35 PM ET

So this is what happens when you title an album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

U2's Bono, whose trophy case is packed with Grammys and even a Golden Globe, is up for another award that may render all the rest quaint: the Nobel Peace Prize.

The rocker, who in his spare time champions Third World debt relief, AIDS awareness and increased action in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, is one of the 166 nominees for this year's honor.

The Irish-born singer, last seen at Sunday's Grammy Awards collecting two statuettes and participating in the all-star version of "Across the Universe" benefiting tsunami victims, regularly travels around the world meeting with diplomats and heads of state to push his pet causes.

"I believe a fundamental human right is the ability to start again, to break free from the sins of the father," Bono told reporters on a 2002 trip to Africa with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, in which he crusaded for debt forgiveness.

"If people are brave and bold enough to begin a new relationship with [impoverished nations], there will be popular support."

This is the second time Bono has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was also in contention in 2003.

The prestigious honor will be announced in October and presented in Norway on Dec. 10. The prize, given out since 1901, includes a cash award worth nearly $1.5 million.

The Nobel Peace prize is traditionally given to those who pursue humanitarian work and/or human-rights advocacy. Past winners include Mother Teresa, Jimmy Carter and Nelson Mandela. Last year's winner was Wangari Maathai, an environmentalist from Kenya.

Bono and some of the other leaked nominees--like Indian sitar master and Norah Jones' father Ravi Shankar, Pope John Paul II and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell--aren't considered to be among the top contenders. The prize is expected to go to an individual or group in Asia, especially in the wake of the unprecedented tsunami disaster.

Nobel Peace Prize nominations can be made by thousands of people worldwide, ranging from heads of state and parliamentarians to university professors to members of international law courts to previous winners. The ultimate decision will be made by a five-person panel.

While he awaits word from the Nobel folks, Bono and his bandmates will be plenty busy. U2 will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Mar. 14 and, two week later, kick off their Vertigo Tour in Florida.

He's done a heck of a lot more than most people would do. Especially more than people with the kind of time and money he has, and certainly more when it comes to entertainers and musicians. He's no Mother Theresa, of course, but seriously, what makes him any less valid than say, Kofi Annan, the Dalai Lama, or Jimmy Carter? Because you don't like U2?

Anyone can be nominated for the Peace Prize (unlike other Nobels which must be nominated by committee). Bush has been nominated every year he has been President.