Bono To Guest Edit Vanity Fair’s Africa Issue

NEW YORK (March 6, 2007) — Rock star and activist Bono is adding another title to his resume: first-ever guest editor of Vanity Fair.

The U2 frontman will edit the magazine’s Africa-themed July issue, on newsstands in early June, on behalf of his Project RED campaign, it was announced Tuesday.

“We’ve talked about doing a special issue on Africa for awhile now, and of course Bono came to mind during those discussions,” said Vanity Fair Editor Graydon Carter in a statement. “He’s very knowledgeable and passionate on the subject, and he’ll be an authentic guest editor.”

Last May, Bono was guest editor of The Independent newspaper in London. He featured stories on HIV/AIDS in Africa, poverty and global warming to highlight his Project RED venture, which enlists corporations to donate the proceeds of products made under the RED brand to humanitarian efforts in Africa.

“As guest editor, I want Africa to appear (as) an adventure, not a burden, and put faces and personalities to the statistics we read elsewhere,” the 46-year-old Irish rocker said in a statement.

“Five thousand Africans die every day of a preventable, treatable disease (HIV/AIDS). If Graydon, his team, and I succeed, the reader will care more about the daily squandering of these noble, entrepreneurial, optimistic lives … people who are familiar to us in every other way than circumstance.”

Carter said the articles won’t be like policy papers.

“We’ll be telling great stories about Africa’s successes and turnarounds,” he said. “We certainly won’t ignore the continent’s problems — but we’ll cover African music, art and literature. We want to really surprise people in a positive way.”