'Planet Earth is Blue'

U2 responds to the sad news of the death of David Bowie.

'As a teenager,' Bono says, 'Bowie was our Elvis. They shared the same birthday and they both took music somewhere no one thought it could go. It was his otherworldliness that took us all away. A sense that we are not just earth bound creatures...'

'The impact that Bowie had on the culture was immense,' says Edge.' Next to the Beatles he stands as the most influential artist of all time. He truly altered the course of music history.'

Willie Williams, U2's Show Director, remembered working with Bowie for three years.
'It was the personal things that were most impressive. He seemed to be acutely aware that some people (particularly Brits about my age) might likely become catatonic in his presence and genuinely went out of his way to put them at ease.
'We were all there when he pointed at us from Top of the Pops, suggesting that there might be more interesting plans for life than the ones mum & dad had in mind... the inspiration to send your old self into outer space and make up a new one.'