His humanitarian campaigning has earnt him the nickname St Bono. Off duty, however, the U2 singer seems to have been tempted into a spot of hell-raising.
Pictures show the 48-year-old with his arm round two bikini-clad girls as they carouse at a beach bar in St Tropez. He also joined his angel-faced companions for more drinking and dancing aboard a private yacht.
Bono is usually seen in his role as rock star, family man and anti-poverty campaigner, work for which he earned an honorary knighthood. Only last week, he appeared at a conference to make a call to ‘change the world’ before taking his wife and children off to Disneyland in California.
But last month Bono – real name Paul Hewson – took a holiday to the South of France with his long-time friend and drinking companion Simon Carmody, a musician and former member of Irish band Golden Horde.
The Irishmen met up with two 19-year-olds, American fashion student Andrea Feick and her British friend Hannah Emerson, in the playboys’ playground of St Tropez.
Miss Feick told The Mail on Sunday she had known Bono for a few years but insisted their relationship had never crossed the line beyond friendship.
She said: ‘I think that for somebody who’s much older than I am… no thank you.
‘No…God no!’ she laughed. ‘God no! He’s a friend of mine and that’s pretty much it. I’m not going to get into details, but it’s a small world.’
Miss Feick and Miss Emerson posted pictures of the holiday on the Facebook website, open to the public in the site’s New York and French networks.
Miss Feick excitedly announced the trip in one public message to her friend, saying: ‘So Bono and Simon called me yesterday and they arrived in Cannes today, so looks like we’ll have a plan! 
’
The images show Bono wearing his trademark hat and sunglasses while drinking cocktails with the two girls at the Nikki Beach bar in St Tropez, famous for its ‘champagne battles’ where guests spray fizz at each other.
In one image, the Make Poverty History campaigner clutched Miss Feick’s hand to his chest theatrically while Carmody put his hand on Miss Emerson’s knee.
Later that evening, they took a stroll along the beach, where Bono put his arm around Miss Feick’s waist and then wrapped himself around Miss Emerson’s neck.
They made their way to a luxury yacht – thought to be the Cyan, a £12million, 140ft yacht with six cabins, owned by U2 guitarist The Edge.
The Edge – real name David Evans – and Bono co-own a beachside villa in Eze-sur-Mer, a village between Nice and Monte Carlo.
Bono, Carmody and the girls partied into the night on the yacht. Miss Feick posed in the sunset, wearing Bono’s Castro-style peaked cap.
Later in the trip, the group continued to party in St Tropez, posing outside the Oxybar, where patrons can buy ‘aromatic cocktails’.
Miss Feick, who studies at a fashion school in Paris according to her Facebook entry, met Bono a couple of years ago in a club on the French Riviera, according to a friend.
She lists her occupation on Facebook as ‘Jean Paul Gaultier party planner’, and also says she works for the Maison Martin Margiela in Paris.
Miss Emerson says on the website that she is a second-year Reading University student.
Bono’s marriage to his wife Ali is famously strong, and has lasted without much incident for 26 years. The singer has spoken about their relationship several times. ‘I met the most extraordinary woman and I couldn’t let her go,’ he said in 2005. ‘We have an almost creative distance between us that Ali manages.’
‘She said to me, “You know I fell in love with you because there was mischief in your eyes. You were bold as brass and you were fearless but made me laugh. You’ve got very serious”. We’re never away from each other for more than three weeks. That’s kind of a rule.’
Bono has become one of the world’s most influential rock stars for his humanitarian campaigning.
He received an honorary knighthood in 2007, shortly before his friend Tony Blair stepped down as Prime Minister.
(source)
