Geldof’s compatriot, Bono, now behaves like the world leader he has undoubtedly become, visiting Pope John Paul II, to whom he gave his trademark sunglasses in exchange for a rosary, taking the then US Treasury Secretary, Paul O’Neill, on a fact-finding and opinion-changing tour of Africa, and telling presidents and prime ministers what to do. At Gleneagles in 2005, he was able to persuade the reluctant German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, to fall into line by making him an offer he could not refuse: to endorse Schröder and his Social Democratic Party at every concert during U2’s impending tour of Germany. Schröder was facing a very difficult general election campaign, and he capitulated. In 2003, Bono was admitted to the -Légion d’Honneur by France’s President at the time, Jacques Chirac; in 2005, Time magazine named him Person of the Year; then in January last year, he was given an honorary knighthood by Blair, “in recognition of his services to the music industry and for his humanitarian work,” said the statement from the British Embassy in Dublin.

When the William J Clinton Presidential Center and Park was opened at Little Rock, Arkansas, in November 2004, in attendance were President George W. Bush and three former Presidents — George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton himself. The audience reaction showed, however, that the real star of the occasion was Bono, who not only played and sang, but made a speech in which he addressed each President individually and commented on their contributions to Africa. As an illustration of the triumph of music in the modern world, this is hard to beat.