U2 singer's father dies following illness

U2's Bono

The father of U2 singer Bono has died, a spokeswoman for the group's publicists said today.

Mr Bob Hewson, who was in his seventies, had been ill with cancer for some time, and the singer had been flying back to Dublin each night during the band's current Elevation 2001 tour to spend time with him.

"I can confirm that Bono's father has died. We don't have any more details at this stage," a spokeswoman for U2's Dublin-based publicists said.

At U2's weekend concert in London, Bono dedicated the song Kiteto his father, a retired postal worker.

A spokewoman for the band's London publicists confirmed to ireland.comthere are no concert cancellations.

Tonight and tomorrow night's gigs at Earl's Court in London and Saturday's show at Slane Castle, Co Meath, on Saturday will all go ahead as planned.

The Slane concert, the first of two at the venue on successive Saturdays, will be U2's first major concert in Ireland since 1997.

Members of U2 played a short set with Northern Ireland band Ash in Belfast's Waterfront Hall in May 1998. This was in support of the Yes campaign for the referendums in the North and Republic on the Belfast Agreement.

Additional reporting Reuters