U2's Bono disagrees with manager about Radiohead

U2 frontman Bono has sent a letter to British music outlet NME in which he rebukes his longtime manager, Paul McGuinness, for saying in a BBC interview that Radiohead's pay-what-you-want digital release of its latest album "backfired." McGuinness had commented, "Sixty to 70 percent of the people who downloaded the record stole it anyway, even though it was available for free," adding that U2's next album would not be made available in a similar fashion.

In his letter, published on Wednesday (June 25th), Bono says that he disagrees with his manager's comments, calling Radiohead "courageous and imaginative in trying to figure out some new relationship with their audience." The singer adds, "Such imagination and courage are in short supply right now. (Radiohead is) a sacred talent, and we feel blessed to be around at the same time."

Radiohead issued In Rainbows as a digital release last October, allowing fans to pay whatever they wanted or nothing at all. McGuinness claimed that most fans obtained the set through illegal file-sharing despite Radiohead's efforts. The record was released as a standard CD in January.

U2 has been working on its new CD with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. The album is tentatively due out in October.

In other news, Radiohead has released 10 songs from the band's In Rainbows: From the Basement broadcast through iTunes. The performance was broadcast live on New Year's Eve through cable channel Current TV.