October 26, 2000 16:18

BONO MOURNS LOSS OF PAL PAULA

The [a]U2[/a] frontman says [b]Paula[/b]'s ex [a]Bob Geldof[/a] is the ideal man to look after [b]Yates[/b] and [b]Michael Hutchence[/b]'s orphaned daughter...

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U2's BONO has spoken openly for the first time about the death of Paula Yates and declared that her ex-husband - LIVE AID's BOB GELDOF - was the ideal person to step "into the shoes" of YATES' late partner MICHAEL HUTCHENCE and look after the pair's orphaned daughter.

Bono said Yates, who died of a suspected accidental drug overdose on September 17 this year while battling depression, was "wild in the most peculiar of ways. . . she had a really high IQ but spent her entire time trying to come off as a dizzy blonde. . . she was the importance of not being earnest".

Speaking in the current issue of Irish music magazine Hot Press, the singer added that Geldof, a close friend, had been "through a lot" but was "bearing up to the responsibility of a new little girl in his life. And, you know, there's no better man - ironically - to fill in the shoes of her natural father than him. I'm just his biggest fan," he said.

Michael Hutchence, former frontman with [b]INXS, committed suicide in an Australian hotel room in 1997. Yates was said never to have recovered from his loss.

Bono also cast an eye over some of the new breed of emerging Irish band's and reserved special praise for JJ72, comparing elements of what they do to the hugely influential Pixies.

"I like that band JJ72," he said. "They've just got so much. He has the most beautiful howl since Pixies frontmanFrank Black."