I've got two music superstars on the show tonight --
Bono...Good evening.
...Taylor Swift...Hi, Graham.
...which is good 'cause I finally get the chance
to sing my U2/Taylor Swift mash-up.
[Clears throat]I don't know. I don't know about it.
Let's start the show.I think we should just do the show.
Start the show.[Cheers and applause]
♪♪
Oh!
Oh-ho-ho-ho! Oh!
Hello! Hello!
Hello, hello, hello!
Hello, good evening, one and all!
You are all so welcome to the show!
And it's Halloween weekend.
Ooh!
Halloween, when those who have departed come back to haunt us.
[Laughter]
Yes, there's our glorious new leader, making his first speech
behind the now-famous Downing Street lectern.
Almost four feet high and made completely of wood.
Rishi Sunak is our new prime minister.
[Laughter]I wasn't talking about...
One of the first things Sunak is going to do
is squeeze the wealthy.
Yeah.
"Pay your taxes, darling!"
[Applause]
Rishi does get accused of being out of touch
with common people because, you know, he's so rich.
But to be fair to him, this week,
he was spotted happily chatting away
with someone who's a lot poorer than he is.
[Laughter]
Let's get some guests on!
Later, we'll have music from the stunning vocals
of Lady Blackbird!
[Cheers and applause]
But, first, she's the broadcaster
and former Arsenal and England footballer
whose powerful new memoir is "How Not to be Strong,"
please welcome Alex Scott!
[Cheers and applause]
Oh!
Wowza! Wowza!
You look amazing!
Mwah and mwah!
Have a seat, do.
He's the Oscar-winning star of "Theory of Everything,"
"Les Mis" and "Fantastic Beasts."
It's Eddie Redmayne, everybody!
Oh! Beautiful.
Hello. Hi, hi, hi, hi.
How are you?I'm doing really well. Have a seat, do.
With hits like "Shake It Off," "Love Story," and "Blank Space,"
this record-breaking singer-songwriter
is one of the biggest pop stars in the world.
It's...[Audience screaming]
...Taylor Swift, everybody!
[Screaming continues]
[Laughs]
Hi. Mwah, mwah.
Have a seat, do.
[Chuckles]
And that's not all.
In a career spanning over four decades,
he's won 22 Grammy awards,
and he's the lead singer of one of the world's biggest bands.
It's Bono, everybody!
Whoo!
Oh, yes. Oh, yeah.
Hello. Lovely to see you.
Oh, oh, oh. I was doing a hugging thing.
Hugging, hugging, hugging. More hugging, go, say hello.
Wow!
Mwah.
[Cheers and applause]
Oh. Not a bad lineup.
Welcome, all.
So lovely to see you all.
I'm scrubbing up.
Very nice.
Scrubbed up. Thanks for having us.
Let's start. So, Taylor and Bono, have you worked together?
No? Not yet.
We're gonna talk about it later.
Okay, okay.
But, no, what, Bono, you did a very nice thing
when Taylor got to Ireland.
I've been -- I'm a Swiftie.
Oh, yeah.
I'm a Swiftie.[Cheers and applause]
I know we're -- we're highly aerial birds, you know?
And over the years, we've --
you know, we've bumped into each other and remained friends.
He doesn't want to take credit for the fact
that he's so nice, he sent me roses when I played in Dublin.
Yeah.He doesn't want to take credit for doing a nice thing.
Red roses, you know.He's a truly great person.
You sent a picture. There you are.
"From your Irish fan club,
Bono, The Edge, Adam, and Larry."
Yeah.Beautiful.
He's just that great and thoughtful.
Just the best there is.
I better have a drink.
Yeah. Here's the thing.
So, Bono and Taylor have not worked together,
but weirdly, Taylor and Eddie, you haveworked together.
We have.Oh, wow, yeah.
It was a decade ago.
I once died in his arms in a screen test for "Les Mis."
Oh, wow.I did not know this.
I did not know this.
There's a lot that people don't know about this story.
Basically, I was --
I was auditioning for two roles in "Les Mis,"
and I'd done a few auditions and gone to New York and whatever.
And I think it had been established that I --
I had more of a look of Cosette,
but I had the range vocally of Eponine,
so it was established that, like,
I was there for a good time, not a long time.
So I wasn't gonna get this role.
But they were like, "You know, do you want to come to London
for one last screen test?
And you'll get to screen test with Eddie Redmayne."
I'm like, "This seems like an experience
I want to have in my life."
You're, like, one of my favorite actors.
You're so ridiculously talented.Oh.
And I was like, "So, yeah, I'll go to London."
[Cheers and applause]
Yes, indeed.
So I get there -- I get there, and they're like, "Okay.
So, we really want to, like, make you look like Eponine.
We're gonna try to do --"
You know, she -- she wasn't, like, loaded.
She had brown teeth.
You know, like, she didn't have a lot of money, so --
A 19th-century street urchin, basically.
Yeah, she -- exactly.
I'm trying to say it in a way that makes sense.
She didn't floss.Exactly.
So they were like, "We're actually gonna paint
your teeth brown for this."
And I'm like, "So you're gonna do that after
I meet Eddie Redmayne, right?
That's -- That's not something you do before.
I get to meet people, and then you do the brown teeth."
They're like, "No, no, it's -- this is just --
everybody's gonna meet you with the brown teeth,
and we're gonna, like, do, like, big circles under your eyes,
like you're near death, and..."
I was like, "This --
This has immediately become a nightmare for me."
And so then I --
You know, you were so nice, but I think when I met you,
I was like [muffled] "It's so nice to meet you."
It was hilarious.
I, you know -- As you walked in,
as a 19th-century French street urchin,
and I was not expecting that,
but my overwhelming memory of it, Taylor, was, I had --
I'd just been to PizzaExpress beforehand,
and I'd had some garlic dough balls.
Oh, no. Oh, no.
I thought we were gonna be singing off with each other,
but they had us.
It was so weird 'cause Taylor was dressed fully as Eponine,
and I was, like, in my track suit.
And they had us on the floor,
like, singing sweet nothings into each other --
And all I knew is, I just had garlic breath.
And I had brown teeth.
So we're just so...
Bad breath symphony.It was one of these.
It was like trying to show emotion
but at the same time not to punish you.
You were weeping, and I just thought it was
because of how I looked.[Laughter]
I thought you felt so bad.
You're like, "I have to be close to her right now.
This is --" Yeah, but --
Oh, this was not the method, no?
No.
It's nice to hear we were both struggling in that moment.
It was a beautiful audition.
And, Alex, I feel bad because --
Now, you nearly met Taylor once before.
[Chuckles] Yeah, nearly.
On "Strictly Come Dancing,"
I got all the way to the quarterfinal,
got booted out at that stage.
Obviously devastated, but when they told me the news,
"Oh, next week's music act is Taylor Swift,"
I was like, "Seriously?
I just needed one more week."
Oh, my --And they didn't let me come back the following week.
We finally did it.I was absolutely -- But now here we are.
Yeah! Yeah! Look at you now!
Yeah.[Cheers and applause]
But talking about "Les Mis,"
Samantha Barks is one of my closest friends,
I would never go to a karaoke bar with Samantha Barks.
She's amazing.I was singing -- yeah.
I was, like, singing "Lady Marmalade," thinking --
giving it all I got, and then she just gets up,
and then I was like, "Oh, yeah, I remember.
I can't actually sing."
So I was embarrassed.
But she's incredible.
Samantha Barks, who was in "Les Mis"
and is amazing, plays Elsa in "Frozen"...Mm-hmm.
...and I took my kids to go and see,
and they got to meet Elsa in "Frozen,"
and it was the best,
like, sort of celeb name-drop I've ever succeeded.
Can't talk -- Can't talk about "Frozen."
Norton: Oh, no.Yeah.
What happened?Why?
Came second in the Oscars to the song.
Oh.Norton: Wow.
Yeah. So sorry.
My life is filled with "Frozen" fractals all around.
It's the best lyric.
It's a great lyric.
It's a great song.
Yeah, and you should listen to that, Bono --
Let it go.Yes, yeah.
[Laughter and applause]
Let it go.So good.
Set him right up. That was a volley.
Very good. Look, Bono brings us his new memoir.
Here it is. "Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story."
It's out on Tuesday, the 1st of November.
And, so, was this --
Like, a lot of people are bringing out books.
Was this a COVID project?
No, started before that.
I wanted to explain to my -- you know, my friends, my family,
especially our fans, but it's my family,
what I've been doing with their life kind of thing.
Because they, in many ways, permissioned me to be not
just an artist traveling around the world
but as an activist traveling around the world.
So I just -- you know, we don't really talk about
that stuff at the tea table, you know...Yeah.
...at the dinner table, so I wrote it out,
and it's the story of U2,
and it's the story of, you know, these incredible people.
It turns out, the most interesting thing about me,
the most extraordinary thing about me,
are the relationships that I'm in.
And I met most of them...Yeah.
...in one week, in Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin.
You know, I met the other three members of the band,
and I started dating Ali the same week,
so there you go.Wow.
That is extraordinary, I suppose.
It is really -- But --
The story of you and Ali
is just amazing, that, you know,
there you are at the beginning, and here you still are.
Was Ali cool with all the stories?
Like, there's a story about one of your very first dates.
Oh, look at you.Swift: Oh, wow.
One of your very first dates
when you decided to take it upstairs.
Do you know the story I'm talking about?
Uh, yeah, I was just -- I had a box room.
Most -- As you know, most houses in sort of suburban Dublin
were two bedrooms and the box room in the house.Yeah.
And I ha-- I was in the box room,
and I had it sort of minimalist, sort of enforced minimalist.
It was all white, no shade on the bulb.
You know, just the naked bulb.
And I was telling her it was really an art gallery.
And she's 16 or whatever,
and I really didn't want her to meet my father,
Bob, so I was on a half day, brought her home,
brought her up to the bedroom.
We were laying there on the bed --
on the bed, I would say.
And -- And he gets a half day, my father,
Bob, and he's like, "What -- Who -- Where are you?"
And I'm like [gasps] I said to Ali, "What --"
She said, "What are we gonna do?"
I said, "Panic."
She's like, "I'm not gonna panic."
I said, "Get under the bed."
She's like, "I can't get under the bed."
"Get under the bed."
She got under the bed.
The da comes in.
"So, what -- what are you doing home from school?"
And I'm like, "Uh, it's a half day.
It's Wednesday.
Why are you home from work?"
"Oh, yeah.
Why are you in bed?"
On the bed.
And, uh -- and I said, "I'm sick.
I'm sick. Oh, yeah."
And for the tough man, he sits down on the bed.
Oh.
And he says, "So -- So, how are you?
What's going on at school?
You okay? You okay?"
Aww.And under the bed...
Like, I was okay.
Ali was living under two Hewsons,
and she would be for a very long time.
Oh, my God. I cannot wait for the film of your life.
Redmayne: I know.Like, I want the movie now.
Yeah, well...There will be some great --
Eddie Redmayne.Yeah, yeah.
Work on my accent.Yeah, there's some great pictures in the book.
I love this. This is an early -- very early gig.
This must be at school, is it?
Oh, wow.
Who I love in this -- who's absolutely loving
this early U2 gig is this woman here.
Look at her. She is living her best lift.
Look at her. Wow!
Wow. That is -- Look at --
Edge has got the hair brushed forward,
getting the big cool.
Yeah.
But, you know, everyone starts somewhere.
We've got a very early gig of Taylor.
This is you.
Now, you haven't sold out.
Swift: Oh, yeah.Wow.
[Cheers and applause]
Do you remember this?
Yeah. This was a big deal for me.
I was 14.
And it was an event called the Nashville Rubber Duck Race.
And it is exactly as it sounds.
They would put rubber ducks in the river,
and, uh, see who won.Wow.
And I was the official entertainment.
As you can see, the banner is incredibly high-concept.
It just says it like it is.
You know, like, "This is her name."
Did you play before the race or after the race?
Oh, you know what? That's a really good question.
I think I blocked a lot of this out.
Okay, fair enough. I won't dwell.
It might be triggering.
That was the whole crowd. The whole crowd is in the shot.
I can see three people there.
They do look like fans of rubber-duck racing.
[Laughter]
Wow.
Now, the thing is, you know, lots of people were in bands,
dreaming of being successful, including Mr. Eddie Redmayne.
What was the name of your band?What, what, what?
[Laughter]
You werein a band.Swift: He's a little upset.
I may have been in a band.
I've spent 25 years covering that up.
Oh. But it was --
I was in a band when I was about 18, 19.
There were three -- three of us in the band.Oh, yes.
It was called Blue Tonic.
Love it.Incredible.
And basically --What sort of music?
What sort of music?
Well, I'll tell you, it was sort of --
I mean, I -- I mean, it's quite sort of emo.
I've got to say rock, but, actually, it was pop.Yes.
And the worst about it is that two of the guys
in the band were great singers,
and I just sounded like a choir boy.
It was disastrous.
Like, every show -- Lots of harmonies, but, like --
Just so much enunciation.Exactly.
Such incredible diction. [Laughs]
And they're like, ♪ I hate you, Dad
And you're like...[Laughter]
That was --Sorry.
That was so good.Thanks.
You did gigs.
I don't think we ever did a gig, no.
But I'm just hoping you don't have
any footage or any photographs.
Annoyingly, I don't. I'm sorry.
Oh.Never existed.
It was never here. It never happened.
'Twas but a dream.[Laughter]
And, Alex, when they were kids dreaming of being singers,
you were a kid -- But now, what is this --
'Cause I've got a picture of you in your Arsenal suit here.
Now, how old are you there?
Aww.
I was about 10. 10.
10, yeah.But am I right that --
I was at the stage where I really wanted a fringe,
but I just had Afro frizzy hair going on.
Bono: Wow.
But am I right, though, that when you got spotted,
you didn't particularly want to be a footballer?
No, I used to play in a football cage
at the end of my road with the boys,
and then, there was a referee in the local area was like,
"There's a women's team, Arsenal.
I really want to take you down,"
and I was like, "No, I'm totally fine."
My mum had packed me a Capri Sun for a pack lunch that day.
I was like, "I'm totally fine in this football cage."
And she was like, "No, we are taking you,"
and then I got signed to Arsenal when I was 8.
Yeah, really early on.[Cheers and applause]
Now --What is a football cage?
A football cage?Yeah.
It's just literally like four -- There was concrete.
It was just nothing in there.
But for me, it was everything.
It's where all the dreams started.
Literally, you have cars either side of this football cage,
and if the ball went out,
a car would come along and pop it,
and that would be the end of playtime.
Like -- They're like, "See you tomorrow."
They should introduce that into professional football.
I'd love that.
Playing against a car.
My friends are so jealous that I'm getting to meet you
because we just look at you as such an inspiration,
like, breaking through in such a male-dominated industry.
You should be so proud.Thank you.
You know, and I love it, as well,
because you've done so much with the US national team.
You've been there, for one,
and you've brought them out on stage.
And we see that over here, and we're like, "That is it.
How incredible is that?"
So we know you've always been behind supporting other women
and leading the way, so thank you.
That's amazing. Thank you.
[Cheers and applause]
We're having a love in.
[Speaks indistinctly]Yeah.
Now, Bono, in the book, your father --
I mean, he's such a big character in this book.
And you had a -- an interesting relationship.
You know, a --
Combative.Yes.
I mean, to the point where --
Tell them about when you flew him out
for the stadium in America.
Oh, Texas.Texas.
Yeah, this is Texas, bringing my father,
Bob, you know, and he's hard to impress.
And I have him --
His first time in America, and he's in Texas.
I think it might be Dallas,
somewhere like that, and it's really loud,
'cause, you know, it's just that, in Texas,
it's like a 747 going over your head,
the sound of the crowd, you know?
And I thought, "This will definitely impress him."
And I had the lighting person ready to, when I introduced him,
"First time not only in the United States,
first time in the Lone Star state of Texas, my father, Bob!"
Light comes on at the mixing desk in this giant arena.
[Laughter]
And he raises his fist like this, you know.
And it's part mischief here, but afterwards, he came in,
and -- and his eyes were red, and -- and he, uh --
You know, he put his hand out, and I thought, "Oh, my God.
My father's gonna give me a real -- This could go off.
This is like a -- a compliment."
And I swallowed, and he just said,
"You're very professional."
[Laughter]
Yeah.
And that meant everything to him.
Yeah.
And you knew it was a compliment.
Coming from sort of punk rock,
"professional" not one of the great adjectives,
but from him, it was thegreatest.
Yeah.
And the book is full, I should imagine,
of lots of names, of world leaders, lots of rock stars.
A name I wasn't expecting to find in here --
Frank Sinatra.
Yeah, I mean, I -- Frank Sinatra -- yeah.
It was just incredible.
But, you know, he's another tough guy.
I'm attracted to the tough guys.
He said I was the only man with an earring
he was ever gonna like.[Laughter]
And, uh, you know, actually, Edge and I wrote a song for him,
called "Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad,"
which I actually, in Palm Springs, we were drinking.
Very un-Italian situation.
We're drinking tequila.
He was drinking a margarita.
And I sang him this song,
which he sadly passed away before --
before he got to record.
If I can remember, I think it went, um...
♪ Two shots of happy
♪ One shot of sad
♪ You think I'm a good man, but I know I've been bad ♪
♪ Took me to a place
♪ Now I can't get back
♪ One shot of happy
♪ Two shots of sad
♪ Walk with me, baby, down a dead-end street ♪
♪ We were mixing the bitter with the sweet ♪
♪ Don't know what you've got till you can't get it back ♪
♪ One shot of happy, two shots of sad ♪
Wowza![Cheers and applause]
We're all just like...
No, no.
You have to sing it to talk about it, you know?
I'm so glad you did.
Yeah.
Well, listen, it's an extraordinary story
of not just a rock star but a husband,
a father, a philanthropist.
It's called "Surrender," and it's out on Tuesday.
Bono, what a -- oh, bravo. Bravo!
Thank you. Thank you.
Now...Thank you.
Yeah.
Swifties -- and I think there are some here --
[Laughter]
So, Swifties rejoice, because Taylor's new album,
"Midnights," it's out now.
Yes, it is.[Audience screaming]
I've got it here.
Now, there are different ones, aren't there?
Different ones.Swift: Yes.
So, I've got -- Which one have I got?
I've got --You've got the main version of it.
Ooh, yeah, yeah.
That's the standard version of it.
Okay.
But there's a mahogany one?
No, so, basically, um, I wanted to deal with --
It's all about sleepless nights and what keeps you up at night
and the hour of midnight.
So, you'll see the back cover makes up 1/4th of a clock.
If you get all four, it makes a whole clock.
Bono: Ah.Oh.
That is a good way to sell four albums.
Clever.
She's all four Beatles, isn't she?
All in one.
And before we talk about it,
let's just listen to a bit of the first single, "Anti-Hero."
Swift: ♪ I wake up screaming from dreaming ♪
♪ One day, I'll watch as you're leaving ♪
♪ 'Cause you got tired of my scheming ♪
♪ For the last time
♪ It's me, hi
♪ I'm the problem it's me
♪ At tea time, everybody agrees ♪
♪ I'll stare directly at the sun ♪
♪ But never in the mirror
♪ It must be exhausting always waiting for the anti-hero ♪
Oh!
[Cheers and applause]
We love it. We love it.
Alright, so, you mentioned that "Midnights,"
these sleepless nights -- 13 sleepless nights.
Mm-hmm.And what sort of time span
are the sleepless nights taken from in your life?
Throughout my life, I think probably after I was a teenager,
just I think that there's such intensity
when you're up late at night.
The main -- It's a concept album,
and the main question is, "What keeps you up at night?"
So it's -- you know, you could be up at night
because you're reeling from just having met someone
and you're falling for them,
or you could be plotting revenge, you could be --
Garlic -- Garlic breath.
Yeah, you could be thinking about the time
that they painted your teeth brown to meet Eddie Redmayne.
You could be -- You could be thinking
about what could've been.
You know, there's just so many possibilities.
If you give that -- If you think of that as, like,
a creative-writing prompt,
which is what I did, that's where the album came from.
This album couldn't have -- I mean, amazing reviews.
You broke streaming records.
And a lot of the rave reviews have asked the question,
and it is a question,
that the great songwriting on this album,
is part of it due to the fact
that you've been doing this sort of strange work
of re-recording your back catalogue?
So it was like you were doing homework on songwriting.
I think so.
I really do. I've been --
So I've been re-recording my first six albums
because there was a thing that happened where I --
I had wanted to own my work of my first six albums.
When I changed record labels,
my first six albums were actually sold away from me,
and so I decided to just -- I just figured if I --
if I made them the first time, I can make them again.
I love it. I love it.
So good, so good.It was an amazing moment.
[Cheers and applause]
Yes, yes.
But, I mean, is it working?
Like, are radio stations playing the Taylor version?
Yes, they've actually -- There's actually --
One of the things I was most thankful for is, there's a --
there's a company of many stations
in America called iHeart,
and they have sworn to only play my new versions,
and they've said that they'll switch it out
for the old versions every time
I put out a new version of the song,
which is just, like -- it's so heartwarming to me
because this is something that I care about,
but I don't expect other people to care about it.
It's something that's very personal to me,
and it's a lot of work, but it's, like -- It's --
It's really fun and rewarding for me,
and I can't believe people
have actually gotten behind it the way they have.
And doing this -- you know, going back over your old work --
has led to this wonderful thing where --
So, "All Too Well" is now --
[Cheers and applause]I know.
It's now -- It's now a short film.
Yes.So, it was a short song,
then it was a longer song, and now it's a short film.
Okay. How do I shorten this?
So, basically, "All Too Well"
was a song that came out originally on an album
called "Red," which came out in 2012.
I always loved this song.
It was never a single.
But the fans really loved this song,
and I had made the mistake of saying
in an interview the truth,
which is that it had started out as a 10-minute song,
with like six or seven extra verses,
and we had had to cut it down
to the sort of 4 1/2-, 5-minute length that it ended up.
My fans would not let it go.
They were like -- I'd be doing an interview
for something else, albums later,
and they'd be like, "Where's the 10-minute version?
Where is it?"
So, basically, for the re-record, I was like,
"I am going to put out the 10-minute version.
I'm just gonna -- I'm just gonna show them what it was.
And you know what?
I really want to make --
I want to tell a story that goes along with it, visually,
that's more than a music video.
I want to --" I'd been --
I'd been directing my music videos
for a while at this point,
and writing and directing them is really fun for me.
Yeah. I just love it.
It's a very natural extension of my storytelling,
so I thought, "I'll make -- I want to make a short film
and -- and really do this song justice
and also create a short film that stands on its own."
So I was very lucky to be able to cast
Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien to be these two young lovers.
And -- And I'm -- I'm really, really, really proud of it.
I just feel very happy about the whole thing.
It contains -- Obviously, it contains the whole song,
but as you say, also, dramatic scenes like this one.
You didn't even look at me once!
What are you talking about I didn't look at you?!You didn't look at me!
I'm catching up with my friends!
Oh, trust me, they were enthralled by you,
of course, of course.I'm so --
You're really making the entire night about you.
You didn't even look at me!
Holy shit, holy shit.
I can't. I can't.
It's so -- It's fucking selfish.
It's literally, like -- it's so crazy
you're making it about --Oh, so I'm selfish now.
Yes, you're making it about -- You're acting se--
I'm saying you're acting selfish, absolutely.
Right now, that's exactly what's happening.
Don't fucking look at me like that.
That's so fucked up.
Wow. Ooh.
[Cheers and applause]
Yeah, they're unreal.
Did you let the actors improvise those scenes,
or were you writing that dialogue?
How did that happen?
So, that was scripted out, but, um,
I always like to give people a take of ad-libbing and just say,
"Okay, let's do it like it's scripted,
but then, like, let's do, like, you know, freedom take
where you get to do whatever,
however you would interpret this and what you would add to it."
That was -- I can't take full credit for that writing.
That's most of them.
And you clearly love this.
Is this going to be a new string to your bow?
That would be such an honor.
I would -- I would do anything to get to keep learning
and keep growing in that -- in that world.
She takes up singing, she's gonna take over the world.
[Laughter]
So that is like -- what you just said there
is basically an actor's dream,
which is you've delivered a scene as scripted,
and then, when the director has faith in you enough to go,
"Now one for -- like, go play with it,"
it's kind of -- it's the dream way of being directed, so...
Wow.Um, please cast me.
Yeah, so cool. I'll do the music.
Norton: Well, listen, you can watch Taylor's short film,
"All Too Well," on YouTube, and, once again, the new album,
"Midnights" -- that is out now.
[Cheers and applause]
More good news, ladies and gentlemen.
Eddie Redmayne is in a film, yes.
It's called "The Good Nurse."
It's out now on Netflix.
It is currently -- You not know this.
It is currently number one in over 60 countries on Netflix.
There you go. So people are liking it.
Nice, yeah.
Wow.
So, this is you and our good friend Jessica Chastain.
And it is -- it is a true story.
It is.
Yeah, it's a true story about a man called Charlie Cullen,
who may be the most prolific serial killer
in American history.
But more importantly, it's about the extraordinary woman --
woman called Amy Loughren, played by Jessica Chastain --
who was an amazing nurse, a lovely, gentle woman,
who was incredibly -- sort of adored this man
and then realized that he was doing horrific things.
And it was through her brilliance and sort of empathy,
really, that she was able to stop him when the system failed.
It's also the story, though,
of how he got away with it for so long.
Yeah, which is -- this guy was at 9 different hospitals
over 10 years, killing people,
and was moved on from hospital to hospital
even though they may have gleaned that he was doing it,
principally because no one wanted to accept responsibility.
So they were protecting their bottom line.
Whoa.So, in some ways,
it's sort of an amazing advertisement for the NHS,
because this is in America, by the way.
Yeah. But, yeah.
Bono: Love the NHS.I tell you what --
before we talk about it more, let's watch a clip.
This is you as Charlie.
Jessica Chastain is hoping to get a confession out of you.
You know, I don't want to talk about Parkfield.
It's...
Why not?
♪♪
Is it because...
what they're saying is true?
'Cause, you know, um...
I wouldn't care if you did those things.
♪♪
I mean, I could understand.
You could explain --
[Silverware clatters]
♪♪
Very good.
Everyone's alright.
Everyone alright. No one spilt a drink.
We're all good.God almighty.
That was a bit of a jump scare.
Like, I knew it was coming, and even I was like, "Oh!"
We're just...Yeah, sorry.
Is it true that Jessica Chastain
did turn out to be the good nurse
in that you had to learn skills?
Oh, yeah, yeah.
So we were sent to nurse school...
[Gasps] Wow!...for like a couple of weeks.
[Laughs] Taylor loves a school.
No, it's just that's so hard.
They have such a hard job, and they're so amazing.
So, like, a massive thing.
I mean, obviously, I had a huge respect for nurses, but when --
Like, to be a nurse,
you have to be great at science, great at maths.
You have to physically be incredibly strong,
like moving bodies, and --
And then, you also have to be this, like, emotional conduit
between doctors and families at their most vulnerable.
Anyway, I'm a useless nurse.
Absolutely appalling nurse.
I'd went to nurse school, totally failed.
Managed to, like, on the fir--
You know, we had a nurse watching every take,
and after each take, you'd kind of go to --
You'd slightly bypass the director to go to the nurse
and check you did it alright.
But in the first take, I was trying to sort of,
you know, put a needle into something.
Literally, the first take of the entire film,
I managed to sort of pin it straight through my thumb.
So, yeah, useless nurse.
Never call me in a crisis.
But very good actor. A very good actor.
And I don't want to -- I don't want to trigger Bono here,
but you have won an Oscar.
[Laughter and applause]
I don't want to upset Bono in any way,
but you have won an Oscar.
So, you win an Oscar, so you must feel top of the world.
You get a phone call the very next day.
Yeah, so, um, basically [chuckles]
just before the Oscars, I --
I was getting married, and I wasn't working.
So I did a -- Which makes like I'm --
makes it sound like I'm excusing myself.
I basically got cast in "Thomas the Tank Engine,"
straight to DVD, one-off film playing Ryan the Engine.
Oh, yes, right. Ryan. You know, famous Ryan.
There I am.
That's right.He's the voice of that.
The voice of that guy.Yeah.
And, anyway, it was wonderful, and it was great.
But then, the day after the --
the Oscars, I got a call from my agent, saying,
"They're releasing Thomas the Tank Engine today,
and they wondered if they could put a sticker on the --
saying, you know,
'Starring Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne.'"
And I remember The Sun
writing a particularly unkind article
about how I was following up my Oscar-winning...No, way. You don't do that.
[Laughter]Unfair, unfair.
And just a reminder, Eddie's new film,
"The Good Nurse," it is streaming now on Netflix.
Okay![Cheers and applause]
So much to talk about tonight.
So much to talk about because Alex Scott
has written her autobiography.
I've got it here.
"How Not to be Strong," and that is out now.
And, Alex, you've talked --
indeed, in the book, you referenced it --
that you'd been asked to write your story before,
and you said no.
Why no? Why yes now?
Are you glad you waited?
I'm so glad I waited.
I think I've had so many new chapters,
exciting chapters in my life,
and I've been on a personal journey of growth
that has allowed me to actually detail with raw honesty
everything that I've been through in my life.
And I suppose listening to you guys, as well,
the story of your music, I suppose, for me,
that was my way of telling my story,
in my own way, through that book.
And I don't know. I think, looking back,
that kid who started in the football cage,
there's no way that I would have ever thought
that I'd be able to sit and write my own book,
one, being dyslexic.
I struggled at school anyway.
So to actually sit there and have that there is, for me,
one of my proudest achievements.
Yeah.Amazing.
[Cheers and applause]
You also talk in the book -- I mean, a bit like --
You know, I was saying to Bono, but sharing memories that --
You know, it's your story, but you're telling, you know,
bits of your life, and not all of it's great.
Mm-hmm.And your mom, like --
your mom must be thrilled that you have told --
that you have told her story.
Yeah, for me, I think the big thing was,
I wanted to write the book to finally set my mum free
and for her to start living.
And I think it was hard for her, actually, reading it
because a lot of everything that I've gone through
was trying to protect her
and not tell her everything if I was struggling.
So for her to read some of the stories was eye-opening for her.
But I feel it's so magical that we're finally in this space now
that we can continue this next chapter together.
Yeah. No, I mean, I can imagine she must be so proud of you
and so thrilled that -- yeah.
I straight away get emotional when I think about my mum,
because all I ever want for her is to be happy and be free,
so that's why I done it, yeah.Yeah.
And -- yeah.[Cheers and applause]
Amazing.
We must mention, the end of the book --
the end of the book, it's --
it ends with the triumph of the Lionesses at the Euro.
Yeah.Oh, yeah.
And, you know, there you are.
[Cheers and applause]Oh, yeah.
You were -- You know, like, you must've been thrilled,
but a little bit of jealousy.
And has that changed the game entirely now?
Oh, huge.
It was like the '99ers in America.
When they won the World Cup at the Rose Bowl,
that changed absolutely everything for them.
And the momentum we have seen off the back of that --
You say jealousy.
Actually, I felt like I was that big sis--
I was crying like a baby.
I remember Gabby Logan trying to ask me a question,
I was like, "I can't speak, Gabby!"
Like, I was so emotional in that moment.
But I had a final chapter, and it was a letter to my mum
was the final chapter in the book.
And soon as that happened, I was like, "Sorry, mum.
There's another chapter coming in."
And, Alex, football fans, you know --
We know they are passionate.They are.
But they sometimes don't have the best reputation.
Are fans of women's football, are they better behaved?
I would say so. I feel blessed, in that sense.
I think, for me, they followed my journey
from that 10-year-old with the frizzy fringe --
Afro fringe going on to that football career
and into broadcasting.
So I feel they've followed my whole story
and actually been on that journey with me,
so when they stop me in the street
and they're talking about --
I feel their passion, and I'm just so thankful
that they're still supporting me, really.
Yeah. And -- Yeah.Thank you.
[Cheers and applause]
And, Taylor, you know, we talked about the Swifties
and how much they love you,
and fans sometimes find unlikely things.
Like, I think in Canada, by accident, a track from "1989"
was released, but it wasn't a real track.
It was eight seconds of static.
Yes, this happened maybe seven or eight years ago, yeah.
What happened to that track that was eight seconds of static?
It went number one.
[Laughter]
I don't -- I don't know how, but I --
Maybe it's a metaphor,
some symbolism about the sounds of silence.
Having a -- Having a moment of quiet.
I love someone trying to present a chart show in Canada
and going, "And now, at number one..."
It was -- It was ridiculous.
I don't -- I mean, I didn't even --
I don't know how they -- I don't know why.
I'm just lucky and have them doing stuff like that for me.
But now, Eddie -- now, your fans have a special
name, don't they?
Um [clears throat] they --
Some people call themselves Redmayniacs, I think.
Yeah.
Redheads.Yes.
Yeah.But I have lovely fans.
There was a thing recently at a "Fantastic Beasts" premiere,
and I was walking to the -- to the premiere,
and this lady came up to me, and she said, um,
"Draw on my arm."
And I said, "Okay."
She shoved her pen in my hand.
She was like, "Draw a fantastic beast on my arm."
And I was like, "Wow."We know where this is going.
So I -- There's a character in "Fantastic Beasts"
called Pickett, who's a little stick insect,
and so I did what was basically,
you know, a stick man whilst moving and sort of --
And then, thought nothing of it, and then the next day,
it went online that she had had that tattooed onto her arm,
which, you know, had I known,
I would have stopped for a minute
to make sure my little twig man
looked slightly better than a stick man.
[Speaks indistinctly] So that was a low point.
And talking of fans, in the book,
Bono, one of the people you meet is the Pope.
And I love -- the Pope --
the Pope was jealous of you, Bono.
I wouldn't have put it like that.
He was...
If you mean he coveted my sunglasses.
He did.Is that what you're saying?
Well, no, 'cause he was checking you out.
Not in that way. Come on.
We were there. It was -- Look -- An extra --
According to the World Bank, an extra 54 million kids
went to school in the poorest countries in the world
because of the Drop the Debt campaign.
A lot of it led from these United Kingdom here.
Yeah.But around the world.
And that's what we were there -- It was me,
Bob Geldof, Quincy Jones, Jeffrey Sachs --
there was a bunch of us -- and this very frail man.
And I noticed him looking at me,
and I thought, "Well, like --" we're all narcissists,
you know, navel gazers, and I moved.
And his eyes kept going with me, I said, "That's a bit mad.
Maybe it's the glasses," so I took them off.
'Cause I had these kind of blue shades.
And then he started looking at them in my hand.
So when I went to His Holiness John Paul,
I said, "Do you want my glasses?"
And when I went up to meet him, and he said, "Yes."
And he put them on.
And he put them on, I'm like, "This is unbelievable."
Swapped them for some rosary beads.
Put them on, and I'm thinking, "This is Drop the Debt,
the Jubilee 2000 campaign, on every newspaper.
We've made it."
You know, this is just one of those photographs.
And I hear a voice in the background, it goes,
"You will never see that photograph, ever."
But guess what -- the photograph, it exists.
So, now, this is the picture of the Pope
wearing Bono's sunglasses.
Here we go.Wow!
That is amazing.
And that's --I love -- he's loving it.
He's loving it.
That is cool.Big ups, big ups.
And, Alex, of course, the next big tournament,
World Cup in Qatar, you are part of the commentary team.
Yes, I fly out in a couple of weeks,
so I'm gonna be over there for a month.
It's super exciting.And what's the vibe like?
I mean, are you worried about it,
or do you think it's gonna change that country for good?
What's -- What's your take on it?
To be honest, I still don't know,
at the moment, my kind of take on it,
because, obviously,
that's where things are bigger than football,
and it's "How can I use my platform
in that moment to spread a message,
make people aware, and not just sit there
and think everything's alright when it isn't?"
And I know my role and the importance of that.
Yeah, it's gonna be a diff-- it's a tricky one to do.
Yeah, yeah.[Applause]
And very quickly, we must mention,
you are doing Children in Need again next month?
I am, yes. Next month. You're not doing it with --
I remember last year doing it with you.
I know, I know.
I can't be there this year, but good luck with that.
Thank you very much.And, Alex --
He's like, "You're on your own. You go do it."
I'll think of a reason soon.
[Laughter]
Alex, good luck with that.
And Alex's book, "How Not to be Strong," is available now!
Yeah!
So, it is time for music.
This critically acclaimed singer is taking the world by storm
with her debut album, "Black Acid Soul."
Here performing her latest single,
"Feel it Comin'," it is Lady Blackbird!
[Cheers and applause]
♪♪
♪ Like in every great fable
♪ There's a moment when we all must learn to crawl ♪
♪ And when life has turned the table ♪
♪ Before we rise, we know we all must take the fall ♪
♪ And this moment ain't no different ♪
♪ Ain't no different
♪ Times are changing like the clock up on the wall ♪
♪ Yes, it is, yes, it is
♪ Your wealth can come from just a dime ♪
♪ It ain't broke
♪ I feel it comin'
♪ Don't we all
♪ I feel it comin' like the dawning of the day ♪
♪ Straight through to midnight ♪
♪ While we dance the night away ♪
♪ A great big expression
♪ Happy on my face
♪ I feel it comin' like the dawning of the day ♪
♪ Mama told me 'bout a baby
♪ Mama told me
♪ Baby grew up in another kinda world ♪
♪ Another kinda world
♪ Always felt like such a lady ♪
♪ Mama said, "Son, you ain't born to be a girl" ♪
♪ And in this moment, ain't no different ♪
♪ Ain't no different
♪ Times are changing like the clock up on the wall ♪
♪ Yes, it is, yes, it is
♪ The world is changing all the time ♪
♪ It ain't broke
♪ I feel it comin'
♪ Don't we all
♪ I feel it comin' like the dawning of the day ♪
♪ Straight through to midnight ♪
♪ While we dance the night away ♪
♪ A great big expression
♪ Happy on my face
♪ I feel it comin' like the dawning of the day ♪
♪ Oh, oh, oh
♪ The people, oh, ah, oh, ah, oh, ah ♪
♪ The people, oh, ah
♪ The people, oh, ah, oh, ah
♪ We go up like love
♪♪
♪ Remember the rain
♪ Remember the sun
♪ Remember the season
♪ We're just almost done
♪ I feel it comin' like the dawning of the day ♪
♪ Straight through to midnight ♪
♪ While we dance the night away ♪
♪ A great big expression
♪ Happy on my face
♪ I feel it comin' like the dawning of the day ♪
♪ Oh, I feel it comin' like the dawning of the day ♪
♪ Straight through to midnight ♪
♪ While we dance the night away ♪
♪ A great big expression
♪ Happy on my face
♪ I feel it comin' like the dawning of the day ♪
♪ Oh, ah
♪ The people, oh, ah, oh, ah, oh, oh ♪
♪ The people, oh, ah
♪ The people, oh, ah, oh, ah
♪ We go all night long
[Cheers and applause]
Lady Blackbird, everybody!
And her band.
That is Lady Blackbird.
Brilliant job.
Come on over. They love you!
[Cheers and applause continue]
Oh!
There's a low step here, Lady Blackbird.
There you go. How great was that?
That was amazing. Thank you so much.
Mwah and mwah.
Come meet the rest of the group.
Alex, Eddie, Taylor, Bono.
You will sit there.
Very good.
-Wow. -Incredible.
So good.
Alex, I would urge you to fight the temptation
to put one in the back of the net.
[Laughter]
Top corner.Top corner.
[Laughter and applause]
That is so gorgeous.
Thank you. Really.
The voice, the voice, the voice.
That single is from the deluxe album of "Black Acid Soul."
This is "Black Acid Soul."
The deluxe came out today. Is that right?
That's right. Today.
♪ Today
Very good.[Applause]
And you guys are all up here. I'm so happy right now.
I can't even believe it.
I'm trying to be so cool, and I'm failing completely.
I'm failing so bad.
I know I'm blushing and...
We're the fan -- it's a fan club over here.
Yeah, seriously.You're amazing.
I'm dying, thank you.
I know -- I know that people watching that performance
will want to go and see you.
And you are tour-- you're touring here?
We start the tour Saturday.
We're in the Netherlands.
And we hit the Netherlands, we hit Spain,
we hit Rome, Germany, Paris, and then we end up back --
No Ireland?I know.
Who do we have to talk to?!
In fairness to Bono, we haven't heard about the UK yet.
If Bono wants Ireland, we're going to Ireland.
Yeah.
If Bono wants Mars, we're going to Mars.
[Laughter]
And we end here -- we end here in -- let me see.
We play Manchester, we play the Barbican,
Barking, and we end Jo Whiley, um, radio -- yeah.
Google Lady Blackbird.
You'll find it.
Yeah. I'm so nervous.
Don't trust me on the dates.No, no, no.
But people will be delighted to know
you're performing new music and you're out there in the world.
I have to ask, contractually,
Taylor Swift, when could we expect to see you on a...
Yeah.
[Audience screaming]
[Applause]
I'm gonna say that first you should purchase tickets
to go see Lady Blackbird.
Yep.But soon, yeah.
It's soon.This year?
No, next year.
I mean, it's soon. Ish.
It's gonna happen.
We'll do it. It's gonna be great.
I -- ugh.
[Laughter]
"Eh. Whatever."
And, but, Bono, U2, you're doing new music, aren't you?
Yep, we have a sort of --
We have an album nearly finished,
called "Songs of Ascent."
It's beautiful,
but it's just not right for the moment we're in.
We want to make a really unreasonable guitar record,
real proper rock 'n' roll, you know -- proper --
Okay.
And so that's -- we're starting again.
Alright. Well, listen, we look forward to that.
Lady Blackbird, thank you so much
for that beautiful performance.Yes, thank you.
Congratulations on the album, "Black Acid Soul,"
and good luck with the tour.
Lady Blackbird, everybody!
[Cheers and applause]
And, sadly, no time for Red Chairs tonight,
so it just remains for me to say a huge thank you
to all of my guests tonight.
Lady Blackbird![Cheers and applause]
Alex Scott![Cheers and applause]
Eddie Redmayne![Cheers and applause]
Taylor Swift![Cheers and applause]
And Bono![Cheers and applause]
Join me next week with UK rapper Loyle Carner,
comedian and writer Richard Ayoade,
and two of the hottest young actors around,
Emma Corrin and Paul Mescal.
And from the new "Black Panther" movie, "Wakanda Forever,"
we've got Winston Duke and Michaela Cole.
I'll see you then. Good night, everybody, bye-bye!
[Applause]
♪♪
[Rhythmic clapping]
♪♪
[Cheers and applause]