Bono warned to get rest after suffering chest pains

U2 frontman Bono has been told to get plenty of rest by a leading heart specialist after complaining of chest pains while on holiday in the south of France.

Bono was taken to Monaco’s Princess Grace Memorial Hospital last Wednesday and underwent extensive testing but wasn’t admitted overnight, according to reports over the weekend.

Doctors told the rocker, said to have been “frightened” by the incident, to get rest and relaxation.

Last year, U2 had to postpone the first date of its 360 degree tour, in Salt Lake City after Bono underwent back surgery. The 51-year-old injured his back during a rehearsal and spent time in a neurosurgery unit at a hospital in Munich.

But while his health woes may be getting him down, on the financial front, Mr Hewson has no complaints.

Last week it emerged that his investment firm Elevation could be looking at a profit of almost $800m on its stake in Facebook.

The U2 singer’s investment firm Elevation Partners paid $210m (€145.78m) for a stake in Mark Zuckerberg’s social networking site in November 2009. But, after another investor sold his stake, pushing up the price, Elevation’s stake soared to around $975m in value, an increase of a staggering 400%.

Elevation was founded in 2004 by Fred Anderson, a former chief financial officer of Apple and Roger McNamee, co-founder of Silver Lake Partners, which has invested in Skype in the past. Bono joined as a partner in 2004, shortly after its launch, but the group acquired a reputation for making investments that subsequently went sour.

The first major example of this was the fund’s 2006 investment in Forbes Media, which owns Forbes magazine. Earlier this year Forbes named U2 as one of the world’s highest paid musicians, having taken $736m — and profits of around $195m — from record sales and concert receipts over the last two years.

Despite their wealth, however, Bono and the band continue to avoid paying tax in this country, for which they have long been criticised, especially since the economic downturn.

The Edge has firmly rejected claims the band neglects their tax-paying responsibilities. “U2 and the individual band members have a totally clean record with every jurisdiction in which they are required to pay tax and have never been, and will never be, involved in tax evasion.”