Showbiz: Bono's show goes on despite father's death

U2 lead singer Bono took the stage at a London concert this week just hours after his father died of cancer.

"He's free of all that [cancer] now," an emotional Bono said, before dedicating a song to his father - 75-year-old Bob Hewson. The Irish band performed Kite from their new album.

The song was originally written for Bono's children but the singer said it now felt "like my father wrote it about me. It's funny how things work out".

"I want to thank my old man, my father, for giving me this voice," Bono told the audience at the concert on Tuesday. "He was a fine tenor and he always said if I had his voice, who knows what might have happened."

Bono had flown back to Dublin to visit his ailing father, a retired postal worker, nearly every night the band played in Britain.

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A New York record company has signed to unleash New Zealander Russell Crowe's rock band in the United States.

Independent label Artemis Records announced it had signed Crowe and his band, Thirty Odd Foot of Grunts, and would distribute its new album in the United States.

Artemis was the No 1-selling independent record company in the US last year with hits including Who Let The Dogs Out?

Crowe said he had been looking for some time for a label that he could work with. "After a long time discussing with people we found a record company that could actually do an honest deal," said Crowe. "They are completely independent."

The Oscar-winning actor is now on a sold-out tour of the US to promote his new album, Bastard Life or Clarity.

The Artemis record deal marks a significant step forward in Crowe's musical aspirations. Until now, fans outside Australia have been able to buy his music only from the band's official website.

Bastard Life or Clarity will be released in North American stores on September 11. The band will also release Sail Those Same Oceans as their first US single.

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The creator of the popular 1970s television series Kung Fu is set to write a feature-length adaptation of the show for Warner Brothers.

Ed Spielman, who also wrote Dead Man's Gun and Earth Star Voyager for television, will write a first draft for the film, to be called American Samurai. He will also serve as executive producer.

The original show ran from 1972-75.