Bono Jokes He Wants To Join Girls Aloud

While Bono said he enjoys modern pop, he still believes U2 are able to both influence and compete with younger bands.

The U2 singer is keen to become a member of the British band after seeing them perform at the BRIT Awards last night (18.02.09).

Bono said: "I want to be in Girls Aloud. But seriously, I think they are at the cutting edge of pop music. They are a great band and they deserve to be centre stage. They have everything a pop band should have - songs, the look, it's all there."

Girls Aloud - Cheryl Cole, Sarah Harding, Kimberley Walsh, Nicola Roberts and Nadine Coyle - picked up their first BRIT Award for Best British Single for their song 'The Promise', which they performed at the event.

U2 opened the show with a rendition of their latest single 'Get on Your Boots'.

While Bono said he enjoys modern pop, he still believes U2 are able to both influence and compete with younger bands.

He added to Britain's The Sun newspaper: "We see ourselves as contemporaries of bands like Kings of Leon, Interpol - and even Girls Aloud. We have been doing this a long time but I still get the same nerves about releasing an album as I did in the early days."

Bono also joked not even his wife Alison refers to him by his real name.  He said: "My full name is Paul David Hewson. And if someone did call me Paul I would think of my father, because he did - but not my wife."

U2 guitarist The Edge - real name David Howell Evans - agreed, adding: "Everybody calls me Edge, it's my nickname. Anyone who calls me David is, generally, a policeman or a customs officer."