Bono mourns Pavarotti

While we're sure that Bono's pain at the loss of Pavarotti is heartfelt and genuine, his obituary for the Sun is an overwritten parade of cliche, and as cloying as you'd expect:

He lived the songs, his opera was a great mash of joy and sadness; surreal and earthy at the same time; a great volcano of a man who sang fire but spilled over with a love of life in all its complexity, a great and generous friend.

Some can sing opera, Luciano Pavarotti was an opera.

Great, great fun, The Pavlova we used to call him . . . An emotional arm twister if he wanted you to do something for him — he was impossible to turn down.

That actually makes him sound like someone who got his way through emotional blackmail, Bono, which hardly is a glowing recommendation.