As the Popmart concert drew to a close in 1998 and thus signalling the end of the U2 "Pop" era, activities in the U2 camp quietened. Other than the minor troubles surrounding the break-up and lawsuit with former long-time accountant Ossie Kilkenny (May 1998) and the comical appearances surrounding "the Simpsons" (where Homer appears on the stage of "Popmart" to talk about sanitation in Springfield before being dragged off by security), people were still left wondering on the future direction of U2. Were they going to advance their music like in the last three albums, or were they going for a different tact altogether? Already, U2 had signed another recording deal soon after the Pop tour in September 1998, thus confirming their continuation of their decade long music career - but any hint of their music directions were hidden when they announced plans for their best ever songs and singles collection to be released in November - aptly named "Best of U2, 1980-1990".

  Any hint of U2's musical direction came when they released a remake of "Sweetest Thing" - one of the B-sides to "Where The Streets Have No Name" in the same month. The performance featured Bono sitting in a horse-drawn carriage with Ally, who is eventually joined up with the rest of the other band members, the Irish pop group Boyzone as well as various other floats. The song was written by Bono for his wife Alison, after he missed her birthday. The music style was re-worked, creating a more melodic sound than the one that first appeared on the B-side - however the sound was more raw with less techno effects that was found in the songs on "Pop".

  Then, in November after releasing their collections album, U2 made an announcement that Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno will be assisting in the next studio album. Lanois and Eno, who both helped produced U2's runaway success "The Joshua Tree" would not commence with U2's new album until March the next year. In the New Musical Express ("Oh joy unrestrained " - November 19, 1998), Eno did not reveal much details of the new album, but did mention that the new album would echo a sense of optimism and joy.

  As another year passes, the expectations of another U2 album were overshadowed with several other events. Paul McGuiness was lucky to escape serious injury in a horrific car accident early in the year. Bono would also help in the making of "The Million Dollar Hotel" by Wim Wenders where Bono is also rumored to play a cameo role. However, the news that would take headlines was Bono's involvement in the Jubilee 2000 "Drop the Debt" campaign in February by receiving a Brit Award on behalf of Jubilee 2000 which he would later present to international ambassador for Jubilee 2000 and boxing great, Mohammed Ali. The scheme's main aims were to drive awareness to other nations that they had to play some responsibilities to help the poorer nations, one of those actions was debt cancellation.

  Later in June, Bono would use his celebrity status to take on a more active role, in one case appearing with The Edge and his wife at the G8 summit in Cologne, Germany to present a petition supporting the elimination of 3rd world debt. They and other well known celebrities such as Bob Geldof, Thom Yorke of Radiohead and the leaders of Jubilee 2000 participated in forming a human chain around the summit centre, which consisted of 35,000 people from more than 60 countries. At the end, the demonstration was labelled a success as German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder understood their message and believed that their agreement should be seen as a first step. Bono would later say that the year should be seen as the period of "not just for the devastation of one country, but for the reconstruction of more than 50 of the poorest countries".

  Along with providing assistance in the Jubilee 2000 campaign, Bono also recorded a new song with Wyclef Jean called "New Day" in July, a song which he wrote for the upcoming NetAid concert on October 9th. Bono's continuing commitment to such charity events, from the Live Aid concert where U2's performance stopped the world to the present day has had a great affect on the potential enablers that have the power to implement policies to provide better lives for people. Bono gives further emphasis on his role in not just changing policies, but in understanding the injustices that U2 and other celebrities have stood for in the past as he comments on the cancellation of 3rd world debt- " What they're repaying a lot of the time are old loans made to dodgy dictators and cracked despots a couple of generations ago. It's inefficient, it's barbaric and it's preventing the developing countries from joining the world stage. These countries have a lot to offer in terms of growth and new trade but they can't even get to the starting line."