(Early jacket worn by Edge that’s being offered at auction on Saturday).

CBS’s The Early Show featured Saturday’s Music Rising “Icons of Music” auction this morning. They also listed some of the estimated prices items will go for.

Here are some of the items The Early Show featured:

Bono Stage-Worn Bullet Leather Jacket From the 2005 Vertigo Tour

Black leather and cotton appliqué jacket designed by Sharon Blankson for Bono to wear onstage during the Vertigo tour in 2005-06. “The design of this jacket was inspired by a red jacket of recycled leather and military detailing found in LA. Worn by Bono with black trousers and T-shirt, creepers, colored glasses and a white headband. Bono usually changed into this jacket onstage for the ‘Love and Peace’ through to ‘Bullet the Blue Sky’ part of the show. All versions of this jacket differ slightly with varying appliqué, webbing and printed patches owing to the recycled nature of many of its component parts.” — Sharon Blankson, U2 Stylist (est. $6,000-$8,000)

Edge Stage-Played Gibson Explorer Guitar

1976 Limited Edition Reissue Gibson Explorer electric guitar, serial number 00230010. Mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, 500T and 496R ceramic humbucking pickups with gold hardware in a natural finish, with black leather Allan’s Music guitar strap, an extra brown leather Levy’s guitar strap and 10 packages of replacement strings.

“This guitar has been in my collection for 22 years. I am always on the lookout for these limited edition Gibson Explorer guitars. They are not as rare as the original 1958 edition but still very hard to find. Dallas found this one in Cincinnati and it became of the backup instruments for my main 1976 reissue Explorer during the 1987 Joshua Tree world tour and many U2 tours since. The guitar has the sound that gives U2’s early albums their unique timbre. Combined with a Memory Man Deluxe and a Vox AC30, most of the sounds of the Boy, October, and War albums are achievable. It’s a classic design and in my mind one of Gibson’s most innovative.” — The Edge

“It comes with all original parts and the original case. It has a very fine neck, and is overall in very good condition, considering how well-traveled it is.” — Dallas Schoo, U2 Guitar Technician (est. $80,000 and up)

Edge-Worn U2 Rings

Silver adjustable rings, one a “U” with a brick wall design behind it, the other a “2,” both in bas relief on a square, stamped “STURE” and accompanied by a copy of the Achtung Baby CD. These silver U2 rings were designed by Joe Casely-Hayford and are one of two sets created for The Edge during the early 1990’s. A pair is featured and worn by The Edge on the cover of the album Achtung Baby, which was photographed by Anton Corbijn. These were also worn by The Edge for various videos and photo sessions around that time. (est. $2,000-$4,000)

For more on this story, visit CBS News’ page here.

To update a story mentioned here a week ago (or so), Edge has announced he will donate 2 Gibson guitars and other personal items to the upcoming “Icons of Music” auction on May 31.

In an interview with the Associated Press by phone while the band was in the studio, Edge said, “No one could ever come close to repaying the debt of those who have established this form (of music) that we all take totally for granted, this hybrid of European melody and African-American rhythm that’s given us jazz and R&B and rock ‘n’ roll. There’s something powerful about musicians giving instruments they own to an auction to aid musicians who are going through a particularly difficult time.”

The AP story also said that Aaron Neville is scheduled to perform at the May 31 auction, held at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City. Edge will host the auction.

If anyone is planning on attending the auction, let us know. We’re looking for special correspondents to cover this event!

For those who didn’t get what they wanted at auction last year will have another opportunity at bidding on items generously donated from fellow musicians…Julien’s Auctions is hosting the “Icons of Music” auction to benefit Music Rising. The auction is set for May 31 at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City. There are a few locations hosting a viewing of the items:

Museo de la Moda in Santiago, Chile - March 25 thru April 18
Newbridge Silverware Vistior’s Center in Kildare, Ireland - May 2 thru May 14
Celebrity Vault in Beverly Hills, California - May 22 thru May 24
Hard Rock Cafe in New York City - May 26 thru May 30

Session 1 of the auction begins at 1 p.m. on May 31, with session 2 beginning at 6 p.m. The site is advertising a “Special Performance” at 5 p.m. that day. Who knows - maybe Edge will teach the winning bidder how to play the guitar they just won!

For more information about the auction, check out the official site here.

If you wish to order the catalog for $50, click here.

According to Multichannel.com, some of the items up for auction this year include: “a signed Miley Cyrus guitar, suits worn by The Beatles while promoting A Hard Day’s Night, a Miles Davis owned and used trumpet – 400 lots in all.” The site also mentions that, “Startup Auction Network, a Tulsa-based Web and cable network headed by a passel of former TV Guide Network executives in Oklahoma, will do a six-hour interactive Webcast of the auction, working with Julien’s Auctions of West Hollywood, Calif.”

So, if you can’t make it to NYC, you can still participate. Check your local cable operator to see if you get the Auction Network.

Still Haven’t Found What You’re Looking For? OK…I have to admit, that phrase is getting *real* old, well 20 years old that is…I digress.

With (RED) items in the local shopping mall for sale, Edun apparel available as well, fans have choices to make a difference in people’s lives while at the same time helping to keep others alive in Africa. The Edge has also been a little busy in this front too.

Back in November, you might remember reading that The Edge had contributed a start-up jingle for the XO laptop computer from the OLPC (one laptop per child) organization. Headed up by MIT Media Lab’s founder Nicholas Negroponte, OLPC hopes to provide a connected laptop to each school-aged child in developing countries to empower and enable them to learn.

OLPC has extended their “Give One, Get One” program through the end of the year - for $399, you can buy an XO laptop for your family, and OLPC will give a laptop to a deserving child in the areas they are serving. If you live in the U.S., $200 of that purchase is tax deductible

The Edge has been collaborating with the MIT and the MIT Media Lab for quite a while now. He has served as a panel judge for a ringtone contest, contributed to an exhibit, and helped lead the now-disbanded MIT Media Lab Europe with Bono and a few others.

Creating start-up jingles isn’t a first for the creative members of U2. You might recall that Brian Eno created the Windows 95 start-up tune.

UPDATE: CNN posted this story on Monday about a laptop village in Peru that is benefiting from the OLPC project.

In case you were worried that Bono would use his rumored gig as one of the Spice Girls as an excuse to hold up the work on the new U2 album, no dice. U2’s slow work process is actually The Edge’s fault. At least according to Bono’s comment in this clip [click to view]:

Edge and Bono were at a couple of events this past weekend in New York. They attended a screening of Julian Schnabel’s film the Diving Bell and the Butterfly. And they were also at Bill Clinton’s event about youth activism, which was webcast on think.mtv.com. A portion of Bono’s remarks at that event can be seen in this clip [click here to view]:

Note the last 20 seconds in the above video. Chris Rock bemoans the fact that college kids are not as interested in activism as they are in Girls Gone Wild. Funny man Bono, with adequate levels of inappropriateness, asks “What’s wrong with that?” And Bill Clinton stares straight ahead. Like a deer. With very bright headlights shining in his eyes.

Earlier in the week, Bono received the Liberty Medal from former President Bush, the same man U2 used to mock. Nightly. 15 very long Zoo TV years ago. Certainly an honor, but also a very surreal sight.

Dear The Edge: Restring! Restring! Quick!

—This post brought to you by Scatter O’ Light.

If you missed this news article on @U2, it’ll be news to you that Edge made an appearance last weekend (September 2nd) at MENCAP’s “Race Day” outside Dublin. MENCAP is a charity that supports people of all ages who have learning disabilities.

The event last weekend involved a luncheon and then horse races at the prestigious Curragh race track, and here are a few photos from the day.

By the way, if the young lady in the middle photo looks a little bit familiar, it’s because that’s Edge’s cousin, Ciara, who was kind enough to share these photos with us. She also asked if we’d let our readers know that MENCAP accepts donations of any amount on their web site. Of course! And Ciara also told me that the family all calls him “Edge.”

Thanks for the great photos, Ciara!