Bono

For other uses, see Bono (disambiguation).

Bono

Paul David Hewson KBE (born 10 May 1960), known as Bono, is the lead singer and principal lyricist of the Irish rock band U2. Bono is also widely known for his work as an activist in Africa.

Biography

Paul Hewson was raised in Glasnevin (Northside of Dublin) by his mother, Iris Rankin Hewson, a Protestant, and his father, Brendan Robert "Bob" Hewson, a Roman Catholic. His mother died on 10 September 1974 of a brain hemorrhage when she collapsed at her father's funeral, when Bono was only 14 years old. Many songs from U2's albums, including "I Will Follow", "Mofo", "Out of Control", and "Tomorrow", focus on the loss of his mother.

Personal life

Bono is married to Alison "Ali" Stewart, a relationship that started in 1975. They were married on 21 August, 1982 in an Anglican ceremony at a chapel on the Guinness family estate. Adam Clayton, U2's bass player, was Bono's best man. The couple have four children: daughters Jordan (born 10 May 1989 which incidentally was Bono's 29th birthday) and Memphis Eve (born 7 July 1991); and sons Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q (born 18 August 1999) and John Abraham (born 21 May 2001).

Bono lives in Killiney in south County Dublin, Ireland, with his family and shares a villa in Èze in the Alpes-Maritimes in the south of France with U2 bandmate The Edge, as well as an apartment at The San Remo in Manhattan.

Bono is almost never seen in public without wearing sunglasses. During a Rolling Stone interview he stated:

"[I have] very sensitive eyes to light. If somebody takes my photograph, I will see the flash for the rest of the day. My right eye swells up. I've a blockage there, so that my eyes go red a lot. So it's part vanity, it's part privacy, and part sensitivity."

Stage name

Hewson attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School, an Ecumenical school that was the first of its kind in Dublin. During his childhood and adolescence, Hewson and his friends were part of a surrealist street gang called "Lypton Village," which had a ritual of nickname-giving. He had several names: first, he was "Steinvic von Huyseman", then just "Huyseman", then "Houseman", then "Bon Murray", "Bono Vox of O'Connell Street", and finally just "Bono".

"Bono Vox" is an alteration of Bonavox, a brand of hearing aid. The phrase in Latin translates to "good voice". "Bona Vox" was the name of a hearing aid shop they regularly passed in Dublin. It is said he was nicknamed "Bono Vox" after the shop by his friend Gavin Friday, of later Virgin Prunes fame, because he sang so loudly he seemed to be singing for the deaf. Initially, Bono did not like his name. However, when he learned it loosely translated to "good voice", he accepted it and is universally known by it today.

Bono and U2

In 1976, Bono responded to an advertisement by fellow student Larry Mullen, Jr. to form a rock band, as did The Edge (David Howell Evans), Dick Evans, and Adam Clayton. After Dick Evans left the group, the remaining four officially changed the name from "The Hype" to "U2". Initially Bono sang, played guitar, and wrote the band's songs. When The Edge's guitar playing improved, Bono was relegated mostly to the microphone, although he often plays rhythm guitar and harmonica.

File:Fly mac.gif

Bono's stage personas for the Zoo TV Tour, "The Fly" and "Mr. MacPhisto".

Following the Enniskillen bombing that left 11 dead and 63 injured on 8 November 1987, several newspapers claimed Provisional IRA paramilitaries had put Bono on a hit-list for his "fuck the revolution" speech. The singer had been advised to cut his on-stage outburst from the Rattle and Hum film, but it was left in. Some newspapers suggested the film's charity London premiere on 31 October would have to be cancelled. It was not, and all of the band members arrived, although their attempts to busk in Leicester Square were prevented by crowds and police.

Bono writes the lyrics for almost all U2 songs, and features in almost all their videos. Bono has won numerous awards with U2, including 22 Grammy awards, the most by any group. A Golden Globe Award for best original song, The Hands That Built America for the film Gangs of New York. in 2005 Bono, along with U2 was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in their first year of eligibility.

Equipment

Bono is credited on each album with guitar work, and plays a fair amount of rythym guitar during live shows. He has typically been seen with a Gibson ES-175, Gibson ES-335, Gretsch Country Club and Gibson Hummingbird. As of 2001, Gretsch produces his signature guitar model, the Gretsch Irish Falcon. In many ways identical to a Country Club, it comes with an exclusive emerald green paintjob, gold hardware and an inscription on the pickguard reading "The goal is soul." Some proceeds from the purchase of said instrument go to ending extreme poverty and AIDS in Africa. Bono has additionally been spotted using a Fender Telecaster Deluxe, Gretsch Chet Atkins, Fender Lead, Gretsch Black Falcon, Gibson L-7 and a couple of Gibson Les Paul customs. He uses a Vox AC-30 amplifier like The Edge. Additionally, he plays piano on the studio version of City of Blinding Lights (although Adam Clayton does during concerts), and played piano during Elevation Tour performances of Sweetest Thing. The song Window In The Skies reportedly features him on some piano parts. He also plays harmonica on the studio and live versions of Desire and Running To Stand Still, and recently live on "Angel of Harlem".

Other endeavours

In addition to his work with U2, he has written songs either for or with, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Luciano Pavarotti, Sinéad O'Connor, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, and BB King.

In 1992, together with The Edge, Bono bought and refurbished Dublin's two-star 70-bedroom Clarence Hotel and converted it into a five-star 49-bedroom hotel that quickly became one of the city's most stylish (and expensive) hotels. The hotel's basement was also home to the now defunct nightclub, The Kitchen.

Bono is on the board of the Elevation Partners private equity firm, which attempted to purchase Eidos Interactive in 2005 and has since gone on to invest in other entertainment businesses.

Humanitarian work

In a 1986 interview with Rolling Stone magazine Bono explained that he was motivated to become involved in social and political causes by seeing one of the benefit shows staged by Monty Python's John Cleese and producer Martin Lewis for human rights organization Amnesty International in 1979. "I saw 'The Secret Policeman's Ball' and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." In 2001 Bono arranged for U2 to videotape a special live performance for that year's Amnesty benefit show. Introducing the performance, Bono referred to The Secret Policeman's Ball as "a mysterious and extraordinary event that certainly changed my life..."

Bono and U2 performed on Amnesty's Conspiracy Of Hope tour of the United States in 1986 alongside Sting. U2 also performed in the Band Aid and Live Aid projects organised by Bob Geldof. In 1984, Bono sang on the Band Aid single "Do They Know it's Christmas?/Feed the World" (a role that was reprised on the 2004 Band Aid 20 single of the same name). Geldof and Bono later collaborated to organise the 2005 Live 8 project where U2 also performed.

Bono with President Lula da Silva of Brazil

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Bono & U.S. President George W. Bush

Since 1999, Bono has become increasingly involved in campaigning for third-world debt relief and raising awareness of the plight of Africa including the AIDS pandemic. In the past decade Bono has met with several influential politicians including United States President George W. Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin. During a March 2002 visit to the White House, after President Bush unveiled a $5 billion aid package, he accompanied the President for a speech on the White House lawn. He stated, "This is an important first step, and a serious and impressive new level of commitment. ... This must happen urgently, because this is a crisis." In May of that year, Bono took US Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill on a four-country tour of Africa. In 2005 Bono spoke on CBC Radio alleging Prime Minister Martin was being slow about increasing Canada's foreign aid.

Bono spoke in advance of President Bush at the 54th Annual National Prayer Breakfast, held at the Hilton Washington Hotel on 2 February, 2006. In a speech peppered with biblical references, Bono encouraged the care of the socially and economically depressed. His comments included a call for an extra 1% "tithe" of the United States' national budget. He brought his Christian views into harmony with other faiths by noting that Christian, Jewish, and Muslim writings all call for the care of the widow, orphan, and stranger. Bono continued by saying much work is left to be done to be a part of God's ongoing purposes.

Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa was established in 2002 by Bono and Bobby Shriver, along with activists from the Jubilee 2000 Drop the Debt Campaign. Some of DATA's goals are to eradicate poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa. DATA encourages Americans to contact senators and other legislators and elected officials to voice their opinions.

In early 2005, Bono, his wife Ali Hewson, and New York-based Irish fashion designer Rogan Gregory launched the socially conscious line EDUN in an attempt to shift the focus in Africa from aid to trade. EDUN's goal is to use factories in Africa, South America, and India that provide fair wages to workers and practice good business ethics to create a business model that will encourage investment in developing nations.

Product Red is an initiative begun by Bono and Bobby Shriver to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Bobby Shriver has been announced as the CEO of Product Red, whilst Bono is currently an active public spokesperson for the brand. Product Red is a brand which is licensed to partner companies such as American Express, Apple Computer, Converse, Motorola, The Gap and Giorgio Armani. Each company will create a product with the Product Red logo and a percentage of the profits from the sale of these labelled products will go to the Global Fund.

Praise and criticism

Recognition

• In 2004 Bono was awarded the Pablo Neruda International Presidential Medal of Honour from the Government of Chile.
• Bono was a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, 2005 and 2006.
• Time named Bono one of the "100 Most Influential People" in their May 2004 special issue.
• In 2005 Bono was named by Time as a Person of the Year along with Bill and Melinda Gates.
• Bono was named in the United Kingdom's 2007 New Years Honours List as an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Humanitarian criticism

Bono has drawn some criticism from many including George Monbiot, Bianca Jagger and others for getting too close to those in power and therefore running the risk of legitimizing their actions and "trying to patent the language of poverty reduction." Paul Theroux has criticised him for sending money to probable corrupt governments Bono and the other members of U2 have also come under criticism for moving part of their multi-million euro business empire out of Ireland to Amsterdam to minimise tax liability.

See also

• 100 Greatest Britons (2002 poll by BBC)
• The ONE Campaign
• List of people on stamps of Ireland
• Product Red
• Bono on Bono
• Live 8

External links

• U2.com - official U2 website
• DATA (Debt, AIDS, trade, Africa) - Bono's organization
• The ONE Campaign
• EDUN - ecofashion line started by Bono and his wife Ali
• Charlie Brooker on Bono
• Bono: The Beliefnet Interview by Anthony DeCurtis
• Bono's Charity Work
• Video of Bono at the TED Conference accepting the TED Prize and discussing the ONE campaign. Presented February 2005 in Monterey, CA. (29 mins)