Overview (4)

Born May 10, 1960 in Dublin, Ireland Birth Name Paul David Hewson Nicknames Bon

B-Man

The Mirrorball Man Height 5' 5½" (1.66 m)

Mini Bio (1)

Bono was born Paul David Hewson in Dublin, Ireland on May 10, 1960, to Iris (Rankin) and Brendan Robert Hewson. He has been the lead singer of the rock band U2 since 1976. U2 has won 22 Grammy Awards to date, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. Lauded by fans and critics as an outstanding performer and songwriter, Bono has also been praised by world leaders as an accomplished activist due to his powers of persuasion and knowledge of the issues. He travels extensively to give speeches and lobby politicians. Bono's career as a socially conscious musician has been shaped by childhood experiences in Ireland as well as volunteer work in Africa and South America. He married his childhood sweetheart Ali Hewson in 1982, and actress Eve Hewson is among their children. An accomplished activist in her own right, Ali Hewson once declined an invitation to run for President of Ireland because her husband "would not move to a smaller house". They live in Dublin with their four children: Jordan, Memphis Eve, Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q and John Abraham.



Bono was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for his successful efforts to relieve third world debt and promote AIDS awareness in Africa. He received the rank of Chevalier dans I'Ordre de la Legion d'Honneur (Knight in the Order of the Legion of Honor) from French President Jacques Chirac on February 28, 2003.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous

Spouse (1)

Trade Mark (9)

Wears goggle-like sunglasses



Often wears black clothes



Religious symbolism in songs





Often wears a rosary given to him by Pope John Paul II

Songs about politics



Gretsch Irish Falcon Guitar



High vocal range



Runs around the stage at live concerts



Distinctive Irish accent



Trivia (56)



At one point in in their career, less than ten paying customers were on hand for a U2 show. In the early 1990s, U2 was the biggest export in all of Ireland.



Luciano Pavarotti called Bono's father relentlessly, so that he would try and convince his son to write a song for him.



Wrote the song "The Sweetest Thing" after missing his wife's birthday. When the song was rerecorded, his wife, Ali Hewson , received all the proceeds of its sale. She gave them, in turn to a charity for victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Wife Alison gave birth to their 4th child, John Abraham Hewson, 7 lbs 7 oz, in Dublin Ireland. Now has two daughters and two sons. [May 2001]





Vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of the rock band U2



Children: Jordan Hewson (born on his 29th birthday, 10 May 1989), Memphis Eve Hewson (born 7 July 1991), Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q (born 18 August 1999) and John Abraham (born 21 May 2001).

His father, Robert Hewson, died of cancer in Dublin. [August 2001]





Wrote a song with The Edge for Roy Orbison , "She's a Mystery to Me". It is included on Orbison's last album "Mystery Girl" (1989).

His stage name comes from Bono Vox, a hearing aid retailer. Bono Vox is Latin for "good voice"





Bono was a member of Band Aid but was absent when the ensemble came to perform "Do They Know It's Christmas?" on BBC TV's Top of the Pops (1964) leaving Paul Weller to mime the line Bono had sang on the record.

He is the only person, who has been nominated for an Oscar, Grammy, Golden Globe, and for the Nobel Prize.





Was one of the keynote speakers at Liberal Party of Canada's Leadership Convention in November 2003, where Paul Martin was elected as Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister of Canada.

Addressed the British Labour Party annual conference in Brighton, England. [September 2004]



Sings the line 'well tonight, thank God it's them, instead of you' in the Band Aid 20 2004 cover of "Do They Know It's Christmas", the exact same line he sang on the original version back in 1984.





U2 were voted the 22nd Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Artists of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

Supports Celtic Football club



He and his daughter Jordan share a birthday. She was born on his 29th birthday.





Along with his wife Ali Hewson and New York designer Rogan, he created the high-fashion casual wear line called "Edun" (which is "nude" spelled backwards and pronounced Eden). It was designed as a socially conscious company to support developing countries.

In 2005, he was one of 166 people nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on Third World debt relief and increasing AIDS awareness.



Mother's name was Iris.



Was a school boy chess champion.



Voted the most powerful personality in the music industry by music execs.



His mother, Iris, died of a brain hemorrhage in 1974. Bono was just 14 years old.





Illustrated the children's book "Peter and the Wolf" with his daughters, Jordan Hewson and Eve Hewson , in 2003. The royalties went to the Irish Hospice Foundation.



Was named by TIME Magazine as one of their 'Persons of the Year' for 2005 along with Bill Gates and Melinda Gates

First Grammy-winning artist to say "fuck" during the 1994 live Grammy telecast





Was featured twice as a contestant on MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch. In 2006, he fought Chris Martin in the episode "Changing of the Guard", even though he was killed by Yoko Ono in the 1999 episode "Celebrity Deathmatch International".



U2 won the Brit Award for International Group in 1990.



U2 won the Brit Award for International Group in 1989.



U2 won the British Phonographic Industry Award for International Group in 1988.



U2 won the 2001 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution.



U2 won the 2004 Q Icon Award.

On 20 January 2007 he was named in the Annual Honour List as an Honorary Knight-Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) of the United-Kingdom of Great-Britain and Northern-Ireland.





Initiated "Product Red" along with Robert Shriver to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.



The U2 songs "I Will Follow", "Mofo", "Out of Control" and "Tomorrow" focus on his mother's death.



Resides in Killiney, County Dublin, Ireland and shares a villa in Èze, France and an apartment at The San Remo in New York City with The Edge



Is a huge fan of Elvis Presley



U2 were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame for their outstanding contribution to British music and integral part of British music culture. [November 2004]

Ranked #17 on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists.



Bono's silhouette is used as the icon for the "Artists" tab of the music component of the iPhone and iPod Touch.





Two notable fellow musicians were consoled by his band's music during their final moments. Jazz legend Miles Davis developed a fascination with their 1984 album "The Unforgettable Fire" and listened to it repeatedly during the last few months of his life. U2 's 2000 song "In a Little While" was the last song ever heard by punk rocker Joey Ramone , who sang along with the lyrics with his family.

Is the only rock musician to be nominated for an Oscar, a Grammy, a Golden Globe, and the Nobel Peace Prize.



He gives millions of dollars every year to charity.



Awarded an honorary knighthood, therefore not allowed to have the title 'Sir' Bono [March 2007]





U2 just gave a concert in Monterrey, Mexico and are still in Mexico for their concerts on the 15th and 16th. Their next stop is Brazil as they continue with the fourth leg of the Vertigo Tour. [February 2006]



His group, U2 , has given 3 successful concerts of their Vertigo tour in Spain: Barcelona (7), San Sebastián (9) and Madrid (11). [August 2005]



Bono performed a duet with Yuriy Shevchuk live in Russia [August 2010]

Bono visited Sarajevo Film Festival in Bosnia. [August 2006]



Writing music with The Edge for an upcoming new rock-opera musical based on Spiderman. [May 2007]



On 21 April 2005 he and the rest of the U2 were created Officers of the Order of Liberty of Portugal for their activism.



Bono doesn't wear his trademark sunglasses by choice; he is under strict doctor's orders to wear them at all times, even indoors. He was diagnosed with a rare form of glaucoma, in which exposure to bright lights, sudden flashes, or even indirect sunlight would cause permanent blindness within a matter of weeks. He has them specially made with the prescription embedded in the lenses.



Personal Quotes (52)

[in 1987] Everyone argues, then we do what I say.



It costs a fortune to look this trashy.



Never trust a man who tells you it's from the heart, never trust a man smoking a cigar, never trust a cowboy or a man who wears shades...



I could go onstage, unzip my pants, and hang my dick out, and people would think it was a statement about something.



[Hot Press, March 2000] Marriage is this grand madness, and I think if people knew that, they would perhaps take it more seriously. The reason why there's operas and novels and pop tunes written about love is because it's such an extraordinary thing, not because it's commonplace, and yet that's what you're told, you grow up with this idea that it's the norm.



[recalling his late father's influence] Overcoming my dad telling me that I could never amount to anything is what has made me the megalomaniac that you see today.



[on his paintings] I love art too much to call these anything other than marks on paper.





I think ABBA have a pure joy to their music and that's what makes them extraordinary.



U2 is sort of song writing by accident really. We don't really know what we're doing and when we do, it doesn't seem to help.

When I write, it's there. There's no staring at a blank page.





[talking about The Edge ] And that's not always a given - that he would want to play guitar. He might be into keyboards this album, and you have Larry and Adam going "oh fuck, he's into the keyboards now. We'll never get a rock song out of him".

Look, I'm sick of Bono and I AM Bono.



It would be wrong for me to say, 'Yes, we can change the world with a song.' But every time I try writing, that's where I'm at. I'm not stupid. I'm aware of the futility of rock & roll music, but I'm also aware of its power.



I represent a lot of people [in Africa] who have no voice at all... They haven't asked me to represent them. It's cheeky but I hope they're glad I do.



The world is more malleable than you think. We can bend it into a better shape. Ask big questions, demand big answers.



I hate the idea of being in the UK Hall of Fame to be honest with you. We don't want to be in any Hall of Fame until we're retired or dead.





I know sometimes you shouldn't judge your audience by the fans you meet, especially if they're in a flowerbed in your garden at home but U2 fans are different, they're very humane.



Brian Wilson believes in angels. I do too and you only have to listen to the string arrangement of 'God Only Knows' for fact and proof of angels.

Great music is written by people who are either running toward or away from God.



On wearing his trademark sunglasses: Without them, I'm an amorphous mass.



What about this idea of liberty? Not liberty for its own sake, but liberty for some larger end - not just freedom from oppression, but freedom of expression and worship. Freedom from want, and freedom from fear because when you are trapped by poverty, you are not free. When trade laws prevent you from selling the food you grow, you are not free. When you are dying of a mosquito bite for lack of a bed net, you are not free. When you are hungry in a world of plenty, you are not free. And when you are a monk in Burma this very week, barred from entering a temple because of your gospel of peace, it is an affront to the thug regime, well then none of us are truly free.





I'm the Fidel Castro of speechifying. We've got a few hours, don't we?

On visiting the White House: I'd like to think that I've always left the White House with more than I arrived. Not only budget commitments, cutlery, silverware, candelabras, one or two Bush family photos... OK, one Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington - it was in the bathroom, nobody could see-- I'll give it back.



The stage is but a platform shoe.



[on receiving an honorary British knighthood] You have permission to call me anything you want - except sir, all right? Lord of lords, your demigodness, that'll do.





[on Live Aid (1985)] That day changed my life and started me on this incredible adventure, that is the possibility that our generation could be remembered for something other than the Internet ... the first generation to eradicate extreme poverty ... I want to spend the rest of my life doing that, the band mouth off and complain, but they support me.



[on Elvis Presley ] Elvis' music has been my greatest inspiration.

I'm representing the poorest and the most vulnerable people. I'm throwing a punch, and the fist belongs to people who can't be in the room, whose rage, whose anger, whose hurt I represent.



We're delighted, of course, that people are owning up to being U2 fans.



The problem with voting is no matter who you vote for, the government always gets in.



[on criticisms of tax avoidance made against U2] We pay millions and millions of dollars in tax. The thing that stung us was the accusation of hypocrisy for my work as an activist. I can understand how people outside the country wouldn't understand how Ireland got to its prosperity but everybody in Ireland knows that there are some very clever people in the Government and in the Revenue who created a financial architecture that prospered the entire nation. It was a way of attracting people to this country who wouldn't normally do business here and the financial services brought billions of dollars every year directly to the Exchequer. What's actually hypocritical is the idea that then you don't use a financial services center in Holland. The real question people need to ask about Ireland's tax policy is: 'Was the nation a net gain benefactor?' and of course it was - hugely so. So there was no hypocrisy for me. We're just part of a system that has benefited the nation greatly and that's a system that will be closed down in time. Ireland will have to find other ways of being competitive and attractive.





[on Bill Clinton ] He is by far the most beloved American since JFK for all of us Irish.

[on Third World aid] The Irish people are amazing. What's so incredible about the Irish people is that if you poll them -- I think it's over 62 per cent -- even though they are hurting and there's a lot of pain in the country, they don't want to cut the aid budget. That just humbles me.



This whole concept of celebrating the millennium, the whole concept of celebrating a particular minute in time, what is it? What's it all about? It's bollocks, isn't it? It is.



[on Apple designer Jonathan Ive] Jony Ive is himself classic Apple. Brushed steel, polished glass hardware, complicated software honed to simplicity. His genius is not just his ability to see what others cannot, but also how he applies it. To watch him with his workmates in the holy of holies, Apple's design lab, or on a night out, is to observe a very rare esprit de corps. They love their boss and he loves them. What the competitors don't seem to understand is you cannot get people this smart to work this hard just for money. Joni is Obi-Wan.





We were like the bastard children of The Clash who actually believed that music could change the world.



[on Elton John ] He's the King and Queen of England.



[on meeting Freddie Mercury at Live Aid] So when Freddie Mercury comes up to me, he goes, "Hello. Mmmmm. We've all agreed that we like you." And I went, "Oh?" And he had me up against a wall and Freddie was being really playful with me. And I walked off and I went, "He's really very camp, isn't he?" Somebody said, " Queen ?"



I had one of the worst haircuts in the '80s. I know that it launched a million second-division soccer players. But the truth of it, if I'm really honest, is that I thought I looked like David Bowie

Pop music has dated much better than a lot of rock music.



[on creativity] If you were of sound mind, you wouldn't need 70K people a night screaming 'I love you'.





Nelson Mandela had humor and humility in his bearing, and he was smarter and funnier than the parade of world leaders who flocked to see him.. He could charm the birds off the trees - and the cash right out of wallets.. Mandela lived a life without sanctimony. you try it; it's not easy.. Laughter, not tears was Mandiba's preferred way. One of his cellmates told me that price Mandela paid for working in the limestone mine was not bitterness or even the blindness that can result from being around the bright white reflection day after day. Mandela could see, but the dust damage to his tear ducts had left him unable to cry. For all this man's farsightedness and vision, he could not produce tears in a moment of self-doubt or grief.

More than anyone, it was Mandela who rebooted the idea of Africa from a continent in chaos to a much more romantic view, one in keeping with the majesty of the landscape and the nobility of even its poorest inhabitants. He was also a hardheaded realist, as his economic policy demonstrated. To him, principles and pragmatism were not foes; they went hand-in-hand. He was an idealist without naiveté, a compromiser without being compromised.





As an activist, I have pretty much been doing what Nelson Mandela tells me since I was a teenager. He has been a forceful presence in my life, going back to 1979 when U2 made its first anti apartheid effort. And he's been a big part of the Irish consciousness even longer than that. Irish people related all too easily to the subjugation of ethnic minorities. From our point-of-view, the question as to how bloody South Africa would have to get on its long road to freedom was not abstract.



[on Bob Geldof and "Do They Know It's Christmas?"] I thought he was ringing up to say, "I like your album", but no, he told me the album was shite but despite that fact would I like to be part of his song?

[on financial accountability in the entertainment world] The real enemy is not between digital downloads or streaming, the real fight is between opacity and transparency. The music business has historically involved itself in quite considerable deceit.





As a teenager, Bowie ( David Bowie ) was our Elvis ( Elvis Presley ). They shared the same birthday and they both took music somewhere no one thought it could go. It was his other-worldliness that took us all away.



[on the election of Donald Trump ] For the first time in many years, maybe in our lifetime, the moral arc of the universe, as Dr. King [ Martin Luther King ] used to call it, was not bending in the direction of fairness, equality and justice for all. The baseness of political debate, the jingoism, the atavistic fervor of Trump's verbiage reminded us that we were dreaming if we thought evolution applied to consciousness. Democracy is a blip in history and it requires a lot of focus and concentration to keep it intact.

[MacFesto] I don't know how much I liked the Swedish: Tall, Blond, Blue-eyed. Boring.



Making movies: that's the nonsense of rock & roll.



Playing shows is the reason we're here.

