Singer and songwriter Bono is celebrating a birthday today, and in honor of the occasion, we have compiled for you 38 interesting facts about him.
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1. He was born on May 10, 1960, in Dublin, Ireland, as Paul David Hewson.
2. As a child he admired artists such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Marc Bolan, David Bowie, and more.
3. He received the nickname Bono as a child from his friends in the street gang "Lypton Village". His friend Gavin Friday, who would later form the "Virgin Prunes", called him Bono Vox, after a local hearing aid store called "Bonavox", which in free translation means "good voice".
4. As a child he loved to play chess and admired chess masters like Bobby Fisher, Boris Spassky, and later Gary Kasparov.
5. When he was only 14 his mother passed away as a result of a cerebral aneurysm. This affected Bono a lot and later he will write songs like: "I Will Follow", "Mofo", "Lemon", "Tomorrow" and "Out of Control" about her.
6. Bono received a Christian education as a child. He was a member of a religious group called "The Shalom Fellowship". The effects of Christianity are well reflected in some of U2's songs, including: "I still haven't found what I'm looking for", "Please", "Gloria", "40" and more.
7. In 1975, Bono met Alison Stewart at Mount Temple High School. They married on August 21, 1982, and have been together ever since. They have 4 children: two sons and two daughters.
8. At the same school he also met his friends from "U2". On September 25, 1976, drummer Larry Mullen Jr. posted an ad on the school bulletin board. Bono, David Evans (known as The Edge), his brother Dik Evans and bassist Adam Clayton responded to the ad and that is how the band "Feedback" was formed.
9. Later the band was renamed "The Hype" and Dik Evans left the band to join another local band called "Virgin Prunes", thus forming the band that would become "U2".
10. Long after, Bono admitted during an interview with Larry King that he did not like the name "U2", which was suggested to the band by cover designer Steve Averill.
11. In 1979 the band was signed by the CBS branch in Ireland and released a triple series of mini-albums called "U2-3".
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12. In March 1980 the band released their debut album "Boy", which gain relative success.
13. The band's breakthrough came in 1983 with the third studio album - "War".
14. Bono mostly writes the lyrics for "U2". The words usually deal with, political, social, and religious issues.
15. In 1984, Bono participated in the charity song "Do They Know It's Christmas".
16. That same year he was asked to interview Bob Dylan before performing at Slane Castle in Dublin. Dylan later invited Bono on stage to perform the song "Blowin 'in the Wind" with him. Bono who did not know the lyrics of the song simply improvised on stage.
17. In 1985 Bono performed with "U2" in "Live Aid".
18. In March 1988, he and "U2" won their first two Grammys for the masterpiece album "The Joshua Tree".
19. In the future, Bono will win another 20 Grammy Awards with the band !!!
20. Bono holds 1.5% of "Facebook" shares. He purchased them for about $ 210 million. These holdings are currently valued at over $ 1 billion.
21. He starred in Wim Winders' 2000 film "Million Dollar Hotel", in which he also contributed songs to the soundtrack with "U2". He also played the character Dr. Robert in the movie "Across the Universe".
22. He is the only person in the world to have been nominated for a Grammy, Oscar, Golden Globe, and a Nobel Prize.
23. He had a complex relationship with his father Bob Hewson. The two got closer only near the death of his father in 2001. Bono wrote the song "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" about their relationship.
24. In 2003 he released a children's book called "Peter and the Wolf", which he co-wrote with his children.
25. In 2004 he appeared on the cover of "Time" magazine, which ranked him among the 100 most influential people in the world.
26. In 2005 he and his wife launched a fashion line called "Edun" which is actually the word "Nude" written from end to beginning.
27. That same year he was inducted, along with "U2", into the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame".
28. Back in 2005 Bono assisted Bob Geldof in organizing the show "Live 8".
29. In 2007 he received the title "Knight of the Order of the British Empire", but did not receive the title Sir as a result, because he is not a British citizen.
30. In 2008 he was ranked 32nd by "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the 100 greatest singers of all time.
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31. In 2015, "Rolling Stone" magazine ranked Bono and The Edge in 35th place among the 100 best songwriters of all time.
32. In 2016 he became the first man to be voted "Man of the Year" by Women's Magazine - “Glamor”.
33. Bono wears glasses even at night, he claims it is due to the sensitivity of his eyes.
34. He received life-threatening threats from the Irish IRA underground following their condemnation during the performance of the song "Sunday Bloody Sunday".
35. Along with U2 he released 14 studio albums, 9 mini-albums, and one live album. In addition, Bono released in 1995 together with his band members and with the addition of Brian Eno and other guest artists such as tenor singer Luciano Pavarotti the album "Original Soundtracks 1", under the band name "Passengers".
36. Beyond his work with "U2", Bono also has quite a few interesting collaborations among them with: Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, "Clannad", Michael Hutchence, and more.
37. Together with The Edge, he co-wrote the lyrics and music for the 2011 Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.
38. On March 17, 2020, Bono performed a new song following covid-19 called "Let Your Love Be Known". The song was uploaded to YouTube under the name # SING4LIFE and included a collaboration with Jennifer Hudson and Will Am.