Bono:
“Music Can
Change the World Because It Can Change People”
By
Cynthia Armstrong
November 10, 2016
This past fall season marks 40 years
since Larry J. Mullen posted a notice on the school billboard asking anyone who
wanted to audition for a band to come to his house. There were four students of
the Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, Ireland who showed up to
audition; three of those four joined Larry in forming a band. The band was
called Feedback, and The Hype, before they eventually settled on the name they
are known as across the world today, U2.
Paul Hewson, the bands’ front man, was given the nickname ‘Bonavox’
which was later shortened to ‘Bono’, was not the most talented singer but had a
dynamic personality and compelling stage performance. His penchant for
performance likely aided the band in gaining gigs and winning talent shows. One
such talent show in 1978 earned the band a chance at recording time in the
studio, thus rocketing them into the music career that they have enjoyed for
the last 40 years. So how does a precocious teenager from Dublin in 1976 become
a world-wide celebrity and land a status as Glamour magazine’s 2016 ‘Woman’ (or
Man) of the Year? We’ll have to follow his path to learn.
Paul Hewson, born in 1960, is the
second born son of a Catholic father and Protestant mother. The convergence of
these two religions was quite significant because his birth came during a time
when Ireland, a young republic, had been deeply divided by religious and
political strife for several decades. The controversy regarding their marriage
left an impression on a young Paul which resulted in a distrust of organized
religions. As a child, Paul’s education was spent primarily at a Protestant
school before progressing to a Catholic school. The Catholic education was not
the most agreeable for him and he was soon enrolled at Mount Temple, a
progressive school which was Ireland’s first co-educational, non-denominational
high school. Paul had learned from both religions and saw, through his parents and
through Mount Temple, that a balance in politics and spirituality was possible.
Paul’s mother passed away when he was only 14 years old, which led to a
disconnect between himself, his older brother, and his father. Paul (Bono) has
sited this dissonance as the fuel which helped to urge him to audition and join
Larry Mullen Jr., Adam Clayton, and Dave Evans (aka The Edge) in forming a rock
band.
The aforementioned talent show in
1978 in Limerick, Ireland, that had earned the band studio time, prompted the
band to seek out a businessman, Paul McGuinness, to invest in their talent. By
1979, they had released their first single, “U2:3,” which topped the charts
nationally. They spent time traveling outside of Ireland and developing a fan
base before they were signed on by Island Records in 1980. With the help of
Island Records, U2 released their first international album, Boy.
Shortly
after the band had formed in 1976, Bono, The Edge, and Larry Mullen had begun
to attend prayer group meetings at the Dublin-based non-denominational Christian
group, Shalom. Adam Clayton, who did not attend the prayer meetings, began to
feel as though Shalom was tearing his band members away. Indeed, the three felt
torn between the Rock & Roll lifestyle and their Christian principles. “The
three believers did eventually leave Shalom, as they felt that the group was
trying to force upon them the false assertion that a commitment to rock n' roll
and a commitment to God were mutually excludable principles. Since then, Bono's
Christian faith has played a big role in his life, but in a way that has
largely been free from the influence of the mainstream church.” (@U2:Bono) When
deciding between the band and Shalom, “Larry and Bono quickly chose the band,
but The Edge was uncertain to the point where he nearly left U2 during the
October tour. But he took Bono's advice to follow his heart, and after a
reasonable period of soul searching, he chose the band as well. The Edge soon
realized he didn't have any trouble reconciling his beliefs with his music and
lifestyle; it was other people who did. In his words: "there was no
problem. It was other people's problems".” (@U2:Edge) The
October album, which was released in 1981, contained openly Christian themes,
particularly in songs such as Gloria
and With a Shout. This album also
includes a song titled, Stranger in a
Strange Land, “[t]he entire song makes allusion to the Emmaus story from
Luke 24, where the risen Jesus appears as a stranger, but miraculously cannot
be recognized until he offers bread to the two disciples who have invited him
in.” (@U2:Lyrics/Biblical)
In 1982,
Paul ‘Bono’ Hewson, married Alison Stewart, who had been his friend since 1974,
and girlfriend since 1976. Bono and Ali have been together for longer than the
band has been. Ali has played a pivotal
part in the direction of Bono’s life, not just as his wife, but as his partner
in making the world a better place. “Although she had wanted to become a nurse,
[Ali] gave up on the notion, as the intense schooling required would have been
incompatible with the direction that her husband's life had taken. Instead she
focused on studying in the social sciences, to give her an ability to
understand social policy and make a difference to people, similar to what
nursing would have enabled … Ali received a degree in social science, politics
and sociology from University College Dublin in 1989 at age 28, giving
birth to the couple's first daughter, Jordan, two weeks before her final exams.
Further plans to earn a master's degree in moral and political ethics were
derailed by the birth of their second daughter, Memphis Eve, in 1991. Two sons,
Elijah Bob Patricus Guggi Q and John Abraham, were born in 1999 and 2001,
respectively.” (Wikipedia: Ali Hewson)
1983 brought
the release of U2’s third album, War,
their first international success. “War
featured the band's most aggressive songwriting to date in both music and
lyrics. For the first time, Bono addressed the long-standing
"troubles" in Northern Ireland with the song "Sunday, Bloody
Sunday." Fearful to be seen as taking one side over another, he insisted
on introducing the song during concerts by saying "This is NOT a rebel
song!", and wrapped himself in a white flag while he sang it, to symbolize
the song's call for peace.” (@U2: Band Bio) The album War was followed closely by Under
a Blood Red Sky, a live album produced from their War tour. “1984's The Unforgettable Fire -- named for a series of
paintings drawn by survivors of the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki --
introduced the world to a new U2, a more experimental and unfocused U2. Gone
was the aggression of War, but the band's social and political messages stayed
alive in songs such as "Pride (In the Name of Love)," which was
written for Martin Luther King, Jr., and the mesmerizing "Bad",
written in response to the struggles Bono's friends had with drugs in Dublin.
While "Bad" quickly became a highlight of the band's live set, it was
"Pride" that took U2 up another rung on the charts.” (@U2: Band Bio)
Because
Bono, and the band, were beginning to show a strong social consciousness, they
were invited by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to be a part of Band Aid. Band Aid was
a coalition of several recording artists, who sang a Christmas song that was
written and produced with the specific goal to raise funds for famine relief in
Ethiopia. The song was recorded in November of 1984, and was succeeded by simultaneous
concerts held in London and Philadelphia in 1985 featuring several Top and Up
& Coming recording artists, including U2. These concerts were known as Live
Aid. U2’s performance at Live Aid included Bono jumping from the stage and over
the security in order to dance with a fan. This act demonstrated that Bono and
the other members of U2 were fans of their fans, and took them further into
star status. The band, however, were still childhood friends who remained rooted
in Christian ideals, and did not let their success steer them from their core
beliefs.
Following the concert in 1985, Bono
and Ali Hewson took a trip to Ethiopia, where they worked in a feeding camp
with the charity called World Vision. Ali
was said to have seen “children with no possessions and at risk of death;
despite this, to her they appeared more spiritually alive than those in Ireland
who had material comforts but seemed spoiled and spiritually unaware.” (Wikipedia: Ali Hewson) In 1985 and 1986, the Hewson’s traveled to parts of
Nicaragua and El Salvador, after which the band also toured as part of the
Amnesty International Benefit Tour named A Conspiracy of Hope. “The experience
shocked him and ignited a determination to work for change. In Bono's own
words, "What are the blind spots of our age? It might be something as
simple as our deep-down refusal to believe that every human life has equal worth".”
(TED Talks: Bono)
Bono and Ali began to get more deeply
involved in humanitarian efforts. Throughout the 1990’s, Bono and Ali both
worked with Greenpeace, a global campaigning organization created to protect
and preserve the environment while promoting peace. Ali’s interests expanded to
include Chernobyl Children’s Project International where she not only became a
patron, but took repeated trips into the region to volunteer and aid the
affected children and families. Ali saw this as a teaching opportunity and
brought her own children to meet with the children from Chernobyl and its
surrounding regions that were born with abnormalities and other illnesses, in
order to broaden their view of the world and bring a more grounded appreciation
for their own lives. Ali and Bono have also worked together in raising
awareness and protesting against the Sellafield plant for nuclear reprocessing
which is located in Cumbria, England on the coast, directly across the Irish Sea.
After working with the outlying regions that surrounded Chernobyl, Ali began to
worry about the effects that Sellafield could bring to the Irish beaches. After
the terrorist attacks on America in September 2001, Ali viewed the Sellafield
plant as a vulnerability. She continued in her efforts to shut down the plant
as her husband, Bono, was using his high-profile status to endorse debt relief
efforts. Bono is quoted as saying “I see it as an opportunity to put this
ridiculous thing called celebrity to some use. Celebrity is ridiculous … but it
is currency … so I wanted to use mine effectively.” (Tuner, p. 110). His use of
his currency helped to enact legislation that allowed $435 million in debt
relief for HIPCs (Highly Indebted Poorer Countries). Because of these efforts,
the United States also backed an IMF plan to sell some of its gold reserves and
use proceeds towards the debt relief. Next, the IMF and World Bank started a
debt relief program. “For such a program to have lasting effect, however, debt
relief must be matched by wise investment in public projects that boost
economic growth (such as education) and by the adoption of economic policies
that facilitate investment in trade.” (Hill/Hult, p.29)
Bono understood this, and he co-founded
an advocacy/campaign organization called DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) in
2004, which was later renamed ONE. Today, ONE boasts more than seven million
members worldwide who lobby local governments to create policy solutions that
will help to end extreme poverty and preventable diseases in Africa. The ONE
website states, “We believe the fight against poverty isn’t about charity, but
about justice and equality.” (One.org) After ONE, in 2006 a side organization, (RED), was created to work with
iconic brands in big business to help them contribute to the Global Fund which
supports HIV/AIDS grants in several African countries that provide treatments,
prevention, education, and counseling services.
While all of these active charities
were happening between 1985 and 2006, the band U2 was still going strong and
gaining notoriety. Their 1987 album, The
Joshua Tree, seemed the pinnacle of their musical creation. In The Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of the
500 Greatest Albums of All Time, The
Joshua Tree can be found near the top, at number 27. (Rolling Stone) The Joshua Tree contains powerful
lyrics in several songs, including the hit “I
Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” which is described by The Edge in
their 1988 Rattle & Hum
Rockumentary as a gospel song, explaining that although it doesn’t sound like a
gospel song, a closer look at the lyrics will expose its truth. “U2 had
delivered a record [The Joshua Tree]
that caught them at their musical and lyrical peak, finally comfortable with
the "rock band with a conscience" label they first encountered with
the War album four years earlier. In the spiritual and moral desert that had
become the U.S. of the mid-1980s, U2 stood out by bringing meaning and passion
to its music. Bono tackled his contradictory feelings about America in
"Bullet the Blue Sky" and "In God's Country." Biblical
images showed up throughout the record as Bono questioned faith, social
injustices, governmental oppression, terrorism, and drug addiction.” (@U2: Band Bio) Throughout the 1990’s the band experimented with their
sound and their message. They produced a top selling mega world tour that
lasted for two years and featured images, lights, objects, and an overall
sensory overload. The Zoo TV tour was actually a mock of stardom and rock-god
status that people like to put upon ‘rock stars’. Despite the massive world
tour, the band actually spent quite a bit of the 1990’s in the studio, playing
with different styles and sounds, and producing songs that sounded nothing like
their original style. Bono was evidently still struggling with questions of
faith, social injustices, and governmental oppressions, and the like, because
these notions were coming through in the oddity of songs being produced in the
late 90’s. On the positive side, Bono
and his wife Ali had also produced two sons during the 1990’s. All in all, this
was a busy and trying decade for the Hewsons’.
The ONE campaign (formerly DATA) and
also the RED campaign were co-founded by Bono in 2002 and 2006, respectively.
In between this, in 2005, he and his wife Ali founded the EDUN Fashion Line.
EDUN is pronounced like the name, Eden. This is a fashion brand which is based
in New York that is committed to doing business with, sourcing, and
manufacturing clothing in several African countries and more. This is the
correct way to help a poverty-stricken country, as mentioned earlier, debt
relief programs must be matched with wise investments. “In Uganda, EDUN is
supporting over 8,000 farmers in their move from subsistence to sustainable
business practices.” (TED Talks: Bono)
The year 2000, brought an updated
return to the bands original sound with the release of All That You Can’t Leave Behind, featuring the hit, Beautiful Day. Again, nods to
Christianity can be heard in the song with lines such as “see the bird with the
leaf in her mouth” and “after the flood all the colours came out”. (@U2: Lyrics/Biblical) After two decades of stardom, Bono, as well as the other
band members, were still expressing their faith in their music. U2 spent the
early 2000’s touring and making special appearances, such as being part of the
Super Bowl XXXVI Half Time show in 2002. Shortly after, the band was inducted
into the Rock & Roll Music Hall of Fame in 2005. The Rock & Roll Hall
of Fame induction process states that the artist or group is not eligible for
induction until after at least 25 years have passed since the release of their
first album. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame website’s information about the
band’s induction states, “While much had changed, important things remained the
same: U2 comprises the same four musicians, still holding fast to
principles and making inspirational music more than 30 years after their humble
beginnings in a Dublin high school.” (RRHF/U2)
Throughout his Rock & Roll and
Activist career, Bono also expanded his horizons by dabbling in art, acting,
film, writing books, and other such artistic outputs. He, and bandmate The Edge
(Dave Evans) collaborated on music and lyrics for the 2010 Broadway musical, Spider-man: Turn Off The Dark. It cannot
be said that Bono does not work hard or without passion. His music career and
activism have been steady continued efforts.
One of the ideals of a Christian life
is to be a good husband and father. Bono and his wife Ali have remained married
and devoted to each other since 1976, forty years ago. Ali has been quoted as
saying “Our marriage has worked because we like each other, because we talk to
each other, and we are passionate about what we do. We allow each other to
pursue our goals. I wouldn't want to be married to someone who wasn't happy
with what they were doing in life, and B[ono] wouldn't either. I have learned a
lot about what it means to be married, how great it can be if you persevere.
We're very close.” (Wikipedia/Ali Hewson) As I had mentioned before, Ali Hewson is also
an activist and lends her extra time and resources to charities and
organizations that benefit the world and the economies of developing countries.
The activist-apple doesn’t fall far
from the tree; Bono & Ali’s eldest child, daughter Jordan, has recently
launched Speakable, a tech company
that promotes social activism. “[T]he company is publicly unveiling its first
product: an interactive “action button” publishers can embed at the bottom of
their articles that prompts readers to act, whether by taking a poll, signing a
petition, tweeting at a policy-maker, or donating to a nonprofit. The idea is
to make social activism more seamless.” (Fortune Mag/Speakable) Speakable
partners with charity organizations, several of which were founded by Jordan’s
parents, Bono & Ali Hewson, but many others as well. The tech company Speakable takes news articles and
relevant pieces concerning the organizations and pairs them with the charities’
website. This company is still in its early stages and faces many obstacles,
but Jordan is hopeful for its growth and impact.
Bono & Ali’s second born,
daughter Memphis Eve, caught the performing bug – she is a young aspiring
actress who has already found success in several films and on the hit series The Knick. Eve is the child that causes
a stir in terms of Christianity because, as an actress, she has had some
photoshoots where she appears in revealing or risqué outfits. In my opinion
this is a product of the acting career in which your photo sessions must
demonstrate versatility and variance from your own personality. I did not come
across any photos of her in overtly sexual poses or in nudes. Eve states that
she is very close to her parents and her siblings, and that grounding is likely
what will keep her from those types of photo sessions. Those who have
interviewed Eve note that she is a very down to earth person, despite being
raised by a global Rockstar. To this Eve says, “'We didn’t grow up caring about
the flashy things; my parents are not very scene-y … They have the same group
of friends that they’ve had since secondary school … So we grew up in this very
tight tribe, and then they all had kids, and those kids are my best friends.
And lots of us have moved here [NYC] and live near one another in Brooklyn
now.” (Telegraph/Eve Hewson)
Bono’s two sons, Elijah and John, are
both still under the age of 18 and they are frequently found on tour with Bono
and the other members of U2. Ali Hewson believes that as late teenagers,
touring is a good experience for their sons who then have the opportunity to
learn about discipline and business. Bono brags about his two sons, saying that
John is a natural comedian and performer, while Elijah is a talented
guitarist. The family appears to remain
close and grounded with each other. The old cliché is that the family that
prays together, stays together. The Hewson’s take time to pray together. “Opening
up about his religious views, the singer … revealed that he and wife Ali
Hewson, and four children Eve, Jordan, Elijah and John Hewson, hold impromptu
prayer sessions in honour of sick members of the family and those generally struggling
in life… We don't do it in a very lofty way in our family. It’s just a bunch of
us on the bed, usually, we’ve a very big bed in our house. We pray with all our
kids, we read the Scriptures, we pray.” (DailyMailUK/Bono & Family Prayer) The interviewer asked Bono who they
prayed to, he answered, The Risen Jesus.
Bono’s faith has never been hidden,
throughout the entirety of his career. When Eugene Peterson started his work
translating the Bible into The Message
Bible Bono was on board and very thankful. The Ministry group supporting Peterson’s
translation invited fans of the translation to record video testimonials
telling of how it had affected their lives; Bono submitted a video message of
his own.
"Hi Mr. Peterson, Eugene. My name is Bono. I'm a singer with the group
U2. I wanted to sort of video message you my thanks, and our thanks in the
band, for this remarkable work you've done translating the Scriptures. Really,
really a remarkable work. As a songwriter, it was very clear to me that you
were a poet as well as a scholar. You brought the musicality to God's Word that
I'm sure was there, was always there in intention. There have been some great
translations, some very literary translations, but no translations that I've
read that speaks to me in my own language. So I want to thank you for that. And
it's been ten years, that's a long time, so take a rest now, won't you? Bye."
This video clip, along with Bono’s references to The Message in interviews, started a
friendship between Bono and Peterson that led to their second-ever get together
at Peterson’s Lakehouse in Montana. This meeting in April of 2015 was captured
by filmmaker Nathan Clarke, as Bono and Peterson sat down with Theology
Professor David Taylor to discuss their mutual love of the Psalms. In the
video, Bono expresses when, where, and why he first fell in love with the
Psalms and talks about his continued devotion to them. In the video, at the
10:58 minute mark, he states: “They have this rawness. A brutal honesty. Of,
whether its David or not, it doesn’t matter, the psalmist is brutally honest
about the explosive joy that he’s feeling and the deep sorrow or confusion, and
it’s that- that makes, that sets the psalms apart for me. And I often think,
‘God, well why isn’t church music more like that?’” Immediately following this
statement, he breaks into an acapella performance of The Lord is My Shepherd.
As the
conversation continues, Peterson remarks on how the psalms are not pretty, they
aren’t nice, but they are honest. In agreeance, Bono reflects on how much of
the Christian art that is out there holds a certain amount of dishonesty. He
notes that people are vulnerable to God, in an open and “porous” way, and that
God wants are absolute honesty and pure emotions to be shown. He notes that he
has a certain suspicion of ‘Christians’ because of the lack of realism that is
not shown in life, art, and music. They all agree that the Psalms hold that
pure reality in their words. It seems
rare to see Bono relaxing and enjoying a conversation and a cup of coffee as he
seems to be constantly working in various fields (music, charities, businesses,
film, books, and home-life).
For the last
forty years, the four school-mates from Mount Temple in Dublin, have worked
hard on their music and have reached global fame, all while remaining grounded
in their friendship and faith. The young Paul Hewson with the precocious
childhood had seemed destined for the Rock & Roll lifestyle but instead
found a way to balance his stardom with his spirituality. Bono chose to use his
‘celebrity currency’ to help make the world a better place. Because of his
tireless efforts in humanitarian projects, many lives are now better, and this
is why Glamour Magazine was happy to include him in this years’ “Women of the
Year” issue. Actually, he is the first ever, Man of the Year for Glamour
Magazine. Typically, they designate their recognition every year to women.
Glamour Magazine says, “For years our Women of the Year Advisory Board—made up
of past winners, plus our editors—has put the kibosh on naming a Man of the
Year on the grounds that men aren't exactly hurting for awards in this world,
and that here at Glamour, the tribe we're into celebrating is female. But these
days most women want men—no, need men—in our tribe. When the president declared
himself a feminist, when super-cool actors line up to endorse the United
Nations' #HeForShe campaign, when a major male rock star who could do anything
at all with his life decides to focus on the rights of women and girls
worldwide—well, all that's worth celebrating. We're proud to name that rock
star, Bono, our first Man of the Year.”
(Glamour/WofY2016) Of course, with any fame you’ll
have critics- and in his homeland of Ireland, folks are somewhat ‘over’ him and
his star status. So, when he was announced in the ‘Women of the Year’ listing,
a few critics rolled their eyes and scoffed. However, even the critics
recognize his hard work and efforts. In the article titled, “Bono, The Most
Hated Woman in Ireland”, author Donald Clarke writes:
“In all such conversations, it is essential to clarify that Bono deserves
proper respect for his efforts on behalf of good causes. Once he became a rock
star, he could easily have bought a trout farm, taken up cocaine abuse and
spent his evenings driving Aston Martins into swimming pools. Instead, he has
stayed married to the same woman, helped raise four children and worked his
arse off for people less fortunate than himself. True, most of us have not
forced every iTunes user to download our latest dreary dad-rock LP. But I’m
betting we have done less to alleviate Third World debt.” (The Irish Times)
I don’t believe that any of the members of U2 ever dreamed
that they would still have a thriving music career forty years after the day
they met. They could not have imagined the impact that they would have on the
world. They chose to stay faithful to God, to their faith, and to each other. I
believe that has made all of the difference and that they are true in their
confession of faith. Bono is said to have stated that “Great music is written
by people who are either running toward or away from God.” (IMDB/Bono) I am, personally, grateful for
Bono, and the other members of U2, who continue to run toward God.
Here is a
quote from Bono that I feel is fitting for a Pop-culture class:
“What I like about pop music, and why I'm
still attracted to it, is that in the end it becomes our folk music.” Brainyquote.com/Bono
Citation Pages
Book Citations:
Turner, Steve. Popcultured: Thinking Christianly About Style, Media and Entertainment.
IVP Books, 2013
Hill, Charles W. and G. Tomas M.
Hult. Global Business Today. McGraw
Hill Education, 2014
News & Biographical Information:
@U2.com Blog
IMDB Bono’s Biography & Quotes
Glamour Magazine 2016
Women of the Year
The Irish Times article reaction to Glamour 2016 Women of the Year
Band & Music Information:
@U2.com Blog
The Rolling Stone Magazine Top 500 Albums of All Time
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Info
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2005 Inductee U2
Family & Faith Information:
Alison Hewson (nee Stewart) on Wikipedia
Irish Central article Bono … His Four Children
Fortune Magazine article, Launch of Speakable
Telegraph UK interview with Eve Hewson, Bridge of Spies
Daily Mail UK article, Bono prayers with Family
@U2.com Blog, Bono meets with Eugene Peterson
Charity Organizations Information:
Quotes:
Brainy Quote/ Bono
U2 has had a long career in the music industry, from their first international release in 1980 to their ongoing world tour of 2017. The lyrics have always held a certain level of social awareness and christian principles. All of the lyrics are, without question, personal to the band.
