Bono has written a memoir revealing the inside details of his early life and career from his point of view - coming on November 1, 2022.
Bono’s career has been written about extensively since he shot to fame, but in 'Surrender', the 62-year-old is telling his story for the first time.
The book will look at his remarkable life spanning from his early days growing up in Dublin, to the sudden loss of his mother when he was 14, to U2’s unlikely journey to becoming one of the world’s most influential rock bands.
READ MORE: U2 frontman Bono spotted on Capitol Hill campaigning to ensure global access for Covid vaccines
It will also feature details of his more than 20 years of activism dedicated to the fight against AIDS and extreme poverty.
Early life and career
The lead singer of U2, Bono was born Paul David Hewson at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin.
He was sent to school at Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his future wife, Alison Stewart.
He met The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr., and Adam Clayton at school, and in 1978, U2 was formed.
The band released their first album, “Boy,” on Island Records in 1980 and to date have released a total of 14 studio albums that have sold 157 million copies worldwide.
Heralded by Rolling Stone as “a live act simply without peer,” the band’s record-breaking 360° Tour (2009-2011) remains the highest-grossing concert band tour of all time.
Activism
Alongside his role in U2, Bono is also a ground-breaking activist.
A leader in Jubilee 2000’s Drop the Debt campaign, he next took on the fight against HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty, co-founding sister organizations ONE and (RED).
ONE is a movement of millions of people dedicated to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease.
In 2016, Bono co-founded The Rise Fund, which is a global impact fund investing in entrepreneurial companies driving positive social and environmental change in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Awards
U2 has won numerous awards, including 22 Grammys, more than any other duo or group, as well as an Academy Award nomination and the Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award.
In 2005, U2 was inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame.
Bono has received a number of awards for his music and activism, including the Freedom of the City of Dublin (with U2), Chile’s Pablo Neruda Medal of Honour, the Légion D’Honneur from the French Government, an honorary British knighthood, the Fulbright Association Prize for International Understanding and TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year (along with Bill and Melinda Gates).
'Surrender'
Speaking about the upcoming memoir, Bono says:“When I started to write this book I was hoping to draw in detail what I'd previously only sketched in songs. The people, places, and possibilities in my life.
“Surrender is a word freighted with meaning for me. Growing up in Ireland in the seventies with my fists up (musically speaking), it was not a natural concept. A word I only circled until I gathered my thoughts for the book.
“I am still grappling with this most humbling of commands. In the band, in my marriage, in my faith, in my life as an activist. Surrender is the story of one pilgrim’s lack of progress … With a fair amount of fun along the way.”
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter.
