In May 2020, as a somewhat unorthodox way of celebrating his 60th birthday, U2 frontman Bono published 60 self-penned 'fan letters' to his musical heroes on his band's website, each saluting a song written by the artist that he cherished as a personal favourite.
Somewhat dramatically - this is Bono, after all - these outpourings of love were bracketed together by the Dublin-born singer as 60 Songs That Saved My Life.
"These are some of the songs that saved my life," Bono wrote. "The ones I couldn’t have lived without… the ones that got me from there to here, zero to 60… through all the scrapes, all manner of nuisance, from the serious to the silly… and the joy, mostly joy."
“I wanted to thank the artists and everyone who helped make them,” he explained of his undertaking. “They were doing the same for me… I am writing a fan letter to accompany each song to try and explain my fascination.”
While many of the artists saluted are musicians that Bono has regularly expressed his love and admiration for since the outset of U2's career - The Beatles, Joy Division, David Bowie, Van Morrison and Bob Dylan among them - his list also included more contemporary artists, some of whom might not be considered obvious influences or inspirations for the music he himself has written.
