(New York) The leader of the legendary rock group U2, the Irishman Bono, released his memoirs on Tuesday (Surrender) retracing his exceptional journey from his youth in Dublin to becoming one of the most renowned musicians and philanthropists on the planet.
Posted at 3:53 p.m.
The book is built around 40 songs by his group U2 and sprinkled with 40 artist drawings.
Real name Paul David Hewson, Bono is not only an accomplished songwriter, singer, guitarist and artist: he is also a businessman and philanthropist with a long history of commitment to great humanitarian and political causes, from peace in the world to the fight against poverty and epidemics such as AIDS.
In his 500-page memoir, 62-year-old Bono traces his extraordinary journey from the tragedy of his mother’s sudden death when he was 14 to his own heart surgery in 2016.
SCREENSHOT
Surrender
It also addresses issues related to the difficulties of writing and the “pseudo-religious status of the rock star”.
“The music of U2 has never really been rock and roll”, writes the musician in his book, but “in its contemporary envelope, it is opera, great music and strong emotions released in a everyday pop music.
Bono supports the promotion of his book with a literary tour entitled Stories of Surrender (stories of defeat) in New York this week and then in Chicago, London, Berlin, Paris, Madrid and Dublin.
“Defeat is a loaded word for me. Growing up in Ireland with raised fists (musically speaking), defeat was not an obvious concept. And I still struggle with it […] in my group, my marriage, my faith and in my militant life”, writes the artist and figures in global humanitarian causes.
Promoter of peace in Northern Ireland in the late 1990s, the author of the mythical titles Sunday Bloody Sunday, Longed for and With or without you also praised Ukraine’s fight for “freedom” in the war with Russia last May during a concert at a Kyiv metro station.