Bono (born Paul David Hewson, 10.05.1960)
Bono is an Irish singer best known for fronting the rock band U2.
Childhood: Bono was born in Dublinand raised in the suburb Finglas. His parents are Iris, a member of the Church of Ireland, and Brendan Hewson, a Roman Catholic. He attended Glasnevin National School and later Mount Temple Comprehensive School. When he was 14, his mother passed away after having a cerebral aneurysm at the funeral of her father's. He was part of a street gang called Lypton Village in which he earned his nickname 'Bono'. It was originally 'Bono Vox' which was changed from 'Bonavox' which is Latin for 'good voice'. His family and friends still refer to him by this nickname.
Musical career: Bono became a part of U2 when he and his friends David Evans ('The Edge'), his brother Dik and Adam Clayton answered an advertisement at their school for a rock band posted by Larry Mullen Jr. Bono started out as a guitar player but was so bad he switched to singing and soon found his voice. He also writes almost all of U2's songs. The nature of many of his lyrics have been politically based which has got him into trouble in the past, notably when the IRA threatened to kidnap him after he spoke out against the Enniskillen bombing in 1987. His songs got more personal from the album 'Achtung Baby' in 1991. He is well known for crowd interaction during U2's live shows, often pulling fans onstage to perform with them. With U2, Bono has won 22 Grammys, a Golden Globe and 8 BRIT awards as well as being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. He has collaborated with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Luciano Pavarotti, Sinead O'Connor, Green Day, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Tina Turner as well as recording with Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Wyclef Jean, Kylie Minogue, Jay-Z and Rihanna.
Charity work: Bono is particularly famous for his philanthropic work over the years. In the 80s he was part of Amnesty International's Conspiracy Of Hope tour alongside Sting and he also contributed on Bob Geldof's Band Aid single 'Do They Know it's Christmas?/Feed the World'. From 1999, he has done much work for the problems of third world countries such as debt, poverty and AIDS. In 2002, Bono and Bobby Shriver set up the organisation DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) which aims to end poverty and the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. They also developed Product Red to raise funds for fighting deadly third world diseases such as AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. In 2003, 2005 and 2006 he has been a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2004, he was awarded with the Pablo Neruda International Presidential Medal of Honour from the Government of Chile and in 2005 he earned the Portuguese Order of Liberty. In 2005, he recorded 'Don't Give Up' with Alicia Keys as part of the fundraising for the charity Keep a Child Alive. In the same year, he and his wife teamed up with designer Rogan Gregory to launch EDUN - a fashion line to help boost trading in Africa and other third world countries. His work has not gone without criticism; in 2005 Paul Theroux accused him of being a 'mythomaniac' and someone who wishes to 'convince the world of their worth' in the New York Times. In 2007, his work was criticised by Jobs Selasie, the head of African Aid Action, who claimed that the charities he endorses increases dependency in Africa on international handouts. In 2007, Bono was named an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In the same year, he received the NAACP Image Awards Chairman's Award as well as the Philadelphia Liberty Medal for fighting to end world poverty. In 2008, he was given the annual Man of Peace prize in Paris, France.
Biography by Contactmusic.com
