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Paul David Hewson, (born 10
May 1960), known as Bono is the
Academy Award nominated and
Grammy winning lead singer and
principal lyricist of the Irish
rock band U2. Bono is also
widely known for his work as an
activist concerning Africa.
Bono is married to Alison
Stewart. Their relationship
began in 1975 and the couple
were married on 21 August 1982
in an Anglican ceremony at a
chapel on the Guinness family
estate with Adam Clayton acting
as Bono's best man. The couple
have four children, Jordan,
Memphis Eve, Elijah Bob
Patricius Guggi Q & John
Abraham. Bono lives in Killiney
in south County Dublin,
Ireland, with his family and
shares a villa in Èze in the
Alpes-Maritimes in the south of
France with U2 bandmate The
Edge, as well as an apartment
at The San Remo in
Manhattan.
Bono is almost never seen in
public without wearing
sunglasses. During a Rolling
Stone interview he stated:
[I have] very sensitive eyes to
light. If somebody takes my
photograph, I will see the
flash for the rest of the day.
My right eye swells up. I've a
blockage there, so that my eyes
go red a lot. So it's part
vanity, it's part privacy, and
part sensitivity."
Hewson attended Mount Temple
Comprehensive School, a multi
denominational school in
Clontarf. During his childhood
and adolescence, Hewson and his
friends were part of a
surrealist street gang called
"Lypton Village," which had a
ritual of nickname-giving. He
had several names: first, he
was "Steinvic von Huyseman",
then just "Huyseman", then
"Houseman", then "Bon Murray",
"Bono Vox of O'Connell Street",
and finally just "Bono".
"Bono Vox" is an alteration of
Bonavox, a brand of hearing
aid. The phrase in Latin
translates to "good voice".
"Bona Vox" was the name of a
hearing aid shop they regularly
passed in Dublin. It is said he
was nicknamed "Bono Vox" after
the shop by his friend Gavin
Friday, of later Virgin Prunes
fame, because he sang so loudly
he seemed to be singing for the
deaf. Initially, Bono did not
like his name. However, when he
learned it loosely translated
to "good voice", he accepted
it. Hewson has been known as
"Bono" since the late
seventies, even prior to
formation of U2. Although he
uses Bono as his stage name,
close family and friends also
refer to him as Bono, including
his wife and fellow band
members.
"The Fly" and "Mr.
MacPhisto".In 1976, Bono
responded to an advertisement
by fellow student Larry Mullen,
Jr. to form a rock band, as did
The Edge (David Howell Evans),
Dick Evans, and Adam Clayton.
After Dick (nicknamed 'Dik')
Evans left the group, the
remaining four officially
changed the name from "The
Hype" to "U2". Initially Bono
sang, played guitar, and wrote
the band's songs. When The
Edge's guitar playing improved,
Bono was relegated mostly to
the microphone, although he
occasionally still plays rhythm
guitar and harmonica.
Bono writes the lyrics for
almost all U2 songs, often rich
in social and political themes.
Frequently his lyrics allude to
a religious connection or
meaning, evident in songs such
as "Gloria" from the band's
album October and "I Still
Haven't Found What I'm Looking
For", from the The Joshua Tree
album. During the band's early
years, Bono was known for his
rebellious tone which turned to
political anger and rage during
the band's War, The Joshua Tree
and Rattle and Hum eras.
Following the Enniskillen
bombing that left 11 dead and
63 injured on 8 November 1987,
the Provisional IRA
paramilitaries threatened to
kidnap Bono. IRA supporters
also attacked a vehicle
carrying the band members.
These acts were in response to
his "fuck the revolution"
speech. The singer had been
advised to cut his on-stage
outburst from the Rattle and
Hum film, but it was left
in.
U2's sound and focus
dramatically changed with their
next album, Achtung Baby.
Bono's lyrics became more
personalized, inspired by
experiences related to the
personal lives of the members
of the band. During the band's
Zoo TV Tour several of his
stage personas were showcased;
these included "The Fly", a
stereotypical rock star, the
"Mirror Ball Man", a parody of
American televangelists, and
"Mr. MacPhisto", a combination
of a corrupted rock star and
the Devil. The name is also
said to be a combination of the
fast-food chain McDonalds
(representing consumerism) and
Mephistopheles (the devil who
tempts Faust).[Quotation from
source requested on talk page
to verify interpretation of
source]
During performances he attempts
to interact with the crowd as
often as possible and is known
for pulling audience members
onto the stage or moving
himself down to the physical
level of the audience. This has
happened on several occasions
including at the Live Aid
concert in 1985 where he leapt
off the stage, over a security
barricade to the floor of the
arena, and pulled a woman from
the crowd to dance with her as
the band played "Bad", and in
2005 during U2's Vertigo Tour
stop in Chicago, where he
pulled a boy onto the stage
during the song "An Cat Dubh /
Into the Heart".
Bono has won numerous awards
with U2, including 22 Grammy
awards and a Golden Globe award
for best original song, "The
Hands That Built America" for
the film Gangs of New York. In
2005, the U2 band members were
inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame, in their first
year of eligibility.
Source : Some
of the information on this page
came from a Wikipedia
article and is
licensed under the GNU
Documentation License.
©2008
www.geneticmatrix.com.
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