60 Fun Facts About Bono

What is Bono's real first name?

He was born Paul David Hewson in Dublin's Rotunda Hospital in May 1960.

In which Irish city was Bono born and raised?

He grew up on Cedarwood Road on Dublin's Northside, between Finglas and Ballymun.

Bono's nickname 'Bono Vox' was adapted from the name of what kind of business just off O'Connell Street?

Bonavox loosely translates as 'good voice' in Latin, which is why he came round to a name he initially disliked.

Which childhood friend gave Bono his nickname?

Guggi (Derek Rowen) was part of the surrealist street gang Lypton Village, which had a ritual of handing out names.

What was the name of the surrealist street gang Bono belonged to as a teenager?

Gang members included Guggi and the future musician Gavin Friday, both of whom lived on the same street.

Which school did Bono attend when U2 formed?

Mount Temple was a multi-denominational school in Clontarf; he had spent a year at St Patrick's Cathedral Grammar School before moving there.

Who posted the 1976 school notice board advert seeking people to form a band, which Bono answered?

Bono, David and Dik Evans and Adam Clayton all responded to the drummer's advert on 25 September 1976.

What was the first name the band that became U2 went by?

They kept that name for a few months, became The Hype, and settled on U2 after Dik Evans left.

How old was Bono when his mother Iris died?

She died in September 1974, three days after a ruptured aneurysm at her own father's funeral; songs such as 'I Will Follow' and 'Tomorrow' deal with the loss.

Bono's first job, at 15, was with which Irish supermarket chain?

He later worked for the father of his friend Derek Rowen, better known as the artist Guggi.

During U2's Live Aid set in 1985, Bono famously left the stage to dance with a fan during which song?

The 12-minute detour ate their allotted time and forced them to drop 'Pride', then their biggest hit, from the setlist.

How many Grammy Awards has Bono won as a member of U2?

The band was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, its first year of eligibility.

Which of Bono's Zoo TV Tour stage personas wore a gold lamé suit and devil's horns?

MacPhisto was named after Mephistopheles from the Faust legend and made prank calls to local politicians from the stage.

Bono's leather-clad 'The Fly' persona began with an oversized pair of sunglasses given to him by whom?

Fintan Fitzgerald handed him the blaxploitation-style shades to lighten the mood in the studio, and Bono built a whole egomaniac character around them.

Bono's Mirror Ball Man character was meant to parody which group of people?

Dressed in silver lamé and a cowboy hat, he made prank calls from the stage, often trying to reach President George H. W. Bush at the White House.

In which city did Bono spray-paint 'Rock N Roll Stops the Traffic' on a fountain in 1987?

Mayor Dianne Feinstein criticised him and promoter Bill Graham paid to clean the Vaillancourt Fountain; the footage made it into Rattle and Hum.

Bono's on-air swearing while accepting a 2003 Golden Globe led to a proposed US bill with what name?

The FCC declined to fine NBC, so congressmen introduced House Resolution 3687 to list banned words explicitly; it never passed.

Bono and the Edge wrote the theme song for which James Bond film, performed by Tina Turner?

The pair had already scored the Royal Shakespeare Company's stage version of A Clockwork Orange in 1990.

Bono and the Edge composed the music and lyrics for which Broadway musical?

They appeared on the soundtrack single 'Rise Above 1' with the show's star Reeve Carney in 2011.

Bono and the Edge featured on 'We Are the People', the official song of which tournament?

The track was made with Dutch DJ Martin Garrix and released in May 2021, the tournament having been delayed a year by the pandemic.

In the 2007 film Across the Universe, Bono appeared as 'Dr. Robert' singing which Beatles song?

The cameo came during a psychedelic sequence in Julie Taymor's Beatles jukebox musical.

Bono voiced Clay Calloway, a reclusive lion rock legend, in which animated film?

It was his first major voice role, released in 2021.

What is the title of Bono's 2022 memoir?

It debuted at number two on The New York Times nonfiction list, and his audiobook narration won Audiobook of the Year at the 2024 Audies.

The 2025 documentary Bono: Stories of Surrender was released on which streaming service?

It was also released as an Apple Immersive Video for the Vision Pro headset, the first feature-length film in that format.

Bono says he was first inspired to activism by seeing a benefit show for which organisation in 1979?

The Secret Policeman's Ball shows were staged by Monty Python's John Cleese and producer Martin Lewis; Bono said it 'sowed a seed'.

After Live Aid, Bono and his wife spent a month working at a feeding centre in which country?

They wrote songs and one-act plays to teach children about health and hygiene in Ajibar; the trip shaped his later Africa campaigning.

What does the acronym of DATA, the advocacy group Bono co-founded in 2002, stand for?

Co-founded with Bobby Shriver and funded by the Gates Foundation, George Soros and Edward W. Scott, it merged into ONE in 2007.

With whom did Bono co-found the ONE Campaign in 2004?

The pair teamed up again in 2006 to create (RED), which licenses its brand to companies to raise money for the Global Fund.

Money raised by Product Red goes to which organisation?

Partners have included Apple, American Express, Nike and Starbucks; by December 2020 (RED) had generated $650 million.

Which US president credited Bono's lobbying with getting PEPFAR through Congress?

Bono lobbied Bush at the White House in March 2002; PEPFAR has been credited with saving 17 million lives.

Bono shared Time magazine's 2005 Person of the Year honour with which couple?

The three were named 'the Good Samaritans' for their work against poverty and disease.

Bono's honorary 2007 knighthood (KBE) made him a Knight Commander of what?

As an Irish citizen the knighthood is honorary, so he is not styled 'Sir'; the ceremony was held at the British ambassador's residence in Dublin.

Which US president awarded Bono the Presidential Medal of Freedom in January 2025?

The White House statement called him a 'pioneering activist against AIDS and poverty' and cited his role in building support for PEPFAR.

In 2016 which magazine broke a 26-year tradition to name Bono its 'Man of the Year'?

The award, normally reserved for women, recognised his 'Poverty is Sexist' campaign for the world's poorest women.

Bono was among the first three recipients of which award, which grants a 'wish to change the world'?

His third wish, to connect every Ethiopian hospital and school to the internet, was rejected; TED held a conference in Tanzania instead.

Bono guest-edited a 2007 'Africa Issue' of which magazine, published with 20 different covers?

Annie Leibovitz photographed the celebrities and leaders on the covers, each chosen for their contribution to relief in Africa.

In May 2022 Bono and the Edge played a metro station used as a bomb shelter in which city?

They performed at the invitation of President Zelenskyy; a month later Bono drew the Zelenskyy portrait used on an Atlantic cover.

Bono and the Edge bought and refurbished which hotel in the Irish capital in 1992?

They turned a two-star 70-bedroom hotel into a five-star 49-bedroom one, and sold the property in 2023.

The fashion label EDUN, co-founded by Bono and his wife in 2005, takes its name from what?

The name nods to both 'natural' and the Garden of Eden; the label aimed to help Africa through fair trade rather than aid.

Bono was a managing director of which private equity firm, an early investor in Facebook?

The firm bought a 1.5 per cent Facebook stake for $210 million and also took a minority stake in Forbes Media.

Bono bought his Manhattan duplex in the San Remo building from which tech founder?

Jobs had renovated the top-floor apartment for himself but never moved in; Bono paid a reported $15 million.

Bono is rarely seen without sunglasses because he has which eye condition?

He has had it since the 1990s and says a camera flash stays in his vision for the rest of the day.

In 1996 police in which country shot at a plane carrying Bono, mistaking it for a smuggler?

The Grumman seaplane, named Hemisphere Dancer, was flown by Jimmy Buffett; the government apologised.

Bono's serious 2014 bicycle accident happened in which New York green space?

He needed five hours of surgery, three metal plates and 18 screws, and wrote afterwards that he might never play guitar again.

In his memoir Bono revealed that a 2016 'brush with mortality' was in fact what?

A blister had formed on his aorta because of a bicuspid aortic valve; the eight-hour operation was at Mount Sinai in New York.

Bono's son Elijah is the lead singer of which rock band?

His full name is Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q Hewson; his sister Eve is an actress.

Which Island Records founder lent Bono and Ali his Jamaican estate for their honeymoon in 1982?

U2 were in debt to the label and could not afford a honeymoon, so Blackwell gave them the use of Goldeneye, Ian Fleming's old home.

A species of what animal, Aptostichus bonoi, is named after Bono?

The trapdoor spider was named after him alongside other Aptostichus species named for celebrities.

Bono sang on the 1984 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' and reprised his role on which later versions?

He sang the same much-discussed line in 1984, 2004 and 2014.

As which voice type is Bono classified?

He claims a three-octave range, and one analysis of his studio recordings found it spanning C-sharp 2 to G-sharp 5.

With which singer did Bono record 'Don't Give Up' in 2005 for the charity Keep a Child Alive?

Bono has co-writing or singing credits on some 80 works outside U2, with artists from Frank Sinatra to Willie Nelson.

What is the name of Bono's older brother?

Norman is eight years older; their parents had agreed to raise the first child Anglican and the second Catholic.

In which affluent Dublin suburb has Bono kept his primary home, Temple Hill, since the 1980s?

He and Ali earlier owned a Martello tower in Bray, and also keep homes in the south of France and New York.

Which musician was flying the plane carrying Bono that police shot at in January 1996?

The Grumman HU-16 Hemisphere Dancer was mistaken for a marijuana smuggler; Ali, their daughters and Chris Blackwell were also aboard.

Bono says he found his own voice after hearing which singer at a Dublin gig?

He admits he sang like Siouxsie from the Banshees on U2's first two albums after mimicking his influences.

In which city did Bono have emergency neurosurgery for a herniated disc in May 2010?

The injury came during rehearsals for the U2 360° Tour, forcing the North American leg to be pushed to 2011.

Bono was executive producer of which 2000 film?

He had earlier executive-produced Bill Carter's 1995 documentary Miss Sarajevo.

At the 2006 National Prayer Breakfast, Bono called on the US to give what?

He urged care for the socially and economically depressed before an audience that included the president.

Bono and the Edge wrote the score for which Royal Shakespeare Company stage adaptation in 1990?

Later joint projects included the GoldenEye theme for Tina Turner and the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.

On which Northside Dublin street did Bono grow up from the age of six weeks?

The house sat between Finglas and Ballymun; the family had been living in Stillorgan on the Southside when he was born.