Bono | U2 | Paul David Hewson

Bono

Profession: Musician
Place/Date of Birth: Dublin, Ireland, 10 May 2020

Bono painting goes for £1,700 - Oct 3 2007
A painting capturing Bono as he received an honorary knighthood has fetched 2,500 euro (£1,733) at auction.

The work by Irish artist David Nolan went under the hammer at a contemporary art sale at James Adam auctioneers in Dublin.

The lot had a guide price of 2,500-3,500 euro (£1,733-£2,426).

The image was based on a picture taken by Press Association photographer Julien Behal which captured the U2 frontman as he was awarded the knighthood earlier this year by the British Ambassador David Reddaway.

The award was in recognition of the rocker's contribution to music and humanitarian work.

"An anonymous bidder in the sale room purchased the painting after some early brisk bidding," said a spokesman for James Adam auctioneers.

Dublin-born artist Nolan, 40, has painted portraits of other famous figures including Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley.

Accepting the knighthood in the British Ambassador's south Co Dublin residence in March, Bono quipped: "By the way, you can call me pretty much anything you want, except sir."

The singer added: "You can call me lord of lords or a demi-god ..."

Fellow band members The Edge and Adam Clayton joined the singer's wife Ali and the couple's four children, Jordan, Eve, Eli and John, for the reception.

US honours Bono for his work in Africa - Sept 28 2007
Bono has been given a US honorary award for his humanitarian work in Africa.

Accepting the Liberty Medal in Philadelphia, the U2 frontman called on people to keep working to solve the world’s problems.

"When you are trapped by poverty, you are not free. When trade laws prevent you from selling the food you grew, you are not free," said Bono, as he stood just steps away from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

"When you are a monk in Burma this very week, barred from entering a temple because of your gospel of peace ... well, then none of us are truly free."

Bono and the organisation he co-founded in 2002 -- Debt AIDS Trade Africa -- received the award from George Bush senior at the National Constitution Centre.

It comes with a 100,000 dollar prize, which Bono will give to the organisation.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former finance minister of Nigeria, accepted the award for the Washington-based group.

Bono said he’s a fan of the US.

"Your America is where Neil Armstrong takes a walk on the moon," Bono said. "Your America gave Europe the Marshall Plan. Your America gave the world the Peace Corps.

"America is not just a country, it’s an idea, isn’t it? It’s a great and powerful idea.

"The idea that all men are created equal, that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Bono added: "America has so many great answers to offer.

"We can’t fix all the world’s problems, but the ones we can we must."

Bono’s surprise appearance at premiere - Sept 27 2007
Bono was a surprise guest at the UK celebrity premiere of Across The Universe, a musical film featuring songs by The Beatles.

The U2 frontman makes a cameo appearance in the film - his first-ever acting role.

Speaking at the premiere in central London, the singer said he was a fan of the film’s director, Julie Taymor, and admired her work in the theatre and directing films such as Frida.

He said: "I wanted to learn from her."

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Biography

Born Paul David Hewson in Dublin 1960, Bono has gone on to become one of the biggest names in the international music industry.

The name Bono derives from the days prior to U2 and roughly translates from Latin as ‘good voice’. He was christened as such during his teenage years, initially after a hearing aid shop in Dublin – he sang so loudly that his friends used to say he was singing for the deaf. Despite it’s early origins and perhaps not so flattering connotations the name stuck.

It was in 1976 that Bono took his first step on the music ladder when he responded to an ad to form a rock band. Alongside The Edge, Dick Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr., The Hype was formed – when Dick Evans left the group the remaining four changed the name to U2.

The band went onto release a catalogue of prestigious albums, such as The Joshua Tree and War, which alongside offering mainstream recognition, spoke of social and political themes. Bono’s often outspoken criticisms of the political unrest in Ireland earned him a bit of a reputation - to the point that Provisional IRA paramilitaries threatened to kidnap him following his ‘f*ck the revolution’ speech.

It was at roughly this time that Bono made a public announcement, via Rolling Stone magazine, about his motivations to become actively involved in social and political causes. Alongside his participation with Band Aid and Live Aid projects, he has performed in aid of Amnesty. In more recent years his campaigning has grown to involve active work for the eradication of third world debt and awareness of the plight of both poverty and AIDS in Africa.

His political work has taken him around the world as much as his musical career and in the past decade he has met a number of world leaders, including President George W Bush. He has also be influential in establishing a number of working models that aim to ease to plight of poverty, including DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), EDUN and Product Red.

His work has not gone unnoticed. In 2003, 2005 and 2006 Bono was a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, he has twice been named as one of the ‘100 most influential people’ of the year by Time magazine – in 2005 he came top of the poll alongside Bill and Melinda Gates. In 2007 he was awarded an honorary Knighthood to the British Empire, whilst Portugal awarded him an Order of Liberty and Chile gave him an International Presidential medal of honour.

Updated May 2007

October 2007

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