Bono’s Bible
@BonosBible • 17,720 subscribers
Biblical Allusions in U2 songs + Inspirational U2 moments
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September 11, 2001. A few months later, on the biggest stage in America, U2 did something simple and heart-wrenching. While they played “Where the Streets Have No Name,” the names of the victims rose on a giant screen behind them. Bono read a Psalm. Then the screen came falling down.
Bono’s Bible149,390 просмотров • 4 дней назад
25 years ago today, Bono said goodbye to his father, Bob Hewson, who died August 21, 2001. Bob was a working-class Dublin man with a fine tenor voice and a sharp, dry wit. He conducted opera records with knitting needles and told his son that dreaming only led to disappointment. Their relationship was complicated—full of silence, stubbornness, and few words. Yet in the end, something shifted. Bono has said that after his father passed, they somehow became closer friends. Bono realized that the man he once struggled to understand was the reason the opera lived in him.
Bono’s Bible66,745 просмотров • 25 дней назад
40 YEARS ON from Live Aid U2’s “Bad” was a 12-minute mistake, yet somehow redeemed them. Bono’s spontaneous leap off the stage delayed the setlist, kept them from playing “Pride,” drew ire from the band, yet sparked the defining and unforgettable moment of the entire event.
Bono’s Bible797,722 просмотров • 1 год назад
Is this the funniest U2 TV appearance ever? The Graham Norton Show in 2014. Graham drags out early U2 promo shots... “during the great conditioner shortage in 1980”... Bono asserts “I am not just a sex object”... and is mercilessly mocked for his sunglasses obsession.
Bono’s Bible238,994 просмотров • 5 месяцев назад
Elijah Hewson, Bono’s first son, was born on August 17, 1999, in Dublin, Ireland (full name: Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q Hewson), making today his 27th birthday. The name Elijah suggests boldness and sensitivity, since the prophet Elijah is known for both fiery conviction and quiet revelation. One of Bono’s favorite Bible passages is when the prophet Elijah encounters God’s “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12). As Inhaler’s frontman, Elijah has carved his own path, unfazed by his father’s fame. Bono shared with Jimmy Kimmel last year that Elijah is “completely not bothered” by it. It appears Elijah not only has the conviction, but also the calm amidst the storm—the “still small voice.”
Bono’s Bible44,612 просмотров • 29 дней назад
THE TRUE STORY OF BOB GELDOF BULLYING BONO TO SING THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL LYRIC IN CHARITY ROCK HISTORY November 25, 1984. Sarm West Studios, London. Midge Ure & Bob Geldof have written “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” in a single night. The original lyric in the big finale was the gentle, saccharine: “Tonight we’re reaching out and touching you.” Geldof decides it’s too soft. At the absolute last minute — while artists are already arriving — he scribbles a new line: “Well tonight thank God it’s them instead of you.” Bono (24 years old) walks into the vocal booth, sees the lyric sheet, and immediately refuses. According to everyone in the room (Midge Ure, Paula Yates, the engineers, Bono himself in later interviews), he said something like: “I’m not singing that. It’s crass, it’s smug, it’s revolting. It sounds like the rich West saying ‘thank God the starving people are African and not us.’” Geldof storms into the booth and unleashes one of his legendary tirades (compiled from multiple witnesses + Bono’s own retellings): “It’s not supposed to make you feel warm and fuzzy, you little Irish prick! It’s supposed to be a slap in the f*cking face! It’s supposed to make the listener in their nice warm house feel uncomfortable — that’s the entire bloody point! Now stop being a precious little art-school wanker, get back in that booth and sing the f*cking line like you mean it!” After several minutes of shouting, Bono finally relents — but only if he can deliver it with total disgust and venom, turning the line into an accusation instead of a celebration. He does exactly that. You can hear the disgust in his voice — it’s the moment that made the song unforgettable. For decades Bono still hated the line. He called it “the most cringe thing I’ve ever sung.” When the song was re-recorded in 2014, Bono insisted they change it back to the original soft version: “Tonight we’re reaching out and touching you.” Which version do you prefer? 🎥 1984, 2014 and 2024 versions of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
Bono’s Bible299,722 просмотров • 9 месяцев назад
Happy 65th Birthday to The Edge. Born August 8, 1961. 📽️: The Edge’s most iconic early work that reinvented music
Bono’s Bible47,815 просмотров • 1 месяц назад
This is brilliant! Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant star in this 2007 sketch, featuring Jamie Oliver, Bob Geldof, and a surprise appearance by Bono. Produced for the UK for Africa appeal, it satirizes celebrity charity videos filmed in developing countries.
Bono’s Bible110,825 просмотров • 4 месяцев назад
Glen Hansard’s funeral on August 4, 2026, concluded with a rousing rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young.” Bono, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Lisa Hannigan, Colm Mac Con Iomaire, and Imelda May were among those singing as his coffin was carried out of St Patrick’s Cathedral. Bono also spoke during the service. Rest in peace, Glen Hansard.
Bono’s Bible30,048 просмотров • 1 месяц назад
BONO’S TRIBUTE TO GLEN HANSARD Bono gave a very moving tribute this week to Glen Hansard, who tragically died in a motorcycle crash in the early morning of July 29, 2026, in Lucan, west of Dublin. Glen had spent the previous evening at The Wren’s Nest pub, taking part in a traditional music session — something he often did on Tuesday nights with local musicians. Bono described Glen as an “angelic presence” with “no airs” and “plenty of graces,” calling him “the shining star of the Christmas Eve busk… sometimes the only one reminding the rest of us that Christmas began with a refugee born in a manger, which is hardly a step from living on the street.” Though Glen was not a professed Christian, Bono freely drew on rich Christian imagery, speaking of him as a “mischievous archangel of Ballymun,” a “very earthed Angel Gabriel,” and a “choir of angels in one man” who brought hospitality to the poor and “peace… to so many.” Bono has long spoken of the Nativity as a revelation that struck him in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin — the same cathedral where he later performed “Running to Stand Still” as part of Glen Hansard’s annual Christmas Eve busking event (The Busk) for the Simon Community and related homeless charities.
Bono’s Bible29,010 просмотров • 1 месяц назад
On this day in 1977 (January 17): Gary Gilmore became the first person executed in the U.S. after the death penalty's reinstatement, dying by firing squad in Utah at age 36. Convicted of two murders, he waived appeals and demanded his sentence be carried out—his last words: “Let's do it.” U2’s “Exit” from The Joshua Tree (1987) was inspired by Gilmore’s story. Bono drew from Norman Mailer’s novel The Executioner's Song (and Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood) to delve into a killer’s psyche twisted by religious fanaticism and violence. The song’s original working title: “Executioner's Song.” Bono aimed to explore the mind of a killer gripped by religious fanaticism, psychosis, and twisted faith—portraying a man who believes in “healing hands of love” yet descends into violence. The intense, dark track remains one of U2’s most haunting. It later drew controversy when cited in the 1989 murder trial of Robert John Bardo (for actress Rebecca Schaeffer’s killing), though U2 had no responsibility and were troubled by the link—rarely performing it live for years. 🎥 U2’s “Exit” with Biblical Allusions
Bono’s Bible87,785 просмотров • 8 месяцев назад
On this day, November 22, 1997, Michael Hutchence, lead singer of INXS, was found dead in a Sydney hotel room. He was 37. The coroner ruled it suicide. Hutchence and Bono were close friends through much of the 80s and early 90s. They partied together, vacationed as families, and often stayed at each other’s houses. Bono has described Hutchence as one of his best friends during that period. By the mid-90s the friendship had cooled, mainly because of Hutchence’s increasing drug use. Bono and Ali kept their distance and later turned down Hutchence’s request to be godparents to his daughter, Tiger Lily. After Hutchence’s death, Bono wrote “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” as a conversation he wished he’d had with his friend—urging him not to give up. Before his death, Hutchence had written an unreleased song called “Slide Away.” Posthumously, Bono sang over it, where he dreams of catching his friend from falling and finding him wings to fly. 📽️ “Slide Away” by Michael Hutchence and Bono
Bono’s Bible97,993 просмотров • 9 месяцев назад
