Bono
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- Other people called Bono are available at Bono (disambiguation).
Bono_(Paul_David_Hewson)_-_fair_use.jpg
Paul David Hewson (born May 10, 1960, Dublin, Ireland), nicknamed Bono Vox, stage name Bono, is the lead singer of the Irish rock band, U2.
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Biography
His nickname "Bono Vox" – usually shortened to "Bono" – is a corruption of Bona Vox, a brand of hearing aid for which the Latin translates to "good voice". "Bono Vox", however, literally means "The voice to the good man", Vox, the subject and Bono, the indirect object.
The word bono is also Italian slang for "sexy" and the dative form of the Latin word bonus; see List of Latin phrases.
He is married to Alison 'Ali' Stewart and the couple have four children - Jordan (b. 1989), Memphis Eve ('Eve' b. 1991), Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q (b. 1999) and John Abraham (b. 2001).
He joined U2 after answering an advert posted at his school by Larry Mullen Jr. He turned up for the audition claiming to be able to play guitar.
In 1992, together with U2's guitarist The Edge, Bono bought and refurbished Dublin's two-star 70-bedroom Clarence Hotel and converted it into a five-star 49-bedroom hotel which quickly gained a reputation as the most stylish (and expensive) hotel in the city.
In 2002, Bono, who had a Roman Catholic father and a Protestant mother and was raised in his mother's faith, wrote the introduction to the "Book of Psalms", one of nine books of the Bible published individually in Canongate Book's "Pocket Canons" series.
Bono appears in the 2002 List of "100 Greatest Britons" (sponsored by the BBC, voted for by the public and which included Irish people), alongside such other greats as such as Sir Winston Churchill, Diana, Princess of Wales, and Queen Elizabeth I of England.
Social Justice
In 1984, Bono appeared in the original Band Aid and then reprised his role in the 2004 Band Aid 20. Since 1999, he has become increasingly involved in campaigning for third-world debt relief and the plight of Africa. In May 2002, he took US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill on a four-country tour of Africa. Also that year, Bono set up an organisation called "DATA", which stands for Debt, Aids, Trade in Africa. The focus of the organisation is to raise awareness about what he claims are Africa's unpayable debts, uncontrolled spread of AIDS, and unfair trade rules that hurt the countries' poor citizens.
He also made a speech during the inauguration of Paul Martin as Canada's prime minister, who in turn pledged to help with the global crisis. In 2005, in a time that some claimed Martin was facing "political destruction", Bono spoke on CBC Radio "bashing" Martin for being slow at increasing Canada's foreign aid. Following this a spokesperson for the Prime Minister pointed out that the budget has seen an 8% increase to aid and that "Rather than set an artificial deadline, the prime minister has focused on real increases measured in real dollars each and every year."
While on his mission to highlight Africa's AIDS crisis, Bono travelled to the White House for a special private meeting with President George W. Bush, who had just unveiled a $5 billion aid package for the world's poorest countries that respect human rights. Bono also accompanied the President for a speech on the White House lawn. "This is an important first step, and a serious and impressive new level of commitment... This must happen urgently, because this is a crisis," Bono said:
"It is much easier and hipper for me to be on the barricades with a handkerchief over my nose — it looks better on the résumé of a rock 'n' roll star. But I can do better by just getting into the White House and talking to a man who I believe listens, wants to listen, on these subjects."
World Bank
In 2005, before Paul Wolfowitz was chosen to replace Jim Wolfensohn as president of the World Bank, Bono was spoken about as a serious candidate for the position. U.S. Secretary of the Treasury John Snow said about Bono on the ABC news talk program This Week "He's somebody I admire. He does a lot of good in this world of economic development." The selection process for the position is by member governments, however, and his selection was considered unlikely.
Quotes
"It’s an amazing thing to think that ours is the first generation in history that really can end extreme poverty, the kind that means a child dies for lack of food in its belly. This should be seen as the most incredible, historic opportunity but instead it’s become a millstone around our necks. We let our own pathetic excuses about how it’s ‘difficult’ justify our own inaction. Let’s be honest. We have the science, the technology, and the wealth. What we don’t have is the will, and that’s not a reason that history will accept." --Bono in an interview to the World Association of Newspapers for World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2004.
References
- Toronto Sun: Bono Bashes Martin (http://www.torontosun.com/News/Canada/2005/04/23/1009529-sun.html)
External links
- Bono criticism by the Guardian's George Monbiot (http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5220235-103677,00.html)
- Bono Gives Graduation Speech at the University of Pennsylvania (http://kyw.com/Local%20News/local_story_138154114.html)
- Transcript of Speech (http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/between/2004/commence-b.html)
- Debt, AIDS, trade, Africa (http://www.data.org/) - Bono's organization
- U2.com (http://www.U2.com/) - official U2 website
- Interference (http://www.interference.com) - Premier U2 fansite
- At U2 (http://www.atu2.com) - Premier U2 fansite
- Another U2 fansite (http://www.poplemonatu2.cjb.com/)
- U2: Three Chords and the Truth (http://www.threechordsandthetruth.net) - Biographies, Photos and much more!
- MAKE POVERTY HISTORY (http://www.makepovertyhistory.org) - An anti-poverty campaign with which Bono is currently involved
- U2fanlife - U2 news, links and curiosities (http://u2fanlife.blogspot.com/)
- Bono is a snappy dresser- Vertigo Tour website (http://bonoisasnappydresser.blogspot.com/)
- Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas available on Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1573223093/oneworldtelecomm/104-3304830-4454323)da:Bono
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