Bono

Bono singing during a concert (http://notquiteamerican.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/bono.jpg)

My hero is Paul Hewson, most commonly known by his stage-name Bono. He was born in Dublin, Ireland on May 10th, 1960 to a Catholic father and Protestant mother. This mixed religious background made him very familiar with religious differences in Ireland, which frequently played themselves out in the Hewson household.

When he started to attend school, Hewson received high marks and made many friends. However, things changed dramatically when he attended St. Patrick’s Secondary School, where he started to cut classes and become antagonistic with teachers. His parents became concerned and he was transferred to Mount Temple, a non-Catholic school. At Mount Temple, Hewson became very popular with his fellow students due to his outspokenness and charisma. This outspokenness earned him the nickname “Bono Vox,” which is Latin for “good voice.” Perhaps most importantly, it was at Mount Temple where he discovered his true passion, which was music. However, Hewson’s interest in forming a musical group started when Larry Mullen Jr., another student at Mount Temple, posted a notice on the school bulletin board. In this notice, Mullen welcomed any interested musicians to show up at his house. Four people showed up: David “the Edge,” Bono, Dick Evans and Adam Clayton, as well as Mullen himself. After holding a meeting, they decided to form a band called “Feedback,” with David “the Edge” playing the guitar, Adam Clayton playing the bass, Mullen playing the drums and Bono being the frontman.

Feedback soon began to play covers in Dublin pubs. However, after Evans left the band, they renamed it “The Hype” and then, renamed it as “U2.” After being signed by CBS Ireland, U2 soon became a huge phenomenon, playing sold-out shows in Ireland, England and the United States. U2’s songs also became very political, with the song “Sunday Bloody Sunday” specifically referring to the infamous 1972 incident in Ireland.

Bono is also a very-well known humanitarian. He first started to become aware of the grave humanitarian situations that are present in many countries when he and his wife worked alongside humanitarian workers for seven weeks in Ethiopia, improving housing and sanitation. Since then, Bono has contributed to many humanitarian causes, playing at concerts such as Band Aid and Live 8, which raised money and awareness for humanitarian causes. Also, in order to try and increase United States government funding for international aid programs, Bono started the ONE campaign. In addition to all of these causes, Bono has also contributed to, and raised awareness of, other causes, such as the AIDS pandemic in Africa and the relief of third-world debt.

Due to the resonance and power of his songs, his determination and his work for humanitarian projects around the work, Bono is a hero to me.