DevilsShoes
War Child
A singing coach thought he had a good range in 1977:
"He has one of the best-known voices in rock 'n' roll. But it could all have been so different for Bono had he been successful auditioning at Dublin's prestigious College of Music in the late 1970s. The school's singing coach Veronica Dunne claims while punk rock was raging in the streets of Dublin, Bono, alias Paul Hewson, auditioned for her in 1977 in the hope of enrolling at the Chatham Row singing school. Speaking to the Sunday Tribune 81-year-old Dunne said: "I can clearly remember Bono coming in because he had such an unusual name... But I remember he was a very polite young man. Dressed in leather so he might have come on a motorbike. He told me before he started singing that he sang in a pop group." She said, "I must say Bono as he called himself had a lovely voice. Joyful and charming. I remember it ringing out around the room as he went through his scales. After he finished I complimented him on his range and performance." Despite going on to sing with U2, whose combined wealth is estimated at €624m, Bono failed to make the cut. "Unfortunately I had to say no to poor Bono. I couldn't do anything for him at the time because my term had just started and I had a stable of young singers at the time. When I told Bono the news, he seemed very disappointed but there was nothing I could do. He went off looking a little sad."
Singing coach regrets having 'to say no to poor Bono'
That's a great story Bonocomet, I'd never heard it before, thanks for posting it.