Is anyone else annoyed by Bono's overblown ego?

[Yahweh]

I dont see anything wrong with confidence and conviction myself its what has made U2 who they are and made them last so long.

 

[Bono's shades]

Let's see...Bono has managed to hang on to the same friends he has had since childhood, has admitted he could never make it without the rest of the band behind him, is always poking fun at himself, is super-nice to his fans when he meets them and spends his off-time trying to make the world a better place. Wow, what an egotistical, arrogant bastard!

 

[david]

I am annoyed by people's overblown opinions and their ability to post them on message boards.

 

[indra]

Well funny you should mention that.....
Bono's wife used to kick him out of their house, after he returned home from touring..... only because he was still "wound-up" and
had not "come down" yet. His wife always has him stay in a hotel for a week or so, after a tour, so he can get back "down to earth" before joining his family. His wife has also commented that their children would be upset too, if they would talk to their daddy and he wouldn't hear them.... And as long as I can remember .... Bono still follows this policy after a tour, which is a "good" thing to do, to get the "rowdy" attitude out of your system ... and return to a normal "domestic" lifestyle when with family members... This is why I believe his family is so-ooo strong and stable. His wife really worked hard keeping the family lives
private and out of the spotlight, and this explains why the family isn't "brain-washed" because of their daddy's success ..... Also, Bono definitely keeps sane, because of his wife, and I don't think he would ever have an "insane" or "stuck-up" snob ego, because she wouldn't allow that to happen, either .......

Sounds like a good plan to me.

Another singer I read an interview with also mentioned a similar feeling after touring. He'd been on a tour where his every whim was catered to, and when he came home his girlfriend would say "the dishes need washing" and he said "I don't wash dishes, I'm a rock star!" That, obviously, didn't go over very well.

I do think the over inflated ego thing is really very common amongst any type of performers, especially when they are touring in such a huge way. And they are treated specially...after all they are the commodity being marketed, so if they are unhappy the show is going to suck. So it pays to feed the ego (at least while on tour) and keep the peace.

And then the wife or girlfriend can knock some sense back into him (the musician -- Bono or otherwise) when he gets home.

 

[indra]

If Bono was a drug taking, womanizing bastard then he'd just be a rock star,

Hey! Don't knock the junkie, womanizing bastards.... There are a few of them I kinda like....

 

[sallycinnamon78]

I am annoyed by people's overblown opinions and their ability to post them on message boards.

Um... that's exactly what forums like this are for - discussion and debate.
Would you prefer censorship?!

 

[Stingray]

Not every musician struts around on stage like Bono does. Look at every other member of the band for example.

I wasn't even aware that other thread existed. I'm not commenting on his "little Jesus" comment so much as his usual attitude while performing.

Oh come on, he's a fucking front man. He's supposed to be flamboyant and confident. That's why we all love him so much, it's his personality. I've seen plenty of boring frontmen otu there, and bono's not one of them. THANK GOD!

 

[susanp6]

Excuse me, but he happens to be VERY hot stuff indeed, i find!!!

 

[FullonEdge2]

Not every musician struts around on stage like Bono does. Look at every other member of the band for example.

I wasn't even aware that other thread existed. I'm not commenting on his "little Jesus" comment so much as his usual attitude while performing.

You can't be serious? Bono's stage presence is part of the reason U2 is such an incredible live band! What do you want? for Bono to sit on a stool on stage?

 

[theu2fly]

If had sold over 100,000,000 albums, won grammys, been named "Best voice of 1987" by Time magazine -- helped give 450,000,000 american dollars to Africa and other countries, and selling out 80,000 seat stadiums -- I would be cocky too.

Bono has worked hard, he deserves to be cocky.

 

[nathan1977]

My oh my.

Anyone notice how Shart hasn't even posted in a while? He starts a hurricane and then lets everyone storm in it. The very definition of a troll.

"It's not the size of your ego, it's how you use it."

If that's not a Bono quote, well...it should be.

 

[gareth brown]

Let's see...Bono has managed to hang on to the same friends he has had since childhood, has admitted he could never make it without the rest of the band behind him, is always poking fun at himself, is super-nice to his fans when he meets them and spends his off-time trying to make the world a better place. Wow, what an egotistical, arrogant bastard!

End of story.

 

[BVS]

Anyone notice how Shart hasn't even posted in a while? He starts a hurricane and then lets everyone storm in it. The very definition of a troll.

So I'm not the only one noticing this...

 

[4EVRU2]

I love Bono, warts and all! He's an inspiration and has earned the right to strut, to say pompous throw-away statements, and to raise his arms out to his following.

If Bono was a drug taking, womanizing bastard then he'd just be a rock star, however he has chosen a brighter path in life. Sure he appears to be, and maybe even tries to be larger than life on stage, but offstage he's as humble and human as you or I.

Actually, didn't I read somewhere that Bono sometimes struggles with humility? Like, he needs more of it?
But I disagree w/shart, to do this kind of a job, one needs a big ego, period. What shy, introverted person do you know that can get on stage in front of thousands of people and entertain?
I surely couldn't...

Or, ego, shmego, shart, shmart!!

 

[biff]

What shy, introverted person do you know that can get on stage in front of thousands of people and entertain?
I surely couldn't...

Yet Bono has sometimes struggled enormously to get out on stage. It's well known that he has at times suffered terribly from stage fright. In fact, at the end of the Pop tour he said he didn't think he would ever be able to go back out and perform again, the terror he felt before going on stage had become so overwhelming. Lucky for us, he's managed to overcome that, and persevere. I suspect it's as Neil McCormick has said: Behind all of that confidence and drive is a lot of insecurity. It just makes him all the greater, I think.

 

[wizard2c]

reply

Hi!

Never.........as a "good" U2 fan......Mr B is my inspiration and can do no wrong.


carol
wizard2c

 

[alreadygone]

I think that Bono is gathering humility as he ages. Look at his increased humanitarian efforts and U2's marked lack of Pop-era flash. Some reviews of this tour's shows have accused him of "holding back." At Saturday's show, he was definitely more distanced from the crowd (at least from my vantage point at the front)--during the Elevation shows, there seemed to be more hand-clasping and interaction with individuals in the audience. If you were him (or any of them), wouldn't you feel used and disgusted by overzealous fan behavior, all of us snapping pictures, wanting autographs, wanting a piece of the man? We are so lucky that they haven't made their money and retired to huge estates somewhere, that they are still accessible to us.

So, how does this relate to the thread of ego...? Hm, I guess I just want to say that he's entitled to one, for all he puts up with. You want to see Bono exhibiting humility? Look for that photo of him with the Pope.

Sorry, don't mean to be grumpy!

 

[Jamila]

very nice, alreadygone

 

[BAW]

Yet Bono has sometimes struggled enormously to get out on stage. It's well known that he has at times suffered terribly from stage fright. In fact, at the end of the Pop tour he said he didn't think he would ever be able to go back out and perform again, the terror he felt before going on stage had become so overwhelming. Lucky for us, he's managed to overcome that, and persevere. I suspect it's as Neil McCormick has said: Behind all of that confidence and drive is a lot of insecurity. It just makes him all the greater, I think.

He mentioned on Oprah that he sometimes gets physically sick before going on stage.

A lot of musicians are actually very insecure and the public persona we see, including perceived arrogance or ego is not really who he/she is.

And I have to agree with alreadygone...this man gives SO much of himself to his fans and to the world, even in moments when he's off the clock, so to speak. Cut him some slack already.

 

[ShellBeThere]

Your comment alreadygone about the photo of Bono with the Pope, which I don't actually recall, reminded me of crying when I first saw the yahoo frontpage telling of his passing and they showed a picture of the Pope kissing the top of a baby's head....
Such an interesting confluence of associations...

And for me that's where the whole 'big ego' thing lies with Bono. He's willing to be big, big in his movements, in his reach, in the associations he'll make. He's admitted as much readily, but I've never seen it as self-aggrandizement. "grandizing" yes, but not so much ego as spirit. I'd bet he gets moments of ohmygod it's fucking amazing the power and the stuff and the experiences and the rush of being the biggest fucking rock star in the world, and lately *also* nobel peace prize nominee! How incredible is that?!
He can come off as damned confident in his gestures, but it always seems as though it's that he's letting himself be a locus for an idea he finds terribly compelling, like when he's claimed that it feels sometimes like they're channeling the music, that it's coming through them.
I had no idea biff that bono would get terrible stage-fright! I think I had read somewhere that he felt he had to learn to be less attuned to absolutely everything in the venue, like oh god somebody's off to take a piss or isn't paying attention, this isn't working! I guess that would make it quite scary to worry about *not* connecting with an audience as you feel you need to. Hasn't he also said recently that he didn't feel he got the approval of his father, so oddly to compensate he has to have 20000 people screaming for him nightly to feel 'normal'?
Sounded like a bit of a joke, but I never really thought of it from the perspective of going out there to try and please 20K people and doing it with anything like the vulnerability of hoping to achieve your parent's approval?! That's terrifying to think about really. And rock stars, unlike actors, have *themselves* out there, he's gotta do something to protect himself, my god. The Fly, MacPhisto, shades, coming to play Jesus, *something*.
Especially with all the hands coming out at him. This has got to be a hard tour, it being so personal material-wise...

You know, sometimes I read ABOY as a relevant statement here, doesn't it seem about preserving confidence and having big spirit and finding your voice and liking it, imposing it even...but ultimately it's not a statement about being all that, it's all because of you (I AM, with the spiritual implications there...).
It's not about being better than, it's about being. And he actually takes that big BE of celebrity and feels obliged to use it to DO as much as he can for those whose are most challenged. lovely!

cheers all!

 

[alreadygone]

Well said, ShellBeThere!!

I read ABOY as a love song (and it's definitely a fan's song, as well--it's all because of THEM that we ARE ... moved, crazy, united, friends, dancing, so many things), but I like your interpretation better. So many levels, this man has.

 

[Catman]

Personally, I think the only reason people take jabs at Bono are because they want to find something to not like about U2. Seriously, why complain about a frontman's charisma and ego?? He's in a rock band for fuck's sake! He's got girls mauling over him every night on stage and is worth hundreds of millions of dollars - not to mention he's hung out with numerous world leaders (including the friggin' POPE, God rest his soul). I don't ever hear of anyone complaining about Usher being so megalomaniacal (who comes off thinking he's God's gift to women). Or what about P. Diddy? Thom Yorke seems to think pretty highly of himself, too (is it just me, or does everything that guy does seem to be a work of "genius" to everyone else?). I honestly don't know of any time Bono has commented about himself being "so great"...usually it's all about U2 as a whole. Bono as an individual is very modest, IMO.

And besides, I seriously think all the talk Bono makes is just to get a rise out of people. Come on, the guy's roots are in punk rock, of course he's gonna take a piss every now and then with his supposed ego. I find it amusing and wouldn't want it any other way.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

Bono is NOT JESUS. lets get this clear people!! Bono is our God

"He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"

 

[Anu]

What a great thread--thanks especially to the people who gave Ali props. Ali for Goddess. She's the one who should get the PEACE prize for staying married to a traveling, drinking, rock star!!!
Perhaps some people confuse a healthy *egoism*--the perfect, confident mix of selfless/selfish and in tune with spirit, flow, energy, God--and *egotism*--an infantile navel-gazing narcissistic self-importance that is actually more Motley Crue than U2.
"I need something other"
love, Anu

 

[neutral]

My oh my.

Anyone notice how Shart hasn't even posted in a while? He starts a hurricane and then lets everyone storm in it. The very definition of a troll.

Yes it does appear that way. And yes it can be considered trolling to keep starting inflammatory threads then running off.

I think we're just going to wrap this one up.