salomeU2000
The Fly
[SIMG]http://images.thesun.co.uk/picture/0,,2003460722,00.jpg[/SIMG]
"I still go to phone my dad ... then remember he's been dead for two years"
In The Name Of Love ... Bono's book project is tribute to his dad
BONO talks to DOMINIC MOHAN
U2 star Bono is still haunted by the death of his beloved father and has picked up the phone to call him several times, forgetting he died two years ago from cancer.
In a moving interview, the millionaire frontman admitted that he?s subconsciously taken on Bob Hewson?s mannerisms and has started to walk and even cough like his dad.
Bono regrets not having got to know his father better ? and has put together paintings for a new book and CD of the children?s classic Peter And The Wolf in tribute to Bob, who died aged 75.
Speaking to me over a glass of wine in Dublin?s City Hall, I can tell the scars still run deep as Bono, 42, says: ?It?s two years since he died. It?s a strange thing, it really turns everything on its head because you start to remember when you were a child yourself.
We three ... Gavin, Dominic and Bono
?You go through all kinds of things ? the things that formed you come back on you.
?My wife Ali would say: ?You?re walking differently,? or ?Are you coughing, have you got a cold?? And I?d say no, but then cough.
?I wish I?d got to know him more. We used to go out drinking on Sundays but we wouldn?t talk, we?d talk around things.
?I just wish I had more time with him because you get to understand yourself more.
?A couple of times I?ve gone to call him and he wasn?t there.
?I picked up the phone to ring the number and there was a sick feeling, but I know I?ll see him again ? I?ve got that sense, that faith.?
Bono?s routine is non-stop and he rarely takes a day off. He can phone up Tony Blair, George W Bush, Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton or the Pope and they will take his call.
He chuckles when I ask him about those relationships and says: ?I?ve got them all programmed in my phone. Air Force One is under A, you know.
?I have a lot of respect for the office of prime minister or president. I?m amazed that they take my calls.
?It?s not because it?s me, it?s because I represent a large constituency of people who are interested in the problem of Aids in Africa or fair trade in Africa.
?Remember, people from 18 to 30 generally haven?t decided which way they are going to vote. That is our audience.
Bono and the wolf ... singer with his art
?Bill Clinton told me these leaders are very interested in people who go to our shows because they are the swing vote.
?I am still a very big fan of Tony Blair, even though I disagree with the way they went about the war. I think he?s an honest man and he has great conviction ... and he understands how to tune a guitar.
?I have checked his guitar. I pulled it out of the case at Downing Street and it was perfect. He?s skinny enough to be a rock star but his brain is too big.?
The music on the new CD was written by his pal Gavin Friday with all profits going to the Irish Hospice Foundation who volunteered to treat Bono?s dying dad.
The conversation returns to Bob and he says: ?The book is a tribute to my dad. The hospice offered to look after my father when he was dying.
?In the end he died in the hospital but I was very grateful and very touched that they offered.
?These people are like angels, or midwives, as you?re born into your next life.
?They are very special people and they asked me to do this and I just said yes.
?I?m very aware of what nurses and doctors do and as transcendent I think a U2 show is, it?s not a life and death experience. This is what up-ends the whole idea of celebrity.
Tough love ... Bono with his dad in 2000
?You live in that world where you have to deal with celebrities and there?s some fun and interesting characters but in the end, they?re not heroes and we?re not heroes.
?The heroes are doctors and nurses and mothers and people who deal with life and death issues.
?They?re not paid enough and they work so hard, they?re the best people that we have.
?If my dad saw these pictures he?d say: ?They?re crap ? don?t cash in your day job, and by the way, you?re crap at that, too.? He was really tough but he was fantastic.
"Overcoming my dad telling me I would never amount to anything is what has made me the megalomaniac you see today.
?I used to paint long before I dreamed of putting on wraparound shades and selling tunes for U2.?
The father-of-four has also almost finished the new U2 album which should be out next year ? followed by another world tour.
He reveals that it?s an aggressive album, born out of bandmate The Edge?s anger at the singer?s hob-nobbing with politicians.
Bono says: ?We?re nearly finished ? we?re in the home straight. There?s only one reason for U2 to put an album out right now ? it has to be a monster, a dragon, and this is.
?It?s filled with big tunes and it?s driven by a guitar player who is sick of the sight of me shaking hands with dodgy politicians. The anger is unbelievable.
Self portrait ... Bono paints Bono
?The Edge is the most gifted guitar player of his generation ? that?s obvious. He?s driving it and he?s going, ?This is enough, if I see one more photo of you with a dodgy politician I?m going to throw up.?
"We?re going to be touring again next year and I can?t wait. It?s a hard thing to explain but, next to being with my friends and family, the place I feel most comfortable in my life is on stage in front of 20,000 of my closest friends, or 150,000.
?People say that?s not the real me but it is ? because I?m an awkward person I?m not comfortable in every situation.
?As regards shaking politicians? hands, shaking the tree or, in fact, climbing the tree and pulling the f***ing apples off with my bare hands if I have to, that?s also me.
?But it?s me doing a job I shouldn?t have to ? I feel somebody else should. Chris Martin from Coldplay is very good at that.
?He?s a fan of U2 but he?s taken on the fair trade thing. He?s an extraordinary singer and talent.
?I?m not handing on the baton but I?m giving him another one and he can run very fast and I believe in him.?
Peter And The Wolf, published by Bloomsbury, with a CD by Gavin Friday is available now priced ?12.99, with royalties in aid of the Irish Hospice Foundation. Bono?s artworks are on show at Christie?s, London, SW1, and will be auctioned next month.
ON BLAIR
I?m a fan. He?s skinny enough to be a rock star but his brain?s too big
ON MEDICS
Doctors and nurses aren?t paid enough, they?re the best people we have
ON COLDPLAY
Chris Martin is an extraordinary talent, he?s taken on the Fair Trade thing
ON THE EDGE
He?s angry. He?s sick of seeing me shaking hands with dodgy politicians
ON HIS DAD
I wish I had got to know him more, it helps you understand yourself
Pictures: DAVE HOGAN
Actual online article can be found at http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,5-2003461503,00.html
Thanks Scarletwine
"I still go to phone my dad ... then remember he's been dead for two years"
In The Name Of Love ... Bono's book project is tribute to his dad
BONO talks to DOMINIC MOHAN
U2 star Bono is still haunted by the death of his beloved father and has picked up the phone to call him several times, forgetting he died two years ago from cancer.
In a moving interview, the millionaire frontman admitted that he?s subconsciously taken on Bob Hewson?s mannerisms and has started to walk and even cough like his dad.
Bono regrets not having got to know his father better ? and has put together paintings for a new book and CD of the children?s classic Peter And The Wolf in tribute to Bob, who died aged 75.
Speaking to me over a glass of wine in Dublin?s City Hall, I can tell the scars still run deep as Bono, 42, says: ?It?s two years since he died. It?s a strange thing, it really turns everything on its head because you start to remember when you were a child yourself.
We three ... Gavin, Dominic and Bono
?You go through all kinds of things ? the things that formed you come back on you.
?My wife Ali would say: ?You?re walking differently,? or ?Are you coughing, have you got a cold?? And I?d say no, but then cough.
?I wish I?d got to know him more. We used to go out drinking on Sundays but we wouldn?t talk, we?d talk around things.
?I just wish I had more time with him because you get to understand yourself more.
?A couple of times I?ve gone to call him and he wasn?t there.
?I picked up the phone to ring the number and there was a sick feeling, but I know I?ll see him again ? I?ve got that sense, that faith.?
Bono?s routine is non-stop and he rarely takes a day off. He can phone up Tony Blair, George W Bush, Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton or the Pope and they will take his call.
He chuckles when I ask him about those relationships and says: ?I?ve got them all programmed in my phone. Air Force One is under A, you know.
?I have a lot of respect for the office of prime minister or president. I?m amazed that they take my calls.
?It?s not because it?s me, it?s because I represent a large constituency of people who are interested in the problem of Aids in Africa or fair trade in Africa.
?Remember, people from 18 to 30 generally haven?t decided which way they are going to vote. That is our audience.
Bono and the wolf ... singer with his art
?Bill Clinton told me these leaders are very interested in people who go to our shows because they are the swing vote.
?I am still a very big fan of Tony Blair, even though I disagree with the way they went about the war. I think he?s an honest man and he has great conviction ... and he understands how to tune a guitar.
?I have checked his guitar. I pulled it out of the case at Downing Street and it was perfect. He?s skinny enough to be a rock star but his brain is too big.?
The music on the new CD was written by his pal Gavin Friday with all profits going to the Irish Hospice Foundation who volunteered to treat Bono?s dying dad.
The conversation returns to Bob and he says: ?The book is a tribute to my dad. The hospice offered to look after my father when he was dying.
?In the end he died in the hospital but I was very grateful and very touched that they offered.
?These people are like angels, or midwives, as you?re born into your next life.
?They are very special people and they asked me to do this and I just said yes.
?I?m very aware of what nurses and doctors do and as transcendent I think a U2 show is, it?s not a life and death experience. This is what up-ends the whole idea of celebrity.
Tough love ... Bono with his dad in 2000
?You live in that world where you have to deal with celebrities and there?s some fun and interesting characters but in the end, they?re not heroes and we?re not heroes.
?The heroes are doctors and nurses and mothers and people who deal with life and death issues.
?They?re not paid enough and they work so hard, they?re the best people that we have.
?If my dad saw these pictures he?d say: ?They?re crap ? don?t cash in your day job, and by the way, you?re crap at that, too.? He was really tough but he was fantastic.
"Overcoming my dad telling me I would never amount to anything is what has made me the megalomaniac you see today.
?I used to paint long before I dreamed of putting on wraparound shades and selling tunes for U2.?
The father-of-four has also almost finished the new U2 album which should be out next year ? followed by another world tour.
He reveals that it?s an aggressive album, born out of bandmate The Edge?s anger at the singer?s hob-nobbing with politicians.
Bono says: ?We?re nearly finished ? we?re in the home straight. There?s only one reason for U2 to put an album out right now ? it has to be a monster, a dragon, and this is.
?It?s filled with big tunes and it?s driven by a guitar player who is sick of the sight of me shaking hands with dodgy politicians. The anger is unbelievable.
Self portrait ... Bono paints Bono
?The Edge is the most gifted guitar player of his generation ? that?s obvious. He?s driving it and he?s going, ?This is enough, if I see one more photo of you with a dodgy politician I?m going to throw up.?
"We?re going to be touring again next year and I can?t wait. It?s a hard thing to explain but, next to being with my friends and family, the place I feel most comfortable in my life is on stage in front of 20,000 of my closest friends, or 150,000.
?People say that?s not the real me but it is ? because I?m an awkward person I?m not comfortable in every situation.
?As regards shaking politicians? hands, shaking the tree or, in fact, climbing the tree and pulling the f***ing apples off with my bare hands if I have to, that?s also me.
?But it?s me doing a job I shouldn?t have to ? I feel somebody else should. Chris Martin from Coldplay is very good at that.
?He?s a fan of U2 but he?s taken on the fair trade thing. He?s an extraordinary singer and talent.
?I?m not handing on the baton but I?m giving him another one and he can run very fast and I believe in him.?
Peter And The Wolf, published by Bloomsbury, with a CD by Gavin Friday is available now priced ?12.99, with royalties in aid of the Irish Hospice Foundation. Bono?s artworks are on show at Christie?s, London, SW1, and will be auctioned next month.
ON BLAIR
I?m a fan. He?s skinny enough to be a rock star but his brain?s too big
ON MEDICS
Doctors and nurses aren?t paid enough, they?re the best people we have
ON COLDPLAY
Chris Martin is an extraordinary talent, he?s taken on the Fair Trade thing
ON THE EDGE
He?s angry. He?s sick of seeing me shaking hands with dodgy politicians
ON HIS DAD
I wish I had got to know him more, it helps you understand yourself
Pictures: DAVE HOGAN
Actual online article can be found at http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,5-2003461503,00.html
Thanks Scarletwine
Last edited:
coldplay opens for u2, bono becomes chris' mentor... this is all seeming very good to me... 
s 
...poor guy...
...that's just seriously heartbreaking...
