Happy Birthday Bono: The incredible journey of the U2 rockstar
It's the 61st birthday of Paul David Hewson today. You may know him as Bono, the lead singer, and lyricist of the rock band U2. Born in Dublin, Ireland, he is often spotted wearing sunglasses because of glaucoma, as his eyes are extremely sensitive to light. Let's take a deep dive into his intriguing life journey and other interesting facts.
The weird story behind his nickname, Bono
He was an alleged member of a street gang known as Lypton Village, while growing up. There was a hearing-aid store in his neighborhood called Bonavox, which is Latin for a good voice. Since he already started showing his beautiful musical abilities at a young age, all his friends began calling him Bono Vox, which was later shortened to just Bono.
A knighted rockstar who is also an actor and humanitarian
Bono is an activist for many human rights and social justice causes with a special focus on Africa. He co-founded DATA, EDUN, Product Red and the ONE Campaign for the region. Bono has also appeared in the films Entropy and Bruno as himself. The singer received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in 2007 for his musical prowess and humanitarian work.
Bono: Relationship, net worth, and other details
Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson, have been married for almost four decades now, which is a millennium in celebrity marriage years! The couple has four kids together: two daughters named Jordan and Memphis, and two sons named Elijah and John. His current net worth is pegged at around $700 million from his music royalties, and other ventures, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
He is a 22 time Grammy Award-winning singer
The singer has 22 Grammy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards under his belt, and has collaborated with many artists outside of his band like Frank Sinatra, Green Day, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Bruce Springsteen. Time Magazine put Bono on their most influential people list twice. Some of his chart-topping hits include All I Want Is You, Numb, Bad, and One.