On January 4th, Bono from U2 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom along with 18 others by President Joe Biden in his last moments in office. It is the nation’s highest civilian honor and it is given out to people who have had a significant impact on not just America but the world.
Bono has always been as much of an activist as a rock and roll star, with U2’s roots in the sometimes bloody confrontation in Ireland in the years surrounding the band’s formation.
The White House honored him “as a pioneering activist against AIDS and poverty” and recognized his work with his own advocacy organizations One and (Red). It comes, perhaps not coincidentally, soon after he released his tell-all memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, which goes into detail not just about the ins and outs of the band which became world famous early in their career, but into Bono’s experience with such history-changing musical events as Live Aid, which supported Ethiopia in a dire time of famine.
To Bono, music is a gift that is both personal and universal
“Music for me has always been a lifeline in times of turbulence,” he writes in his chapter about the song “Where The Streets Have No Name,” which tells the story of Live Aid. “It still is. That’s enough to justify its existence; the sacred service of getting a soul from there to here is not to be underestimated.
Just giving someone a reason to get out of bed in the morning counts for so much. Music is the love that drives out all fear. Music is its own reason to exist.” But he continues, “All that being said, there is also a history of music in service to the greater good, a magnificent testament to the ideals and steeliness of musicians like George Harrison organizing a benefit for Bangladesh.”
Live Aid was not the end of his activism, however, and he talks in length in his memoir about lobbying for important causes and still continues to fight for justice, provision, and health in the world. Bono is a larger-than-life personality and often quips about the trappings of fame and fortune and how he might be fit or ill-equipped to be the “big man on campus.”
But he has consistently used his platform not just to inspire through U2's adventurous songs but to shine the light on issues that need addressing in the world.
In the memoir, he talks about what he thought was his biggest mistake as an artist and person: “forcing” their Songs of Innocence album on the world via Apple Music. His life story contains many stories of bravery yet as an artist, activist, father, husband, and human being, something that led this past weekend to his international recognition once again.