Latest news with #PaulHewson
Sunday World
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Bono opens up on relationship with his father – ‘I didn't think I was a very good son'
The Ballymun native, who hit superstardom with U2 in the 1980s, told he how became close friends with his father after he passed away, which he described as 'not so smart'. U2 frontman Bono has paid tribute to his 'courageous' father who he said he 'finally has the approval of', more than two decades after his passing. His memoir Stories of Surrender, which has now been turned into a movie, largely tells the story of Paul Hewson and his father, Brendan Robert Hewson "My father Bob, who I played every night, just by turning my neck and then I would have his voice,' he told the Brendan O'Connor Show this morning. "I always loved my father but I really learnt to like him. I realised how funny he was and how I might have missed some of his humour in my teenage years. "And then there is this other father, which I am now and the fear of becoming a father because I didn't think I was a very good son,' he said. Bono News in 90 Seconds - May 24th 2025 The Ballymun native, who hit superstardom with U2 in the 1980s, told he how became close friends with his father after he passed away, which he described as 'not so smart'. "But we got on great in one sense. We would go to Finnegan's and sit there and not speak to each other but there were looks and glances exchanged,' he said. He said that he felt his brother was closer to their father and more useful to him as he got ill. However, the Live Aid performer and philanthropist said that he feels he now 'has his father's approval' and that he can 'move forward' with his life. "I have always felt the blessing of my mother and I still get memories, even though I was 14 when she passed. "It's amazing the amount of people in Rock n' Roll who lost their mothers as a teenager, whether it was Paul McCartney or John Lennon,' he said. He said his father was very clever, but was taken out of school and later got a job in a Post Office. "He had all these other dreams but he just put them aside because in Ireland at that time, it just was dangerous to have those kind of dreams. "People would leave Ireland to follow those kind of dreams and we forget this. My mother was totally non-ambitious, she would tell him to take more time off. "We were just not materially very ambitious and that's very impressive. They put their friends first,' he said. He added that his father 'really lived his life' and 'laughed a lot' . "He had this beautiful voice and he had the Coolock musical society,' Bono added. When asked if he thought his father was jealous of his life, the U2 singer said: 'I don't think so, I just think he couldn't say, 'wow you got to do all the things I wanted to do'. He just couldn't say that,' he said. The Dublin artist also spoke of a third father, after his own father and himself as a father. That is his faith, represented through a father in heaven, or God, which he said he is still involved in a conversation with. "It gets more and more fascinating. I am more and more in awe,' he said. "The Americans have ruined it with awesome, we have all ruined it. But awe is an extraordinary word.' He described his father as a 'very courageous man', who was a catholic, that married a protestant woman against the wishes of his family. "His own family did not turn up at the wedding. He raised us, me and my brother Norman, in the Church of Ireland, if that's what my mother wants,' he said. The 65-year-old recalled how his father would drop them at a protestant church and would then walk 100 metres up the road to attend a catholic church. "I have found myself completely comfortable around Catholicism, with its mysticism… genuinely this sense of awe and wonder. And I love that aspect of Catholicism. "And yet I also feel really comfortable in the Evangelical world, particularly a black church in America where people are up freestyling scriptures, the poetry of them, they are conversant with those scriptures. "I need them. I'd be comfortable in a Synagogue, or in Islam with Sufi singers really take me.. I am in that sense a religious person,' he said. "And if I don't look like one and you bump into me late at night and I'm not acting like one, I would understand you being dismissive of my faith, but it is everything to me and our family share it.'
Irish Independent
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
‘We became close friends after he passed… I didn't think I was a very good son' – Bono on relationship with father Bob Hewson
His memoir Stories of Surrender, which has now been turned into a movie, largely tells the story of Paul Hewson and his father, Brendan Robert Hewson "My father Bob, who I played every night, just by turning my neck and then I would have his voice,' he told the Brendan O'Connor Show this morning. "I always loved my father but I really learnt to like him. I realised how funny he was and how I might have missed some of his humour in my teenage years. "And then there is this other father, which I am now and the fear of becoming a father because I didn't think I was a very good son,' he said. The Ballymun native, who hit superstardom with U2 in the 1980s, told he how became close friends with his father after he passed away, which he described as 'not so smart'. "But we got on great in one sense. We would go to Finnegan's and sit there and not speak to each other but there were looks and glances exchanged,' he said. He said that he felt his brother was closer to their father and more useful to him as he got ill. However, the Live Aid performer and philanthropist said that he feels he now 'has his father's approval' and that he can 'move forward' with his life. "I have always felt the blessing of my mother and I still get memories, even though I was 14 when she passed. "It's amazing the amount of people in Rock n' Roll who lost their mothers as a teenager, whether it was Paul McCartney or John Lennon,' he said. He said his father was very clever, but was taken out of school and later got a job in a Post Office. "He had all these other dreams but he just put them aside because in Ireland at that time, it just was dangerous to have those kind of dreams. "People would leave Ireland to follow those kind of dreams and we forget this. My mother was totally non-ambitious, she would tell him to take more time off. "We were just not materially very ambitious and that's very impressive. They put their friends first,' he said. He added that his father 'really lived his life' and 'laughed a lot' . "He had this beautiful voice and he had the Coolock musical society,' Bono added. When asked if he thought his father was jealous of his life, the U2 singer said: 'I don't think so, I just think he couldn't say, 'wow you got to do all the things I wanted to do'. He just couldn't say that,' he said. The Dublin artist also spoke of a third father, after his own father and himself as a father. That is his faith, represented through a father in heaven, or God, which he said he is still involved in a conversation with. "It gets more and more fascinating. I am more and more in awe,' he said. "The Americans have ruined it with awesome, we have all ruined it. But awe is an extraordinary word.' He described his father as a 'very courageous man', who was a catholic, that married a protestant woman against the wishes of his family. "His own family did not turn up at the wedding. He raised us, me and my brother Norman, in the Church of Ireland, if that's what my mother wants,' he said. The 65-year-old recalled how his father would drop them at a protestant church and would then walk 100 metres up the road to attend a catholic church. "I have found myself completely comfortable around Catholicism, with its mysticism… genuinely this sense of awe and wonder. And I love that aspect of Catholicism. "And yet I also feel really comfortable in the Evangelical world, particularly a black church in America where people are up freestyling scriptures, the poetry of them, they are conversant with those scriptures. "I need them. I'd be comfortable in a Synagogue, or in Islam with Sufi singers really take me.. I am in that sense a religious person,' he said. "And if I don't look like one and you bump into me late at night and I'm not acting like one, I would understand you being dismissive of my faith, but it is everything to me and our family share it.'
Irish Post
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Post
Memoir and music collide as Bono faces mortality and finds renewed purpose
NEVER before in the history of humankind has one small man so largely self-promoted his life. That's the theory, anyway, as U2's frontman Bono prepares to unleash yet another chapter of his life at the end of this month. 'I was born with my fists up. Surrender does not come easy to me. This is my story. I'm stuck with it.' So says the man who manages to mix self-deprecation with self-aggrandisement all too well. We will see examples of this in the forthcoming Apple TV+ original documentary Bono: Stories of Surrender, which debuts on the streaming platform on Friday, May 30th. In fairness, Paul Hewson's flagrant self-promotion has some depth to it. We can safely guess that this virtually solo proactivity began with the brace of U2's most personal and confessional albums: Songs of Innocence (2014) and Songs of Experience (2017). Bono Stories of Surrender airs on Apple TV+ this month The first album revisits the band members' early days in Ireland of the 1970s, referencing childhood memories, personal loves and losses, all the while tipping a hat to their first musical inspirations of glam rock, David Bowie, and various pop, rock, and punk groups. Bono once described the album as the most personal the band had written. Subsequently, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he said the album was about trying to figure out 'why we wanted to be in a band, the relationships around the band, our friendships, our lovers, our family. The whole album is first journeys - first journeys geographically, spiritually, sexually…' Songs of Experience, meanwhile, was even more personal to Bono. In December 2016, as the album was being worked on, he had a near-death experience. At the time, what occurred wasn't identified, but the Edge referred to it as a 'brush with mortality.' Bono later revealed in his 2022 memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, that he had undergone open-heart surgery, an eight-hour operation. After some time recuperating, a fully recovered Bono decided to rework lyrics on some of the album's new songs. He subsequently admitted that death was already going to be a theme on the album, as he thought the subject had been infrequently addressed in rock music, and felt it was logically fitting for an album with the title of Songs of Experience. Inevitably, the incident influenced the general theme and atmosphere of the album. It made him realise, he said, that not 'surrendering to melancholy is the most important thing if you are going to fight your way out of whatever corner you are in.' Cue Covid-19, and the time available to dig deep not only into what happened to him a few years previously but also to finally drill down into his life story. Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story was the result of such drilling. To say it surprised people is an understatement. To say it most surprised people whose antipathy towards Bono bordered on irrationality was an even greater understatement. How did he change minds, then? A review of the memoir in the New Statesman gets it right. 'The only thing anyone else really has to say about U2 is that they don't like Bono, the band's frontman, because he is smug and evangelical. Bono addresses this charge early in his memoir: there is no criticism anyone could make of him that is worse than the criticism he gives himself, up there on stage, every night. On stage, he has a devil on his shoulder, he says. But while he may have a devil, he also has faith and God on his side. Thus insulated, Bono can begin his story.' Similarly, Irish writer Colm Tóibín's review in the Irish Times outlines why some people are irked by Bono: he gets carried away. ('This is what I do,' explains the singer. 'This is the me you wouldn't want to be in a band with.') Tóibín gets to the heart of the subject when he writes that what makes the memoir so intriguing is that the singer's overarching melancholy 'is overwhelmed by a desperate, frenzied desire to use life more richly since it has proved to be so fragile. Sadness is replaced here by an extraordinary and breathless zeal for friendship, but also for love.' Which is all well and good, but what does the documentary Bono: Stories of Surrender tell us? In tandem with the publication of his memoir in the closing months of 2022, something odd occurred in the world of U2. Announcing theatre shows with the title of Stories of Surrender: An Evening of Words, Music and Some Mischief, Bono announced that these shows would be the first time he would sing U2 songs without the other three band members. There was no problem with this, he soothingly remarked, perhaps keen to downplay (if not completely sabotage) any thoughts of discord within the band. The 'solo' tour dates were few and far between, but as the shows were to be held in theatres (the capacity of which ranged from anywhere between 1,000-3,000), the demand for tickets was stratospheric. Curiosity, however, was also central to the demand. In the end, the wait in the online ticket queue was worth it. Reviews of the show were unanimously positive. 'One of rock's biggest voices laid himself bare', said Variety, and 'unquestionable professionalism' noted The Times. The Irish Times, meanwhile, viewed Dublin's 3Olympia Theatre show as a 'musical photo album, the singer flicking through memories of his life with songs. It gives him the chance to flex his talents as a singer, a storyteller, a mimic, a comic and, ultimately, the tenor his father said he never was. This is 'my quarter-of-a-band' show, he says. But what a quarter.' You can expect the Apple TV+ documentary to deliver a view of the show (actually, two shows, both filmed at New York's famed Beacon Theatre) that not many in the stalls witnessed. Directed in sharp, stylish monochrome by Andrew Dominik, the documentary had its world premiere at this year's Cannes Film Festival and received suitably enthusiastic reviews. Previously unseen footage from the Beacon shows presents a very confessional Bono in a way you might have previously been unaware of, while numerous U2 songs are performed in a subtle, stripped-down and textured manner that places them in entirely new light (and shade). The Irish musicians on stage (cellist Kate Ellis, multi-instrumentalist Gemma Doherty, and jack-of-all-music-trades Jacknife Lee) reshape the songs that will more than likely influence forthcoming U2 material. The visual aspects, meanwhile, are softened versions of the usual blitz of U2's arena/Sphere shows, with supremely eye-catching lighting design that never makes you turn your head away. Is the film yet another self-promotion device, another look-at-me tool? Of course it is, but even the most toughened anti-U2/Bono detractor will surely admit there is a sincere heart beating throughout it that neuters the obvious hard sell. 'The Story of a Showman' is how the trailer for the documentary starts. It now looks likely that until Bono hangs up his boots, or until his boots are hung up for him, the story of this particular showman will continue. A revised edition of Stories of Surrender is published on May 27. The documentary of the same name premieres on Apple TV+ on May 30. See More: Apple TV+, Bono, Bono: Stories Of Surrender
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Proud Bono grins as he arrives at a special screening of his documentary Bono: Stories of Surrender at Cannes Film Festival - after it got seven-minute standing ovation at premiere
Bono looked radiant as he proudly posed on his arrival to the special screening of his new docu-film Bono: Stories of Surrender at the 78th Cannes Film Festival. The U2 frontman, 65, marked a major achievement during the release's Cannes premiere on Friday night as it received an impressive seven-minute standing ovation. Stepping out the next morning, Bono appeared thrilled with his achievement as he flashed a huge grin while arriving at another special screening of his documentary. The Irish singer - whose real name is Paul Hewson - looked suave in a black suit and matching shirt. He sported his trademark orange shades and struck a series of playful poses for the cameras while stepping out at the event. Bono's brand new Apple documentary pulls back the curtain on his life along with the family, friends and faith that have sustained him. The music legend also reveals personal stories about his journey as a son, father, husband, activist and rock star. The With Or Without You hitmaker was graced with nothing less than a seven-minute standing ovation following the film's premiere at Cannes. Overwhelmed by support, Bono opened his speech with a few words and poked fun at himself, promising to speak fluent French next year. 'I'm not a Frenchman. I'm an Irishman. I'm not even a self-made man,' he told the crowd, according to Variety. 'You wrote this story. The Edge wrote this story. Adam [Clayton] and Larry [Mullen Jr.] wrote this story. [Paul] McGuinness wrote this story.' He went on acknowledging the docu-film director Andrew Dominik, who was not in attendance on the day in Cannes. 'I love your vision,' he said. 'I can't believe you got those performances out of me.' The hitmaker-turned-activist opted for a smart black suit and matching shirt Bono: Stories of Surrender is based on his celebrated memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story and its accompanying tour. Alongside exclusive footage from the Beacon Theatre shows, the film shows Bono performing many of the iconic U2 songs 'that have shaped his life and legacy'. The eagerly-anticipated documentary hails from RadicalMedia and Plan B Entertainment, with RadicalMedia's Jon Kamen and Dave Sirulnick producing alongside Plan B's Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner. Bono is also executive producer along with Jennifer Pitcher and Kelly McNamara. The 2025 Cannes Film Festival is taking place in the wake of Trump´s vow to enact tariffs on international films. Cannes, where filmmakers, sales agents and journalists gather from around the world, is the Olympics of the big screen, with its own golden prize, the Palme d´Or, to give out at the end. Filmmakers come from nearly every corner of the globe to showcase their films while dealmakers work through the night to sell finished films or packaged productions to various territories. 'You release a film into that Colosseum-like situation,' said Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho, who´s returning to Cannes with The Secret Agent, a thriller set during Brazil ´s dictatorship. 'You´ve got to really prepare for the whole experience because it´s quite intense - not very far from the feeling of approaching a roller coaster as you go up the steps at the Palais.' Trump sent shock waves through Hollywood and the international film community when he announced on May 4 that all movies 'produced in Foreign Lands' will face 100% tariffs. The White House has said no final decisions have been made. Options being explored include federal incentives for U.S.-based productions, rather than tariffs. Some of the first-time filmmakers debuting their releases at this year's Cannes are already particularly well-known. Kristen Stewart (The Chronology of Water), Scarlett Johansson (Eleanor the Great) and Harris Dickinson (Urchin) will all be unveiling their feature directorial debuts in Cannes´ Un Certain Regard sidebar section. Many Cannes veterans will be back, too, including Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning). Robert De Niro - is set to receive an honorary Palme d´Or 49 years after Taxi Driver premiered in Cannes while Quentin Tarantino will pay tribute to low-budget Western director George Sherman. The much-anticipated eighth and final instalment of Mission Impossible is one of the earlier premieres on this year's Cannes calendar, with its glitzy red carpet taking place on Wednesday, May 14. Meanwhile Scarlett's directorial debut Eleanor The Great, will be unveiled on May 20. However, in the wake of his legal battle with former co-star Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni is not expected to attend. Over recent years, the star-studded extravaganza has arguably won more attention for the outfits worn by its celebrity guests than the roster of feature films being screened on the Croisette. But new nudity rules, devised for 'the sake of decency,' have been implemented at this year's festival. According to organisers, the austere move is an attempt to stifle the celebrity trend for 'naked dresses' - namely provocative outfits that reveal considerably more than they conceal - on the red carpet. 'For decency reasons, nudity is prohibited on the red carpet, as well as any other area of the festival,' states a Cannes festival document. 'The festival welcoming teams will be obligated to prohibit red carpet access to anyone not respecting these rules.' The surprise new policy features in a recent festival-goers charter - released with a series of outlines regarding expected public behaviour. Guests are expected to converge on the Grand Auditorium Louis Lumière for some of the highest profile film screenings across a packed two-week schedule in Cannes. It's understood that the iconic venue now adopts a more conservative dress code, with suits, dinner jackets and floor-length evening gowns generally favoured over headline grabbing ensembles. Classic little black dresses, cocktail dresses, pant-suits, dressy tops and elegant sandals, 'with or without a heel', will also be permitted. While the decision to implement a more stringent policy will be a first, it is not known if French TV broadcasters, wary of airing nudity, played a role in its enforcement.
Irish Times
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Bono at Cannes: ‘You wrote this story. The Edge wrote this story. Adam and Larry wrote this story. McGuinness wrote this story'
Bono: Stories of Surrender Director : Andrew Dominik Cert : None Starring : Bono, Gemma Doherty, Kate Ellis, Jackknife Lee Running Time : 1 hr 22 mins I have been doing this Cannes thing for 15 years and, until now, have avoided having to pull on a dinner jacket. It seems appropriate that my first evening red-carpet screening – for which such garb is required – was in honour of the sometime Paul Hewson of Dublin's northside. Bono (for it is he) has been on the famous Cannes steps before. Back in 2007 he and U2 played a live gig there before a screening of the documentary U2 3D. This time round he was out for the premiere of Andrew Dominik's film version of – in the singer's own words – his 'quarter-man' stage show Bono: Stories of Surrender (itself a variation on his memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story ). Everyone gets a standing ovation here, but the seven minutes handed out on Friday night seemed sincere. READ MORE 'I'm not a Frenchman. I'm an Irishman. I'm not even a self-made man,' he said, before praising the rest of the band and their manager Paul McGuinness. 'You wrote this story. The Edge wrote this story. Adam and Larry wrote this story. McGuinness wrote this story.' As for the film itself? Well, there is no point pretending Bono's heroic logorrhoea is for everyone. Few already allergic are likely to be won over. But, on the evidence of Dominik's film, this was a tautly staged show, at its best when Bono was allowed to blend his recollections with songs sung in a still-robust voice. It occurred to me that as – accompanied by the Jackknife Lee Ensemble – he warbled through a slowed down version of debut single Out of Control, it was the first time in 40 years I'd been able to understand all the words. The great man begins with recollections of heart problems he suffered a decade ago. 'I was born with an eccentric heart,' he says. 'In one of the chambers of my heart, where most people have three doors, I have two. Two swinging doors, which at Christmas 2016 were coming off their hinges.' Bono: Stories of Surrender premieres on AppleTV+ at the end of May Bono: Stories of Surrender is shot in radiant monochrome There is, of course, a deal about the formation of U2. Their devotion to the Ramones. Early days practising in a cottage near where Bono's mum was buried. A bizarre effort – spurred by theological worries of all things – to disband early that McGuinness quashed in maritime language. But the core of the show is Bono's relationship with his late father. It is, at times, awkward seeing such raw emotion revealed in such theatrical fashion. He mimes lying by the older man's bed as he was dying. The furrows in Bono's face add to the slight whisper of Samuel Beckett about the situation. Shooting in luminous monochrome (to clarify the piece's 'significance', one assumes), Dominik plays it straight until a closing flourish whose epic sentimentality chimes with the band's own. Ultimately, for good or ill, one has to accept that Bono's compunction to spill his emotional innards is, for fans, more of a feature than a bug. There is plenty here to confirm that he has a sure sense of his own occasional ridiculousness and of the privilege he has acquired. He wonders if he may be trying to allay his 'guilt for living a lavish lifestyle'. On reflection Bono: Stories of Surrender, which premieres on Apple TV+ at the end of the month, may do some work in winning over those violently unconvinced. [ Cannes 2025: Tom Cruise's death-defying wing-walking, and the festival's ban on an actor accused of assault Opens in new window ] Why should he care? He got a lavish Cannes opening among friends. His old mate The Edge boogied up the carpet to the Bee Gees. His wife Ali – much celebrated in the show – was there with their grown children Jordan and Elijah. Sean Penn joined Bono in posing with members of Ukraine's armed forces. 'If I was in the trenches, like real trenches, as opposed to ones on a movie set, I'd want to be with Sean Penn in those trenches,' the man of the hour said. Very big. Very Bono. Worth dressing up for.
