U2s Bono Talks with David RemnickLive
Last month, The New Yorker published a Personal History about growing up in Ireland during the nineteen-sixties and seventies. It covers the interfaith marriage of the author\u2019s parents, which was unusual in Dublin; his mother\u2019s early death; and finding his calling in music. The author was Bono, for more than forty years the lyricist and lead singer of one of the biggest rock bands on the planet. As U2 sold out arenas and stadiums, Bono held forth on a range of social causes; he became \u201cthe definitive rock star of the modern era,\u201d as Kelefa Sanneh puts it. Bono joined David Remnick at the 2022 New Yorker Festival to talk about his new memoir, \u201cSurrender.\u201d \u201cWhen I sang in U2, something got ahold of me,\u201d Bono said. \u201cAnd it made sense of me.\u201d They discussed how the band almost ended because of the members\u2019 religious faith, and how they navigated the Troubles as a bunch of young men from Dublin suddenly on the world stage. Bono shared a life lesson from Paul McCartney, and he opened up about the early death of his mother. \u201cThis wound in me just turned into this opening where I had to fill the hole with music,\u201d Bono said. In the loss of a loved one, \u201cthere's sometimes a gift. The opening up of music came from my mother.\u201d