Known as one of this centuries most avid supporters of human rights, along with Bob Geldof and Angelina Jolie, Bono’s musical achievements have taken a back seat to his more recognizable image which is often captured in photo-calls around the world with the likes of former Secretary General of the  United Nations, Kofi Annan.

It was while he was attending Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1975 that Bono met his wife to be Ali Hewson. The couple were married in 1982 Also attending the school at that time were the future members of Bono’s band U2.  From that early age Bono acquired his nickname Bono from both his family and friends and adopted it as his stage name in later years.

Bono’s interest in music and lyrics grew during his school years but it was in 1976 when he responded to an advert to form a band that he met up with the future members of the band they would call ‘U2’, The Edge, Dick Evans, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton. The group were initially called ‘The Hype’ but after Dick Evans left, the group was renamed, ‘U2’.

In the early days Bono was the lynch pin of the group, writing lyrics, singing and playing guitar and harmonica. As the talents of the rest of the band grew, Bono’s role in the band was mainly vocals and lyrics.  His lyrics were often based on political and religious themes as is evident in the track from their album ‘The Joshua Tree’, ‘I still haven’t found what I’m looking for’.

With his roots firmly planted in the ‘Conflicts’ of the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s in Northern Ireland, Bono frequently brought attention to himself by publically displaying his beliefs as he did in his speech condemning the Remembrance Day Bombing during a live performance of Sunday Bloody Sunday. At this point the IRA threatened to kidnap Bono and attacked the vehicle carrying the band members in 1987.

Bono began to interact more with the fans as was evident when he pulled a fan out of the crowd at the ‘Live Aid’ concert in 1985 and danced with her to Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’. His involvement in the ‘Live Aid’ concert was one of the turning points in his career when he teamed up with Geldof and Midge Ure in their efforts to pull together the biggest charity concert ever performed to raise funds and awareness of the plight of the starving millions in Ethiopia. The concert which included such celebrities as George Michael, Phil Collins, Mick Jagger and David Bowie raised between 40-50 million pounds at that time and has since been estimated to have raised 150 million pounds towards famine relief.

Bono has since stated that his motivation to become involved in charitable causes came after seeing one of the benefit shows staged by Monty Python's John Cleese and producer Martin Lewis for human rights organization Amnesty International in 1979.Since those far off days, Bono has become synonymous with campaigns associated with famine and Aids awareness throughout the world. In March 2002 Bono had a meeting with President George W Bush on the lawn of The White House when they appeared together during televised speeches after Bush unveiled a $5 billion aid package.

For three years in the early 2000’s Bono was a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, 2005 and 2006.In July 2007 Bono was a special for the magazine ‘Vanity Fair’. The issue was named "The Africa Issue" and featured 20 different cover shots including Don Cheadle, Barack Obama, Muhammad Ali, Bono, Condoleeza Rice, George W Bush, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Brad Pitt, Madonna, Chris Rock, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney and Alicia Keys.

In the New Years Honours list of 2007 Bono was named an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire and he was formally granted knighthood on 29 March 2007 by Queen Elizabeth II.

ABB