BONO'S BIO

Gypsy woman told my momma, before I was born
You got a boy-child comin', gonna be a son-of-a-gun
Gonna make these pretty women, jump and shout
And the world will only know, a-what it's all about
Y'know I'm here, everybody knows I'm here
And I'm the hoochie-coochie man.
- Muddy Waters/Willie Dixon ("Hoochie Coochie Man")

On May 10, 1960, little did Iris Hewson know that she'd given birth to a rock superstar. From the moment he was born, after bawling his brains out then and for weeks to come, Paul Hewson has never stopped craving attention from his adoring fans. Growing up at 10 Cedarwood Road in Dublin, Bono was a restless, high-strung little kid who, in his father's eyes, lived in the shadow of his older brother, Norman, the hardworking, responsible student and son. Instead of seeing Bono's excitability as a burden, Iris recognized his hunger for life and his incurable curiosity as those same qualities that she fell in love with in his father, Bobby.

Though he often seemed absent-minded, Bono actually was just easily distracted and drawn to the new possibilities of discovery and opportunities for learning. His enthusiasm was contagious, piquing the curiosity of many of his peers. He became best buds with Derek Rowen with whom he began expressing his blossoming artistic abilities and creativity by drawing and painting in the Hewsons' garage. At the Rowens' house, Bono began to question the inherent pointlessness of the conflict between Catholics and Protestants that he'd struggled with all of his life; Mr. Rowen explained his Plymouth Brethren beliefs, asserting that the Bible alone should be your guide and that His Spirit is in all of us. When Bono relayed the information to his father, he quickly shot it down and sent him to his room.

Although he finished primary school second in his class and competed in international chess competitions, that inquisitive nature of his was never quite sated with academics. After first attending St. Patrick's Secondary School and straining his relationship with the institution by throwing dog shite at his Spanish teacher (who, incidentally, did seem like a big bitch by the way Eamon Dunphy described her), Bono left for Mount Temple. The nondenominational high school provided a place where a person's religion didn't matter and a more liberal environment where Bono could shine even brighter.

There's no doubt Bono was a popular boy. He gained infamy for his sidesplitting impersonations and spontaneous moonings and a reputation as a ladies' man. That dynamic personality, however, suffered when tragedy struck his family. The day after celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary, Bono's maternal grandfather passed away. At his funeral, Iris was so grief-stricken that she collapsed on the way back to the cars from a brain hemorrhage. She died four days later from the stroke. At 14 years old, Bono had lost his biggest fan.

No matter how grief-stricken he was himself, he knew he would eventually have to move on. Bono began to develop tight friendships with other kids in his neighborhood and formed a clique called Lypton Village. To further distance themselves from a culture they all felt alienated from, they decided to start over with new identities and christened each other with new names. Derek was now to be called Guggi, Paul Hewson Bonovox after a hearing-aid shop on O'Connell Street, and their Bowie-wannabe friend, Fionan Hanvey, was now to be known as Gavin Friday. Together, they would all attend the Shalom bible group, where Bono finally made peace with God and began to calm his inner turmoil.

When he learned about the opportunity of starting a new band, Bono quickly embraced it, even though he couldn't sing and though he could barely play guitar. What he lacked in ability though, Bono undeniably made up in intensity and stage presence. After forming Feedback, Guggi and Gavin decided to form their own group - a gender-bending artsy brother band called the Virgin Prunes, which notably included Edge's brother, Dik.

Weeks and months of practicing passed. During that time, Bono had taken his Leaving Certification Exam, which he did well enough on to apply to the University College Dublin. Two weeks after he began attending UCD, he had to return to Mount Temple to fulfill a single requirement of studying Irish, consequently allowing him much more free time to practice with Feedback. Also, his relationship with Alison Stewart continued to deepen, and they would later get married on August 21, 1982.

Once U2 finally made it big, Bono has also made a name for himself by being their politically active spokesperson. His most recent act of heroism (as I see it) is his work with Jubilee 2000 / Drop the Debt. His fierce determination and outspoken nature have brought awareness to millions of the problems of this world, but moreover, he has emboldened us to try to fix them.

Other info:

Children: Jordan [born May 10, 1989], Memphis Eve [born July 7, 1991], Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q [born August 18, 1999], John Abraham [born May 21, 2001]