Can someone check on Bono? The lead singer of U2 recently gave a massively depressed interview, telling the Awards Chatter podcast that he hates the band’s name, is “embarrassed” by most of their songs, and only “recently” learned to sing.
Via The Times, the 61-year-old singer admitted that he “still” doesn’t like the name U2. “I really don’t,” he said. “But I was late into some kind of dyslexia. I didn’t realize that The Beatles was a bad pun either.”
He added that, “In our head it was like the spy plane, U-boat, it was futuristic — as it turned out to imply this kind of acquiescence, no I don’t like that name. I still don’t really like the name.” However, “Paul McGuinness, our first manager, did say, ‘Look, it’s a great name, it’s going to look good on a T-shirt, a letter and a number.’”
When it comes to U2’s chart-topping discography, Bono would rather not revisit it. “I’ve been in the car when one of our songs has come on the radio and I’ve been the color of, as we say in Dublin, scarlet. I’m just so embarrassed.” He added that “the band sound incredible,” but the problem is his “Irish macho” voice, which comes across as “strained.”
“The one that I can listen to the most is Miss Sarajevo with Luciano Pavarotti,” he said. “Genuine, most of the other ones make me cringe a little bit. Although Vertigo probably is the one I’m proudest of. It’s the way it connects with the crowd.”
He especially hated his voice upon hearing Joey Ramone. “The big discovery for me was listening to The Ramones and hearing the beautiful kind of sound of Joey Ramone and realizing I didn’t have to be that rock and roll singer.”
Bono added, “I only became a singer like recently, maybe it hasn’t happened yet for some people’s ears and I understand that.”
It certainly hadn’t happened on the band’s contribution to Sing 2, “Your Song Saved My Life,” which was perhaps one of the worst songs of 2021. However, that didn’t stop the track from being shortlisted for an Oscar. Last May, Bono guested on DMX’s posthumous album Exodus.
