Bono Says His One-Man Show Made Him 'Miss' His Late Father for First Time: 'I Began to Really Like Him'

Published: May 30, 2025

The U2 frontman, Bono, has revealed how his one-man stage show, Surrender: An Evening of Words, Music and Some Mischief…, helped him to "miss" his father, Bob Hewson, who passed away in 2001.

In a recent interview with Esquire, Bono shared that the performances, which took place in 2022 and 2023, made him begin to "miss" his father, Bob Hewson, who died in 2001 at the age of 75.

"I began to really like him, as well as love him," Bono said of the performances. "I even began to miss him."

Bono explained that representing his father in the performances was therapeutic. "I realized it was his sense of humor," he said of his father's jabs over the years. "My whole life it came across as only cutting, but I realized how very funny it was."

The rocker also revealed that the experience helped him realize that he "had been a little humorless" and "should have laughed more rather than be so hurt by it" when it came to his dad's disses.

"I started to realize that all of those arguments that we used to have at the kitchen table, he was always on the side of social justice," he added. "He owns that part of me."

Meanwhile, Bono's AppleTV+ film, Bono: Stories of Surrender, is out now. The documentary follows his 2022 memoir SURRENDER: 40 SONGS, ONE STORY, which eventually led to a stage adaptation.