Bono Explains What Sparked U2’s Anti-ICE Song “American Obituary”
Bono has spoken out about the moment he says pushed U2 to complete “American Obituary,” a new protest track tied to immigration enforcement and political rhetoric in the United States. The song appears on the band’s newly released six-track project Days of Ash, which U2 describe as being inspired by multiple global flashpoints, and Bono framed the track as a response to a specific death that he said “shook the world.”
In an accompanying fanzine, Bono said he began writing the lyric the day after the killing of Renee Nicole Macklin Good in Minneapolis on January 7, and reported that the song was written in her honour and directly references her death in its second verse.
The Irish singer-songwriter, born Paul David Hewson, described Good as a young mother who was shot in her car, adding that her family then faced what he called an additional indignity when she was labelled “a domestic terrorist” after her death. While Bono did not name any officials directly in that passage, his comments were tied to criticism surrounding how the Department of Homeland Security, Kristie Noem, publicly characterised Good following the incident.
Bono argued that the wording used to describe Good became “the final straw” for many observers and said it signalled something larger than a single killing, adding that an independent inquiry should examine what happened. That stance echoes earlier Alternative Nation coverage of U2’s tribute song for Renee Good and its protest framing as the band connects the track to broader concerns about civil liberties.
Days of Ash also includes songs referencing other conflicts and protest movements, from Iran to Ukraine and Gaza, and features collaborations including appearances by Mr. Ed Sheeran and Ukrainian singer Taras Topolia. With “American Obituary,” Bono is positioning U2’s latest release as an explicitly political statement—one rooted, he says, in the language used to define who is treated as a threat, and who is remembered as a victim.
