This past weekend, U2 frontman Bono was one of nineteen individuals who received the Presidential Medal of freedom from President Joe Biden. Now, the musician is expressing his gratitude for receiving the honor.
“Thank you President Biden. Frontmen don’t do humble, but today I was,” Bono wrote on U2’s Instagram account after receiving the medal. “Rock n roll gave me my freedom… and with it the privilege to work alongside those who’ve had to fight so much harder for theirs. And I want to give it up for my band mates – Edge, Adam, and Larry – without whom I would never have found my voice.”
Along with his thanks, Bono also penned an essay for The Atlantic titled “The Gorgeous, Unglamorous Work of Freedom,” in which he explores the link between music and the quest for freedom.
“Freedom is a word that turns up with embarrassing frequency in rock-and-roll songs,” Bono wrote, beginning his piece.
“The reason I am climbing on this slippery soapbox called ‘freedom’ today is that I’m being given a presidential medal by that name—an honor I’m receiving mainly for the work of others, among them my bandmates and our fellow activists—and it’s got me thinking again about the subject,” he continued. “When we rock stars talk about freedom, we more often mean libertinism than liberation, but growing up in the Ireland of the 1960s, the latter had its place too. We were mad for freedoms we didn’t have: political freedom, religious freedom, and (most definitely) s*xual freedom.”
In a statement from the White House announcing Bono as a recipient of the medal, they noted the musician’s contributions as a “pioneering activist against AIDS and poverty,” acknowledged his work in co-founding the organizations ONE and (RED), and highlighted his role in uniting opposing politicians to create the U.S. PEPFAR AIDS program.
