U2: Bono Awarded British Knighthood

Irish rock star and global humanitarian Bono became a knight of the British empire Thursday — and joked that his youngest son thought he was about to become a Jedi instead.

Bono, 46, was named a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in an informal, laugh-filled ceremony in the Dublin home of British Ambassador David Reddaway.

"You have permission to call me anything you want — except sir, all right? Lord of lords, your demigodness, that'll do," he told reporters afterward.

Because he is an Irish citizen, Bono won't have the title of "sir" before his name. That honor is reserved for citizens of the United Kingdom or British Commonwealth countries. Ireland left the Commonwealth when it became a republic in 1949.

Reddaway paid tribute to Bono's work as a campaigner against poverty and disease in Africa — but first asked whether he was disappointed that becoming a knight no longer involves a sword or kneeling.

"Please, I wasn't expecting you to kneel," said Bono, his hand on the ambassador's shoulder.

Accompanying the rocker were his wife, Ali, and their four children — Jordan, 17; Eve, 15; Elijah, 7; and John, 5. U2 guitarist The Edge and bassist Adam Clayton also attended.

John was disappointed that his dad wasn't presented with a light saber, said Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson. "He thought I was becoming a Jedi."

Find more at AP.

Comments

[Hexagram]

good for Bono

[sg-knight]

Hexagram wrote:

good for Bono

exactly. he deserves for all his hard work through the years, both in music and politics.

[IlikeMetal]

An Irishman knighted by the Brits, what the hell, and yet to make matters even worse the son of a bitch does it on Irish soil. I can be more than sure that Bono's going to find more than a few rocks through his windows, and if I still lived in Dalkey I'd be positive he'd find a few.

In all honesty though I think this is just a huge PR move by the Queen to try and soften the Irish views of the Brits. I mean there have been a lot of Irish knighted lately what with Bono, the Togmeister, Peter Snow, and Martin O'Neill (though he really doesn't count). The Queen is obviously choosing famous people who won't turn down knighthood or else it'll wreck their career.

[hard to explain]

IlikeMetal wrote:

An Irishman knighted by the Brits, what the hell, and yet to make matters even worse the son of a bitch does it on Irish soil. I can be more than sure that Bono's going to find more than a few rocks through his windows, and if I still lived in Dalkey I'd be positive he'd find a few.

In all honesty though I think this is just a huge PR move by the Queen to try and soften the Irish views of the Brits. I mean there have been a lot of Irish knighted lately what with Bono, the Togmeister, Peter Snow, and Martin O'Neill (though he really doesn't count). The Queen is obviously choosing famous people who won't turn down knighthood or else it'll wreck their career.

your views are whats wrong eith ireland, how would rocks through his window solve anything? Why cant we ****ing move on, i'm sick of it

[dgme92]

hard to explain wrote:

IlikeMetal wrote:

An Irishman knighted by the Brits, what the hell, and yet to make matters even worse the son of a bitch does it on Irish soil. I can be more than sure that Bono's going to find more than a few rocks through his windows, and if I still lived in Dalkey I'd be positive he'd find a few.

In all honesty though I think this is just a huge PR move by the Queen to try and soften the Irish views of the Brits. I mean there have been a lot of Irish knighted lately what with Bono, the Togmeister, Peter Snow, and Martin O'Neill (though he really doesn't count). The Queen is obviously choosing famous people who won't turn down knighthood or else it'll wreck their career.


your views are whats wrong eith ireland, how would rocks through his window solve anything? Why cant we ****ing move on, i'm sick of it

you're too right. i myself am irish, and yes, i do find it to be some publicity thing, but people should just move on. i'm not pissed off at this like the rest of the country, well done to Bono, very few get ASKED to be knighted, y'know

[espliam]

sg-knight wrote:

Hexagram wrote:

good for Bono

exactly. he deserves for all his hard work through the years, both in music and politics.

i hate bono, he thinks hes a world leader hes just another meddler. music is meant for enjoyment but bono does it just so he can get a point across. hes a attention seeker, the only reason he did that song with green day was just to boost up his popularity.

^ I think, by definition, anyone who performs for a living is an attention seeker. Anyway...

Checked. Keep it friendly, fellas.

[cloud_x_13]

Love Bono, if only people did listen more to his and other people who talk about unity and peace...but then again who really listens to U2 on this site anyways...

[nik_I]

i am a huge U2 fan and i think Bono deserves this. He's done so much good work in the world. He truly earned it.

[ralph2869]

right on, Bono deserves it no matter how u look at it.

[smidy]

Not a U2 fan myself but well for him.

On a side note, living in limerick is a bi*ch.

[Musicislife539]

espliam wrote:

sg-knight wrote:

Hexagram wrote:

good for Bono

exactly. he deserves for all his hard work through the years, both in music and politics.


i hate bono, he thinks hes a world leader hes just another meddler. music is meant for enjoyment but bono does it just so he can get a point across. hes a attention seeker, the only reason he did that song with green day was just to boost up his popularity.

see, thats where you become a giant deuche. music is for getting a point across also. look at punk-rock. and by punk-rock, i DONT mean fall out boy. there not punk. punk is about anti-estableshment, and girls are not an establishment.