Paul David Hewson, also known as Bono, was born in Dublin, Ireland on May 10, 1960. He is the founding member and lead singer of the band U2, formed in 1976, the same year he experienced a Christian conversion. In 1982 he married Alison Stewart, whom he met when he was a teenager. Bono is the recipient of 22 Grammy Awards and in 2005 was, as part of U2, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004 Bono, together with two others and 11 humanitarian and advocacy organizations, founded the One Campaign, which advocates for the investments needed to create economic opportunities and healthier lives in Africa. This episode will explore the role religion has played in his life and music.

We believe that understanding this particular thread of the American fabric will make each of us more effective stewards of religion’s role in the ongoing American project.

Season 4, Episode 18 – Bono and His Religion

Guest Bio

Chad Seales is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Holder Designate of the Brian F. Bolton Distinguished Professorship in Secular Studies, at The University of Texas at Austin. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research addresses the cultural relationship between religion and secularism in American life. He is editor of the Routledge Handbook of Religion and American Culture, and the author of Religion Around Bono: Evangelical Enchantment and Neoliberal Capitalism and The Secular Spectacle: Performing Religion in a Southern Town, and has published articles and book chapters on religious comparison, religion and food, industrial religion, corporate chaplaincy, religion and film, and secularism and secularization in the United States.

SHOWNOTES:

“40” - https://youtu.be/lj8rzXBVmBY?si=Rx9FNJM2ZmuNzhg_

Example of an Episcopal “U2charist” service - https://www.youtube.com/live/1B2KB-72nnA?si=uc8hywKcK_s-sCJO

Podcast Support

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the private, digital-first National Museum of American Religion, which tells the story of how religion has shaped America and how America has shaped religion. This includes the establishment of religious freedom in the United States Constitution’s Article II, Section 1; Article VI; and Bill of Rights religion clauses.