Band Aid Bono's life now from plans to quit U2 to discovering secret brother

It's been 40 years since Bono joined the supergroup Band Aid in the name of ending world hunger - and plenty has changed for him in the decades since.

The U2 singer has risen to become one of the most widely admired music legends of all time, but he's encountered various challenges along the way. From 'dark waters' in his marriage to shocking family bombshells, the 64-year-old rock icon, real name Paul Hewson, has long spoken candidly about his personal life away from the sell-out stadium tours.

As Band Aid returns for the Ultimate Mix by Band Aid 40, which has been slammed by stars such as Ed Sheeran, the Mirror takes a look at the life of Bono now, including a surprising admission from his kids...

Surprise Kardashian link

Proud dad Bono has four children with his wife Ali Steward including famous his daughter Eve Hewson, as well as their sons Jordan, 35, rock singer Elijah, 25, and John, 23. It's understood the family is close-knit and will even collaborate with each other when it comes to creative endeavours.

Back in September, actress Eve, who starred in Netflix's The Perfect Couple, joked that her famous father was "such a stage dad", drawing comparisons with Kardashian 'momager' Kris Jenner.

Eve, 33, who plays the youngest Garvey sister, Becka, in Bad Sisters, told the Today show: "I've called him this before, and he loves it, but he's the male Kris Jenner. He's all about it, just a huge, huge fan. He’s always like, ‘So this is what you gotta do: You gotta call up this person, you gotta do this,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, calm down'."

The star went on to reveal that, even now she's an adult with an impressive career of her own, she and her siblings "can't stop him" when it comes to dad-aging duties.

Speaking with Net-a-Porter's Porter magazine back in August, thespian Eve revealed: "We have a studio at the end of [my parents'] garden, where [we] usually end up, in the middle of the night, writing stupid songs. I actually got kicked out of the family band for being too enthusiastic. One evening, I noticed they were all in the studio together. I came in, I grabbed a bass, I started slapping the bass."

Eve's brother Elijah has followed in their father's rockstar footsteps and is part of Irish rock band Inhaler, which he formed in 2012. And it would seem that Bono doesn't mince his words when it comes to offering constructive criticism to his offspring.

When asked by Louder magazine what his dad thought of his music, Elijah replied: “He loves it, and if he didn’t, he’d probably tell me!”

Secret brother

In 2022, Bono revealed that he'd learned a family member he'd believed to be a cousin was, in fact, his half-brother. As detailed in his memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, Bono's father, Bob Hewson, had an affair with his mother's sister, Barbara, resulting in the birth of his 'cousin' Scott Rankin.

Bono’s mum, Iris, who sadly died when the U2 frontman was just 14, never found out about her husband's affair. In a candid interview with Lauren Laverne on Desert Island Discs, Bono confirmed that he had come to 'peace' with his father, who passed away in 2001 - one year after breaking the news about Scott.

Bono said: "My father was going through a lot. His head was elsewhere because his heart was elsewhere. I could tell my father had a deep friendship with this gorgeous woman who was part of the family, and then they had a child, which was all kept a secret. Nobody knew.”

Remembering how he'd challenged his dad after learning of the affair, Bono recalled: “I asked him, ‘Did he love my mother?’. He said, ‘Yes’. And so I asked him, ‘How could this happen?’ and he said, ‘It can’, and that he was trying to put it right, trying to do the right thing. He wasn’t apologising, he was just stating these are the facts. I am at peace with it.”

Bono went on to share the private apology he'd made to his dad following his death during a visit to a chapel in France. He shared: “There was nobody there, I lit a candle, and I got on my knees, and I just said, ‘Look, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you; you went through a lot, and please forgive me’, and I felt free.”

Opening up about his relationship with brother Scott in his book, Bono wrote: “The truth is with Scott, we felt like brothers long before we knew we were. I love Scott and his mother, Barbara. I must have known that something was up, and I must have held my father responsible for kind of making my mother unhappy in the way kids just pick up things.”

Meanwhile, breaking his silence in an interview with The Irish Times, Scott said that he felt “blessed to have been welcomed with open arms into the Hewson family”. He reflected: “Not all such stories turn out the way mine has and I was fortunate to discover that I had two fathers take an active part in my upbringing.”

Challenges in marriage

In his memoir, Bono also spoke of his 40-year marriage to childhood sweetheart Ali, stating that his book was a 'love letter' to her. The couple met at school, with activist and businesswoman Ali describing Bono as her 'first real boyfriend' during a 2008 interview with The Telegraph. Ali revealed: "It was 1976 that we got together — the same year that the band formed. I saw their first gig in our school gym."

The couple died the knot in 1982, as Bono's star continued to rise, and Ali has regularly inspired many of U2's most beautiful love songs, including the emotional All I Want Is You.

However, it hasn't always been smooth sailing, and at some point in the '80s, Ali had "wanted to jump" from their relationship after they entered "dark waters". Bono, whose hectic touring schedule had taken a toll on his home life, told The Sunday Times Magazine: "It's not like our love was absent any dark undercurrents or briny water, [but] we got each other through those bits where it was hard to see where we were. Ali calls it 'the work of love'. I wish she wouldn't use the word 'work' because I have a feeling there's an adjective, 'hard', that's inferred...

"If one of us got lost the other was going to get us back, that's kind of been the way it's been for us. I think in relationships somebody is in charge at some point, but you swap. It's a relay race."

He continued: "The significant thing about Ali was she was never going to be 'her indoors', she was never going to be just my girlfriend, and she was never going to be just my wife. So if I was home, I'd better be present. And in the Eighties at some point I was home but I wasn't present. And that's when I think she wanted to jump."

Thankfully, the couple managed to overcome their difficulties, and are now understood to be very happy.

Plans to quit U2

Last year, Bono opened up about his plans to quit U2, revealing that every member of the band has contemplated doing so at some point. Bono told The Sun: "I have certainly thought about walking away from U2, every member has. We have all thought about it.

"It is the right instinct to question whether this should still be going and what it demands of all four members. But the reason why I want to go forward is something is stirring in my voice and my singing and the desire to write songs we don’t have yet. We are chasing the dragon of the song we can’t get."

U2 was formed in Dublin last in 1976, when drummer Larry Mullen Jr. pinned an ad to a notice board Mount Temple Comprehensive School notice board, reaching out to fellow musicians. Bono, guitarist David 'The Edge' Evans and bassist Adam Clayton all responded, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The group was initially known as Feedback and then The Hype before the young bandmates decided upon a name they hated least. Speaking with BBC News in January 2022, Bono admitted that he 'didn't really love it' and still didn't.

Despite not being sold on the band name, Bono and the rest of the group went on to enjoy phenomenal success - clocking up eight number-one albums and an astonishing 22 Grammy Awards. And more than 40 years after that fateful school notice board ad, they're still going strong.

Back in 2023, The Edge told The Irish Star that fans have nothing to worry about, as their strong bond means they'll never split up. He divulged: "Every time I think of quitting, I kind of reinvent U2. We all know that we shine brighter by being in proximity to each other. That's why it's going to be very difficult to break up U2 - simply because it works so well for us all."

2024 Ultimate Mix by Band Aid 40 is available to stream

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