Bono has had more iconic moments than we can count. In this episode of “For the Record,” the U2 frontman and Esquire cover star reflects on some of his most unforgettable memories—from winning the band’s first Grammy (and the imposter syndrome that followed) to the time they got a little overserved—and embarrassed—filming a music video in Vegas. Watch as Bono discusses the awe he hoped to invoke with U2’s Las Vegas Sphere residency, his multiple meetings with Pope Francis, Adam Sandler’s spot-on ‘SNL’ impression, and his stage play, ‘Stories of Surrender.’
Check out Bono’s Esquire cover here: https://www.esquire.com/bono
Stream ‘Bono: Stories of Surrender’ May 30th on Apple TV+.
#Bono #StoriesofSurrender #ForTheRecord #Esquire
Check out Bono’s Esquire cover here: https://www.esquire.com/bono
Stream ‘Bono: Stories of Surrender’ May 30th on Apple TV+.
#Bono #StoriesofSurrender #ForTheRecord #Esquire
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00OK.
00:04So you'll be speaking into camera the whole time,
00:06and if you're going to look at anyone,
00:07I'm going to look at me.
00:08I would very much enjoy keeping my eyes on you by the camera.
00:12No offence, lads.
00:17OK.
00:18Wow.
00:20The Joshua Tree, you too.
00:22Look at that top hat.
00:23And the head, the head hasn't a clue
00:25what's going to happen to it over the next 30 years.
00:28We were caught, I would say.
00:31Caught in an act of show business crime,
00:34thinking you could be authentic and real
00:36in the middle of an awards show.
00:38And I'm not sure we pulled that off.
00:42I think we ended up looking more smug.
00:45We seem to have lost our bass player.
00:47He went to the loo a couple of minutes ago
00:48and he still isn't back.
00:49When I see myself, I just go,
00:51oh, are you absent of any humility?
00:55But the truth is that's always a sign of the opposite.
00:59You know, you don't feel you should be there.
01:01Imposter syndrome, all the obvious, you know.
01:04You do disappear up your own arse at that point
01:07as the rocket is taking off.
01:09It's fair to say, look at that.
01:12But I still haven't found.
01:16This is the video for, I still haven't found what I'm looking for.
01:19Barry Devlin was the filmmaker of this video.
01:21It cost nothing.
01:23And we were running around with a shopping basket
01:25with the audio mixer in it
01:27and people are running around with a boom mic.
01:29And we're all, as we say in Ireland, over-served.
01:33I was so embarrassed after seeing it back.
01:38And we got a big slag in for it.
01:41Is there a reason you guys gravitate towards Vegas?
01:44I don't know.
01:45The obsession with Las Vegas.
01:47I love the fact that it's a town
01:50that appears to be designed by children
01:53so that adults can run around and behave like them.
01:56But I also want to say
01:58people work really hard in Las Vegas.
02:01Like, really hard.
02:02Looking after people like me
02:04who don't work as hard.
02:06Okay.
02:13He's kind of a genius, Adam Sandler, isn't he?
02:16I have been out-pallowed by more than a few.
02:20He's right up there.
02:25He's doing pallow better than me.
02:28Oh.
02:33Pope Francis.
02:34I've met him a few times.
02:35I've spent some time in his company.
02:37I've had very interesting conversations.
02:40What did you guys talk about?
02:41Have you not heard of the seal?
02:43Of the confessional.
02:44I cannot tell you of what I've confessed.
02:47He's been patient enough to hear my confession,
02:51not in the religious sense,
02:53but he's curious, you know, about musicians.
02:56He's curious about how the world works.
02:59And he's a deep passion for the fragility of the human,
03:07particularly the poorest and most vulnerable people on the planet.
03:12It's a real thing for him.
03:14Oh, yes.
03:21That is the sphere.
03:23This is Beautiful Day.
03:25This is Es Devlin's Nevada Arc.
03:28Just a beautiful thing.
03:29And it's really clever because it took all the endangered species of Nevada.
03:34There's 26 in our work out of 152.
03:39She's kind of incredible as Devlin.
03:41What was the most surprising part of performing at the sphere?
03:44I don't know if I should say this, but the sphere is not actually spherical.
03:50It is indeed a dome.
03:52It's a very big dome.
03:54It can make a performer feel very small.
03:57It can shrink your head until then.
03:59It blows it up to 50 foot tall, like really big, like Hollywood sign big.
04:05Minus the Botox.
04:07But there's nowhere to hide.
04:09What's the feeling you wanted to invoke from the audience when this display came up?
04:14It's a word that you Americans have ruined.
04:17Oh.
04:18Awesome.
04:19No, everyone's ruined it, right?
04:21Irish people.
04:22We've all ruined it.
04:23Because we started with that sort of playful, underground, avant-garde,
04:28somewhat lounge lizard vibe, we just ended the show with the lights on,
04:33and just all of us, actually, audience and band, in awe.
04:39Not of each other, but of this other thing.
04:44Oh.
04:45I met my wife, Ali, the same week I joined you too.
04:50This is the stage play of my book, Stories of Surrender.
04:54It was a kind of brutal intimacy, kind of almost uncomfortable intimacy,
05:00but I'm too much of an exhibitionist to not go ahead with it.
05:04You know what I mean?
05:05The three chairs, they can represent Ali and my missus.
05:10They can represent my father.
05:12The person I talk the most about in the film is the person I talked the least to in real life.
05:21But, yeah, he's represented by a chair.
05:24It gave him a more comfortable chair.
05:26It's more cushioned.
05:28The chairs, they can represent the band.
05:31By the way, if they put out memoirs, I am in real trouble.
05:38If I wasn't on a time limit, I would sit with you for four hours.
05:41Oh, you wouldn't. I talk too much.
05:43Thank you very much.
05:44Thank you very much.