Bono Announces Memoir, Releases Excerpt as Animated Video

Bono has announced the release date of his long in the works memoir and has previewed the book with a unique animated video excerpt.

Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story is due out on November 1 and is currently available for pre-order at SurrenderMemoir.com. As the book’s website notes, “‘Surrender’s’ subtitle, ‘40 Songs, One Story,’ is a nod to the book’s forty chapters, which are each named after a U2 song. Bono has also created forty original drawings for ‘Surrender,’ which will appear throughout the book.”

As previously reported, Bono reportedly netted a €6.5million ($7.13 million USD) deal for his autobiography. While there have been a number of U2 books written and released in the past, including 2009’s U2 by U2, this would be the first time Bono himself would write a book exclusively about his life.

In a statement on the memoir, Bono said, “When I started to write this book, I was hoping to draw in detail what I’d previously only sketched in songs. The people, places, and possibilities in my life. Surrender is a word freighted with meaning for me. Growing up in Ireland in the seventies with my fists up (musically speaking), it was not a natural concept. A word I only circled until I gathered my thoughts for the book. I am still grappling with this most humbling of commands. In the band, in my marriage, in my faith, in my life as an activist. ‘Surrender’ is the story of one pilgrim’s lack of progress. . . With a fair amount of fun along the way.”

Below is an animated excerpt from Surrender narrated by Bono about “Out Of Control” from U2’s 1980 debut album Boy.

Bono: 7 Incredible Must-See Live Performances

• 'Bad' – Live Aid (1985)

  U2 is able to make a stadium show feel like a club show. They proved that during their now-legendary set at Live Aid in 1985 where Bono jumped from the massive stage to dance with one lucky audience member.

• 'Where The Streets Have No Name' – 1987 Joshua Tree Tour

  This performance from the first Joshua Tree tour was prominently featured in U2 concert/documentary film Rattle & Hum. Simply put, Bono’s vocals here are perfection.

• 'Even Better Than The Real Thing' – 1992 MTV Video Music Awards

  In the thick of their ZooTV tour, U2 performed live via satellite with Dana Carvey as Garth Algar during the 1992 MTV VMAs. It was both comically and technologically awesome.

• 'Lemon' – ZooTV (1993)

  If you’re making a list about live Bono and you don’t bring up any of the personas from the ZooTV tour, frankly, your list is incomplete. This writer’s personal favorite was MacPhisto, a gold-clad demon of sorts that liked to prank call the White House. Here he is performing “Lemon.”

• 'With Or Without You' – Elevation Tour (2001)

  Remember how we said U2 has a way of making big concert settings feel intimate? For this one fan picked from the crowd, Bono made this performance of “With Or Without You” really intimate.

• 'Beautiful Day/MLK/Where The Streets Have No Name' – 2002 Super Bowl Halftime Show

  With 9/11 still fresh in the minds of all Americans, U2 took to the Super Bowl Halftime Show and gave one of the most moving performances of their career. From Bono emerging from the crowd to him running laps on the heart stage, it’s a moment fans certainly haven’t forgotten over the years.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VcBsqOYhYo

• 'I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For/Desire' – NYC Subway (2015)

  If only more bands busked on subway platforms! In perhaps one of the coziest sets U2 performed in recent years, Bono has no shame in mugging for all the cell phones out capturing this once-in-a-lifetime performance.