U2’s Bono Announces New Memoir, ‘Surrender’
Subtitled as ‘40 Songs, One Story,’ the book will contain 40 chapters, each titled after a U2 song.
Bono, the legendary frontman of U2, is honoring his 62nd birthday by announcing a new memoir, Surrender. Set for a November 1 publication date via Alfred A. Knopf, the book will cover everything from his childhood in Dublin, to finding success in a world famous rock band, to his dedication as an activist for a variety of causes. The book will also highlight moments with Bono’s family, friends, and faith that have sustained, challenged, and shaped him.
Available for preorder today, Surrender features the subtitle “40 Songs, One Story,” which serves as a nod to the 40 chapters in the book, each named after a U2 song. In addition, Bono created 40 drawings for his memoir. Some of his art pieces are included in a newly-released animated video, where he narrates an excerpt from the book’s “Out of Control” chapter, about writing the band’s first single on his eighteenth birthday.
“When I started to write this book, I was hoping to draw in detail what I’d previously only sketched in songs,” Bono shared in a statement. “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.”
Days ahead of announcing Surrender, Bono and his U2 bandmate The Edge gave a surprise performance in Ukraine, at the request of the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In April, the duo also performed an acoustic rendition of “Walk On” for Global Citizen’s #StandUpForUkraine virtual event.
