U2's Bono marks 60th birthday with '60 Songs That Saved My Life'
U2 front man Bono celebrated his 60th birthday by releasing a playlist of “60 Songs That Saved My Life.”
On the band’s website, Bono calls the songs “(the) ones I couldn’t have lived without … the ones that got me from there to here, zero to 60 … through all the scrapes, all manner of nuisance, from the serious to the silly … and the joy, mostly joy.”
The list runs the gamut of the expected, like The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” to the more esoteric, like Andrea Bocelli’s “Con Te Partiro.”
There are lesser-known songs by big stars, like Bob Dylan’s “Most of the Time” and Bruce Springsteen’s “There Goes My Miracle.”
These are some of the songs that saved my life…. the ones I couldn’t have lived without… the ones that got me from there to here, zero to 60… through all the scrapes, all manner of nuisance, from the serious to the silly… and the joy, mostly joy… https://t.co/V7TKfStr6J pic.twitter.com/hiRednbxHf
— U2 (@U2) May 10, 2020
There are classics like Frank Sinatra and newcomers like Billie Eilish, along with fellow natives of Ireland, Van Morrison and Sinead O’Connor.
Along with the more than four-hour-long playlist, Bono is sharing fan letters written to each of the artists, explaining their songs’ significance in his life.
The letter to Kraftwerk reveals that he gave a copy of their “The Man Machine” to his future wife Ali “to romance her on her 17th birthday in 1978.”
Born Paul David Hewson on May 10, 1960, in Dublin, Bono and his band mates formed U2 in 1976, performing songs with both spiritual and sociopolitical themes.
The band’s string of hits includes songs like “Pride (in the Name of Love),” “New Year’s Day,” “With or Without You,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday.”
The group’s fifth album, “The Joshua Tree” from 1987, brought them international fame and is regarded as their greatest critical and commercial success. They’ve won multiple Grammy, American Music, MTV Video Music and Golden Globe awards.
Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 on its list of “100 Greatest Artists” and Bono at number 32 on its list of best singers.
Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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