Bono

Biography

Bono, born Paul David Hewson in Dublin, is an Irish singer-songwriter who fronts the rock group U2. He and schoolmates formed the band that became U2 at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1976. With U2, he has won 22 Grammy Awards and entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. Outside the band, he and the Edge wrote the music for a London stage version of A Clockwork Orange, supplied the title song for the James Bond picture GoldenEye, and created the songs for the Broadway show Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. He voiced a lion rock star in Sing 2 (2021) and took part in the documentary Pavarotti (2019). His memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story was followed by the film Bono: Stories of Surrender (2025).

66years old

Turns 67 on May 10in 209 days

Born May 10, 1960Dublin
Star sign: TaurusThe sign runs April 20 to May 20
Paul David Hewson (birth name)

Movie Career

Films: 21
Career span: 38 years1988 to 2026

Genres

Documentary76%, 16 films
Music48%, 10 films
Biography33%, 7 films
Comedy19%, 4 films
Drama10%, 2 films

First and latest

Did you know?!

About the name
Bono was given the nickname by Guggi, and he first disliked it. It is a modified form of Bonavox, a hearing aid shop near Dublin's O'Connell Street, and comes from the Latin phrase for good voice, so he accepted it.
Big break
At Live Aid in 1985, Bono climbed off the stage to dance with a fan during "Bad", stretching the song so long that U2 had to cut their biggest hit from the set.
Behind the award
Bono won the Audiobook of the Year honor at the 2024 Audie Awards for narrating his own memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story.
Behind the camera
Bono took an executive producer role on Bill Carter's 1995 documentary Miss Sarajevo, and he also held that title on the 2000 film The Million Dollar Hotel, which grew out of a story he wrote with Nicholas Klein.

Bono movies on Netflix

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert2026IMDb rating 8.1as Himself (voice)
Bono: Stories of Surrender2025IMDb rating 7.2as Himself
Kiss the Future2023IMDb rating 7.6as Himself
WHAM!2023IMDb rating 7.5as Himself
Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari2023IMDb rating 7.3as Himself
Sing 22021IMDb rating 7.3as Clay Calloway
Mystify: Michael Hutchence2019IMDb rating 7.3as Himself
Pavarotti2019IMDb rating 7.5as Himself
Quincy2018IMDb rating 7.6as Himself
Lost in London2017IMDb rating 6.1as Bono (voice)
He Named Me Malala2015IMDb rating 7.0as Himself
How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr Foster?2010IMDb rating 7.0as Himself
Brüno2009IMDb rating 5.9as Himself - 'Dove of Peace'
It Might Get Loud2008IMDb rating 7.6as Himself
Patti Smith: Dream of Life2008IMDb rating 7.0as Himself
U2 3D2008IMDb rating 8.4as Himself
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten2007IMDb rating 7.5as Himself
U2: Vertigo 2005 - Live from Chicago2005IMDb rating 8.3as Self - Vocals
Bukowski: Born into This2003IMDb rating 7.8as Himself
Entropy1999IMDb rating 6.2as Bono
U2: Rattle and Hum1988IMDb rating 7.6as Himself

Best known for

The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.

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U2: Rattle and Hum1988 Documentary, Musicas Himself
IMDb rating 7.66.4K votes
Pavarotti2019 Biography, Documentary, Musicas Himself
IMDb rating 7.54.2K votes
U2 3D2008as Himself
IMDb rating 8.43.0K votes
Sing 22021as Clay Calloway
IMDb rating 7.3104K votes
Lost in London2017as Bonovoice
IMDb rating 6.15.2K votes
Bono: Stories of Surrender2025as Himself
IMDb rating 7.21.5K votes
Brüno2009as Himself - 'Dove of Peace'
IMDb rating 5.9160K votes
U2: Vertigo 2005 - Live from Chicago2005as Self - Vocals
IMDb rating 8.3959 votes

Most often with

Davis Guggenheim directed two of these films, Phil Joanou two. Two actors appear in six of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.

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The Edge

Adam Clayton

Larry Mullen Jr.

Sting

Flea

Elton John

Davis GuggenheimDirector, 2 films

Phil JoanouDirector, 2 films

Films together

The Edge6 films together, 1988 to 2023
The Edge's page
- Kiss the Future2023IMDb rating 7.6Bono as HimselfEdge as Himself
- It Might Get Loud2008IMDb rating 7.6Bono as HimselfEdge as Himself
- U2 3D2008IMDb rating 8.4Bono as HimselfEdge as Himself
- U2: Vertigo 2005 - Live from Chicago2005IMDb rating 8.3Bono as Self - VocalsEdge as Self - Guitar
- Entropy1999IMDb rating 6.2Bono as BonoEdge as The Edge
- U2: Rattle and Hum1988IMDb rating 7.6Bono as HimselfEdge as Himself
Adam Clayton6 films together, 1988 to 2023
Adam Clayton's page
- Kiss the Future2023IMDb rating 7.6Bono as HimselfClayton as Himself
- It Might Get Loud2008IMDb rating 7.6Bono as HimselfClayton as Himself
- U2 3D2008IMDb rating 8.4Bono as HimselfClayton as Himself
- U2: Vertigo 2005 - Live from Chicago2005IMDb rating 8.3Bono as Self - VocalsClayton as Self - Bass
- Entropy1999IMDb rating 6.2Bono as BonoClayton as Adam Clayton
- U2: Rattle and Hum1988IMDb rating 7.6Bono as HimselfClayton as Himself
Larry Mullen Jr.4 films together, 1988 to 2008
Larry Mullen Jr.'s page
- It Might Get Loud2008IMDb rating 7.6Bono as HimselfMullen as Himself
- U2 3D2008IMDb rating 8.4Bono as HimselfMullen as Himself
- U2: Vertigo 2005 - Live from Chicago2005IMDb rating 8.3Bono as Self - VocalsMullen as Self - Drums
- U2: Rattle and Hum1988IMDb rating 7.6Bono as HimselfMullen as Himself
Sting3 films together, 2009 to 2023
Sting's page
- WHAM!2023IMDb rating 7.5Bono as HimselfSting as Himself
- Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari2023IMDb rating 7.3Bono as HimselfSting as Himself
- Brüno2009IMDb rating 5.9Bono as Himself - 'Dove of Peace'Sting as Self - 'Dove of Peace'
Flea2 films together, 2007 to 2008
Flea's page
- Patti Smith: Dream of Life2008IMDb rating 7.0Bono as HimselfFlea as Himself
- Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten2007IMDb rating 7.5Bono as HimselfFlea as Himself
Elton John2 films together, 2009 to 2023
Elton John's page
- WHAM!2023IMDb rating 7.5Bono as HimselfJohn as Himself
- Brüno2009IMDb rating 5.9Bono as Himself - 'Dove of Peace'John as Himself - 'Dove of Peace'
Davis GuggenheimDirector, 2 films, 2008 to 2015
All films by Davis Guggenheim
- He Named Me Malala2015IMDb rating 7.0Bono as Himself
- It Might Get Loud2008IMDb rating 7.6Bono as Himself
Phil JoanouDirector, 2 films, 1988 to 1999
All films by Phil Joanou
- Entropy1999IMDb rating 6.2Bono as Bono
- U2: Rattle and Hum1988IMDb rating 7.6Bono as Himself

Box office

What Bono's films earned in cinemas worldwide.

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Combined worldwide box office

$608 million

8 of the 21 films have a worldwide figure.

8Worldwide figure
5US gross only
2Never in cinemas
2Streaming, short cinema run
4Figure not found

Top grosser

Sing 22021Clay Calloway$408 million

Highest grossing

The eight biggest films earned 100% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.

1
Sing 22021as Clay Calloway
$408M67.2% of the total
2
Brüno2009as Himself - 'Dove of Peace'
$139M22.8% of the total
3
EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert2026as Himself (voice)
$23M3.9% of the total
4
U2 3D2008as Himself
$23M3.7% of the total
5
U2: Rattle and Hum1988as Himself
$8.6M1.4% of the total
6
He Named Me Malala2015as Himself
$2.6M0.4% of the total
7
It Might Get Loud2008as Himself
$1.9M0.3% of the total
8
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten2007as Himself
$1.1M0.2% of the total

Awards

Twelve awards and honors from 2005 to 2026, one of them major.

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Bono's awards and nominations, grouped by award
Year	Award	Result
Grammy Awards
	Grammy Awards	Won
Other honors
2026	Member of the European Order of Merit	Won
2025	Presidential Medal of Freedom	Won
2022	Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class	Won
2013	Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres‎	Won
2008	Doctor honoris causa of Keiō University	Won
2008	Man of Peace	Won
2007	Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire	Honorary
2007	NAACP Image Award – Chairman's Award	Won
2007	Philadelphia Liberty Medal	Won
2005	Officer of the Order of Liberty	Won
2005	Rock and Roll Hall of Fame	Won

Online

Official profiles and reference pages.

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