BONO WAS SUBJECTED to threats of violence by Orangemen marching through his neighbourhood as a child, according to US singer Jon Bon Jovi.
The New Jersey-born Bon Jovi frontman was speaking in an interview on the US-based Armchair Expert podcast and briefly discussed songwriting in the context of his upbringing, a far cry apparently from the U2 frontman’s childhood.
“Bono is probably right at my age, he’s a couple of months older I think. His upbringing was obviously very different than mine,” said Bon Jovi.
“I never had the Orangemen walking through my neighbourhood saying, you know, get the Catholic kid and beat him up.
“You know I didn’t have any of that kind of turmoil in suburban New Jersey when you had a wonderful middle class upbringing with two hard working parents. So of course you’re writing the happy anthemic song.”
Bon Jovi’s claims seem unlikely – Dublin 11 is not known to be home to an Orange Lodge.
A cursory Google search would have told the New Jersey rocker that Bono – real name Paul Hewson – was raised in north Dublin, son of a Catholic father and a Protestant mother.
He went on to attend Mount Temple Comprehensive School, a multi-denominational secondary school in Clontarf, and formed U2 in 1976.
Bono has spoken at length about The Troubles throughout his career, and was credited with providing a key cultural moment during the peace process talks of the 1990s when he was pictured on stage alongside John Hume and David Trimble, holding the two leaders’ fists aloft.
He has never claimed to have lived, as a child, in Belfast, Derry or anywhere other then Cedarwood Road – which, depending on who you talk to, is part of either part of Finglas or Glasnevin.
Bono could not be reached for comment.
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