Bono, in his forthcoming memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, writes about the numerous threats the he and the band received because of their pro-peace stance.
He says that former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said he “stinks” because of “U2’s opposition to paramilitaries (of all kinds) had cost the IRA valuable fundraising in the U.S. ... I still that that [threat] badly...
"[A] famous gangland leader in Dublin had been planning to kidnap [my daughters], that [the gangster’s] people had been casing our houses for several months and developed an elaborate plan.”
Then, following the release of 1984's "Pride (In the Name of Love," he says they were targeted by far-right groups and threatened that if they did the song at a concert in Arizona he would “not make it to the end of the song” if he sang the lyric about Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination.
Speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on Sunday, Bono said he “got all messianic on myself” and sang the verse and "then realized the gravity of the situation and I did close my eyes. It was a slim possibility but just in case.”
When he got to the end he thought, "'I am still alive. Oh good.' And I looked up and I could not see the crowd because Adam Clayton was standing in front of me and he had been there for the entire verse.”
The 576-page Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story will be published on November 1st.
Source: NME and Premiere
Photo: Getty Images