Charismatic U2 lead singer Bono (BAH'noh) was born Paul David Hewson (1960–) on this day in Dublin, Ireland. Known for a voice that is passionate, with depth and resonance, he once said, “I remember the day I found I could sing. I said, ‘Oh, that's how you do it.’”

With a drive to succeed, he started singing Beatles and Stones covers with his high school band “Feedback,” which morphed to “The Hype” before settling with the name U2.

“We weren't a punk band. We were loud and aggressive, so people said, ‘Yeah a punk band,’ but we called ourselves U2 to take ourselves out of the usual category of the Sex Pistols, the Clash, even Led Zeppelin—so that people'd hear the name and say, ‘What sort of a band would that be then?’”

In 1978, the band won a talent contest at a local pub, found a manager, and played local gigs. Their album Boy (1980) was “loud, glorious and aggressive,” the middle ground between pop and metal rock.

“Rock music can change things. I know that it changed our lives,” Bono said.

His lyrics for Sunday, Bloody Sunday and Pride (In the Name of Love) reflected his belief in using music to protest injustice and honor heroes like Martin Luther King Jr.

He’s long advocated for global change, fighting AIDS and poverty through debt cancellation for Third World countries.

“My heroes are the ones who survived doing it wrong, who made mistakes, but recovered from them,” he explained.

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