Bono Sings, but Not U2

Ten times Bono left the band at home and showed up anyway.

Entries
10
Category
Music
Updated
  1. A gospel choir loft with rows of empty robes on hangers and a single microphone at the front.

    10. Lean on Me

    Kirk Franklin · 1998

    Kirk Franklin's gospel all-star single with Mary J. Blige, R. Kelly, Crystal Lewis and Bono. Bono takes a verse with a choir behind him, which is where he always wanted to be. It was nominated for a Grammy.

  2. A chunky 1999 desktop computer streaming a concert stage, a dial-up modem and a globe beside it.

    09. New Day

    Wyclef Jean & Bono · 1999

    Written for NetAid, the 1999 internet charity concert. Wyclef raps, Bono belts the hook, and the dial-up era believed it could end world poverty with a webcast. The song outlived the website.

  3. An empty microphone stand under a single spotlight with a leather jacket draped over it and a second mic stand in shadow.

    08. Slide Away

    Michael Hutchence & Bono · 1999

    Finished after Hutchence's death and released on his only solo album. Bono added his vocal to the INXS singer's track to finish the duet. Hard to listen to and harder to skip.

  4. A sunny city park bench with a carton of sangria, a zoo map and a television camera on a tripod pointed at it.

    07. Perfect Day

    Various Artists · 1997

    The BBC's all-star Lou Reed cover for Children in Need: Bowie, Elton, Tom Jones, Lou Reed himself and Bono, who gets the closing line and leans on it. It went to No. 1 in the UK. A charity single that's actually good.

  5. A lone candle and a trench coat draped on a chair beside a drum machine in a dark room.

    06. Hallelujah

    Bono · 1995

    From the Leonard Cohen tribute Tower of Song. Bono half-speaks it over a trip-hop beat, the opposite of every Hallelujah since. People either love it or have never forgiven him. Bold either way.

  6. A Las Vegas wedding chapel sign with a heart, a jukebox inside the doorway and a pair of fly-style sunglasses on the step.

    05. Can't Help Falling in Love

    Bono · 1992

    For the Honeymoon in Vegas soundtrack of Elvis covers, Bono sang the whole thing in a fragile falsetto. Nobody asked for it, and it works. He was mid-Zoo TV at the time, wearing the fly shades indoors.

  7. A psychedelic painted bus parked in a field, a walrus-shaped cloud overhead and a microphone on its roof.

    04. I Am the Walrus (Across the Universe)

    Bono · 2007

    Julie Taymor cast him as Dr. Robert, a psychedelic guru with a bus. He sings the Beatles' strangest song in a mustache and does not blink. The movie is a jukebox musical; this is its best track.

  8. A misty Irish hillside at dusk with a harp and a microphone stand on the grass, fog rolling over standing stones.

    03. In a Lifetime

    Clannad & Bono · 1986

    Bono trades lines with Máire Brennan over Clannad's mist and synths. Two Irish acts, one mountain of reverb. It charted in the UK and is still the best thing he ever sang with a flute nearby.

  9. Two vintage microphones in two separate recording booths split by a wall, a fedora on one stool and tinted sunglasses on the other.

    02. I've Got You Under My Skin

    Frank Sinatra & Bono · 1993

    From Sinatra's Duets album, recorded with the two men in different studios. Bono got the Chairman to swing a little harder. A year later he gave Sinatra his Grammy Legend Award.

  10. A crowded 1980s recording studio with dozens of headphones hanging over a forest of microphones, snow falling outside the window.

    01. Do They Know It's Christmas?

    Band Aid · 1984

    Bob Geldof gave Bono the bleakest line in the song. Bono said he didn't want to sing it, then sang it like the walls were coming down. It became the best-selling single in UK history at the time. He was 24.

Honorable mentions

  • A grand opera stage with a single tuxedo jacket on a chair and a bombed city skyline painted on the backdrop.

    Miss Sarajevo

    Passengers · 1995

    U2 and Brian Eno under another name, with Pavarotti taking the bridge. Technically not U2. Spiritually, extremely U2.

Dishonorable mentions

  • The same 1980s studio microphones, now covered in dust and cobwebs, a 2014 calendar on the wall.

    Do They Know It's Christmas? (Band Aid 30)

    Band Aid 30 · 2014

    Bono sang the same line again, 30 years on, for the Ebola version. The rewritten lyrics drew criticism. Some lines should be retired.

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