Bono has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nation’s highest civilian honor.
The ceremony, which took place Saturday in The White House, recognized those who made "exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values or security of the United States, world peace or other significant societal, public or private endeavors."
The citation for Bono read as follows: "The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded to Bono. As lead singer of U2, one of the most successful rock bands in history, Bono changes the world through his art and activism. The common beat of his life’s work is the power of freedom, a tie that also binds Ireland and America as beloved friends.”
Bono was recognized for his humanitarian efforts in the fight against AIDS and poverty through his ONE and (RED) organizations. Afterwards he released a statement saying, "Thank you, President Biden. Frontmen don’t do humble, but today I was. Rock n roll gave me my freedom… and with it the privilege to work alongside those who’ve had to fight so much harder for theirs. And I want to give it up for my band mates — Edge, Adam [Clayton], and Larry [Mullen] — without whom I would never have found my voice."
This year's other recipients included actors Denzel Washington and Michael J. Fox, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Magic Johnson, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, chef José Andrés, and designer Ralph Lauren.
In conjunction with Saturday's honor, Bono wrote an essay for The Atlantic — "The Gorgeous, Unglamorous Work of Freedom."
In part he writes: “The reason I am climbing on this slippery soapbox called ‘freedom’ today is that I’m being given a presidential medal by that name — an honor I’m receiving mainly for the work of others, among them my band mates and our fellow activists — and it’s got me thinking again about the subject. When we rock stars talk about freedom, we more often mean libertinism than liberation, but growing up in the Ireland of the 1960s, the latter had its place too. We were mad for freedoms we didn’t have: political freedom, religious freedom, and (most definitely) sexual freedom...
“Rock and roll promised a freedom that could not be contained or silenced, an international language of liberation. The freedom songs of the folk singers went electric, the coded messages of gospel music burst into the full flower of funk and soul. Even disco promised emancipation. In U2, we wanted our song ‘Pride (In the Name of Love)’ to sound like the freedom we were campaigning for in our work with Amnesty International. That’s how insufferable we were.”
Check out the original post about it here from U2's official Instagram page.