While it’s fun to romanticize the glitzy and glamorous celebrity love stories we so often see publicized, what we love even more is seeing long-lasting devotion between a famous face and their partner—especially when that famous face is an international rock star. Bono has been with his wife Ali Hewson for over 40 years now, and their love seems to only get stronger by the day. Here, read all about Bono and Ali’s love story and what the couple has said about one another over the years.
How did Bono meet his wife?
As any good love story begins, Ali and Bono, known at the time as Paul David Hewson, met as kids, officially starting to date by the time they were in high school. Simultaneously, as the two teens were getting serious, her future husband was getting the ball rolling with his band U2. As the success of U2 progressed, so did Bono and Ali’s relationship, and by 1982, they were married.
Making their relationship work amidst Bono’s booming career wasn’t always easy. “The thought was dawning that one of us would take longer than the other to work out how to be married and that the one of us was not Ali,” Bono wrote in his memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story. “She was also realizing that there were three other men in her relationship. Men whom she was more than fond of, but men who were taking her man away, not just in his wild imaginings, but physically, all over the world.”
Though together for over four decades, it isn’t hard to imagine the difficulties that could come with being married to a rockstar who seems to only rise in fame as the years go on. Ever listen to “Faithfully” by Journey?
“In the Eighties at some point I was home but I wasn’t present,” the singer recalled in an interview with The Times. “And that’s when I think she wanted to jump. Both she and Edge [U2’s lead guitarist], who are very close…will be your most loyal friend ‘till death do us part.’ But they both look at me with the same look, which is, ‘Don’t let me down.’”
Luckily, the couple weathered the storm. “She knew there’d be some briny water—when you’re down at the bottom of the sea, you can’t stay for too long, you have to surface. And we did. If one of us got lost the other was going to get us back, that’s kind of been the way it’s been for us. I think in relationships somebody is in charge at some point, but you swap. It’s a relay race.”
Bono and Ali’s life as parents
Since tying the knot back in 1982, the couple welcomed four children over the years: Eve, Jordan, Elijah and John. Each of their children has forged their own path, with Eve an actress with a career on the rise in the Apple TV+ show Bad Sisters, Elijah following in his father’s footsteps as the frontman of his band Inhaler, Jordan founding her own tech company and John, who largely keeps out of the limelight. It’s safe to say that Bono and Ali make quite the parenting team, however, prior to the release of his memoir, he was sure to give credit where credit was due in terms of the life and family he’s built.
As for his ability to be on the road chasing after his dreams, it was thanks to his family’s support and his wife Ali covering for him at home that it was possible, he shared with The Times. Though long-lasting rockstar marriages are a rarity these days, we love rooting for these two!
