You probably have that one rocker you feel especially connected to and their music, but Bono’s bond with the late Bob Marley goes beyond your usual relationship with any artist. You see, the U2 frontman felt like he had a spiritual connection with the Jamaican icon as he noted how he had influenced the band’s music while chatting with the SmartLess podcast.
So, the singer’s fascination with Marley has been known through the years. This was most clear when Bono notably showed off his appreciation for the reggae legend by making a speech during his induction ceremony into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. However, anyone might wonder why a rocker from Ireland was chosen to make a speech about a Jamaican artist.
Well, when the frontman was asked about the speech, his connection to Marley, and what Irish and Jamaicans had in common, Bono had all the answers. The singer discussed Bob’s connection to Ireland, how Irish people also had suffered at the hands of the colonial powers (though it was nothing like slavery), and why he felt so spiritually bonded with Marley.
“I think we are spiritually also quite close to that kind of the Bob Marley way of the world where he could sing of his faith, for example,” said Bono as he discussed how their lyrical direction changed. “When U2 dropped our second album, and we had a bad singing of songs about girls before we got onto God like Van Morrison.”
The vocalist continued, “We started [writing] on God. [And] our manager was going, ‘This is not going to go well.’ And Chris Blackwell, who discovered Bob Marley and founded Island records [which] we signed into, was like, ‘Oh no, this is all part of it.’ [So] Irish people and Jamaicans, I like to think at our best, have this kind of… we work body, spirit, and soul.”
So, Bono’s connection to Bob Marley went beyond your usual relationship with any rocker whose personality and music fascinate you. Marley influenced how U2 produced and wrote their lyrics while having a say in their creative musical direction. Chris Blackwell, the executive who discovered Bob, was also aware that the band was on the right path, singing about religion and faith.
