U2‘s Bono has announced a worldwide book tour in support of his forthcoming memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story – find full details and tickets below.
The 576-page volume is due to land on November 1 via publishing house Alfred A. Knopf (and in audiobook form via Penguin Random House) and, as its title implies, will explore the origins of 40 key songs in U2’s discography. Each chapter is named for the song it covers, with Bono’s life story weaved throughout the book.
Next month, Bono will head out on a 14-city book tour dubbed ‘Stories Of Surrender’, which will begin on November 2 in New York City.
The events have been billed as “an evening of words, music and some mischief”. Bono said in a statement: “I miss being on stage and the closeness of U2’s audience.
“In these shows I’ve got some stories to sing, and some songs to tell. Plus I want to have some fun presenting my ME-moir, SURRENDER, which is really more of a WE-moir if I think of all the people who helped me get from there to here.”
See the full list of dates below. Tickets go on sale from 10am local time on Friday (October 7) – buy North American tickets here and UK tickets here.
Bono’s hitting the road for the #SurrenderMemoir Book Tour. Join him for an evening of words, music & some mischief as he brings the stories of his life – live & in person – to 14 cities across North America and Europe.
?️ Tickets on sale October 7. https://t.co/b95HreT3O2 pic.twitter.com/bhu909w8hc
— U2 (@U2) October 3, 2022
NOVEMBER 2022
02 – New York, Beacon Theatre
04 – Boston, Orpheum Theatre
06 – Toronto, Meridian Hall
08 – Chicago, Chicago Theatre
09 – Nashville, Ryman Auditorium
12 – San Francisco, Orpheum Theatre
13 – Los Angeles, Orpheum Theatre
16 – London, Palladium
17 – Glasgow, SEC Armadillo
19 – Manchester, O2 Apollo
21 – Dublin, 3Olympia Theatre
23 – Berlin, Admiralspalast
25 – Paris, Le Grand Rex
28 – Madrid, Teatro Coliseu
A synopsis for Surrender reads: “Bono – artist, activist, and the lead singer of Irish rock band U2 – has written a memoir: honest and irreverent, intimate and profound, Surrender is the story of the remarkable life he’s lived, the challenges he’s faced, and the friends and family who have shaped and sustained him.
Bono himself said: “When I started to write this book, I was hoping to draw in detail what I’d previously only sketched in songs. The people, places, and possibilities in my life. Surrender is a word freighted with meaning for me. Growing up in Ireland in the seventies with my fists up (musically speaking), it was not a natural concept. A word I only circled until I gathered my thoughts for the book.
“I am still grappling with this most humbling of commands. In the band, in my marriage, in my faith, in my life as an activist. Surrender is the story of one pilgrim’s lack of progress… With a fair amount of fun along the way.”
A new extract from the book sees Bono open up about the death of his mother, while he previously shared an early taste of Surrender in the form of a narrated animation of ‘Out Of Control’, detailing the Ramones-inspired genesis of U2’s titular ’79 single.
Pre-orders for Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story are available now here.