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Tom Fenton
U2 frontman Bono has revealed he has a half-brother who was kept secret from him throughout his childhood.
The singer, real name Paul Hewson, recently admitted on an episode of Desert Island Discs that he always suspected his late father – who passed away in 2001 – was hiding something from him.
Bono has now detailed how his intuition was correct, as alongside his elder sibling, Norman, he also has a secret half-brother on his father's side.
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"I do have another brother whom I love and adore that I didn’t know I had, or maybe I did," the 62-year-old explained.
Despite not being told of his second brother while his father was still alive, Bono sympathises with his old man over the internal anguish it caused him.
"My father was obviously going through a lot but partly his head was elsewhere because his heart was elsewhere," he added.
"So I think that was part of the problem I was picking up as a kid."
While not going into explicit details, the 'Beautiful Day' singer alluded to a 'deep friendship' that his father had with another woman.
"It’s a very close family and I could tell that my father had a deep friendship with this gorgeous woman who is part of the family and then they had a child and this was all kept a secret," Bono explained.
"I asked him did he love my mother and he said, “Yes” and I said, “How could this happen?” He said “It can”, and that he was trying to put it right, trying to do the right thing. He wasn’t apologising, just stating these are the facts."
During the interview, Bono described his relationship with Bob – his father – as 'complex'.
And yet, he also confesses to carrying guilt after his dad's passing, leading to a cry for forgiveness in a French chapel one day after Bob's death.
"I got on my knees, and I just said 'Look I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. You went through a lot, please forgive me,' and I felt free."
He expanded on this by stating he could have been more supportive after the death of his mother, Iris.
She tragically passed away when Bono was just 14 after suffering from a brain aneurysm at her own father's funeral.
The Desert Island Discs appearance comes a few weeks after Bono and U2 lead guitarist The Edge made a trip to Ukraine on the invitation of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Irish musicians have both been involved with various humanitarian efforts since the band's very inception, with Bono famously spearheading a campaign to 'drop the Debt' of the world's poorest nations back in the 1990s.
While in the Eastern European country last month, the singer stated that 'the people in Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom, you are fighting for all of us who love freedom.'
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