Bono’s life might look like a glamorous rock star fairytale now, but his teenage years were anything but. Before U2’s global stardom, before the stadium tours and humanitarian accolades, there was instant mashed potato, tins of beans, and leftover airline meals.
It wasn’t tragic. It was survival. And Bono, real name Paul Hewson, remembers it all with surprising warmth.
Grief, Hunger, and a Brother With Connections
Bono was just 14 when his mother, Iris, passed away suddenly. The tragedy marked the start of a tough stretch for the Hewson household, especially financially. Bono told the Ruthie’s Table 4 podcast that food in his teenage years was “just fuel.”
He’d return home to a modest pantry: tinned meat, beans, and Cadbury’s Smash — a powdered instant mashed potato popular in 1970s Britain and Ireland.
Those weren’t pity meals. They were staples.
Airline Meals: Exotic, Weird, and Priceless
Thanks to his older brother Norman, who worked for Irish airline Aer Lingus, Bono got access to what he describes as “highly exotic fare.”
Norman managed to snag leftover in-flight meals — not something you’d expect to be a delicacy, but for Bono, they were gold.
“Gammon steak and pineapple,” he recalled. “An Italian dish called lasagne that we’d never heard of. One where rice was no longer a milk pudding but a savoury experience with peas.”
It was a strange kind of culinary education, but it stuck. It shaped his tastes and taught him the value of every bite.
Priorities: Records Over Roast Dinners
For teenage Bono, food wasn’t high on the budget list. Music was.
He admitted that whatever little money he had often went to buying records. One in particular stood out: Hello Hooray by Alice Cooper.
He wasn’t embarrassed by the trade-off. Quite the opposite.
As he put it bluntly, “I would spend my food money on things far more important.” Food filled the stomach; music filled the soul.
Life On the Road, With a Side of Fine Dining
Things changed — dramatically — when U2 broke out. Suddenly there was a manager who adored wine, restaurants, and the art of eating just as much as music.
Record companies gave them “per diems,” daily allowances to cover hotel stays and food while touring. But the band didn’t use them for bland hotel meals.
Instead:
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They’d drive back from gigs.
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Pocket the per diems.
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And spend them on dinners at upscale restaurants instead.
It wasn’t about splurging — it was about enjoying what they couldn’t before. Bono sounds almost proud that they saved up their tour budgets just to sit down to a proper meal with friends.
A Dog’s Dinner That Was Too Good to Pass Up
One of the more surprising — and hilarious — moments came when Bono admitted to accidentally (and happily) eating his dog’s dinner.
His wife, Ali Hewson, had gone vegetarian. Bono was craving meat. One evening, he came home to a delicious aroma — beef, slow-cooked and irresistible.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, she’s cooking beef for me and she’s vegetarian. This is amazing,’” he said. He asked what she was making.
Her answer? “That’s not for us. That’s the dog’s dinner.”
But Bono? He ate it anyway.
From Smash to Sushi: A Life Rewritten
These memories aren’t just quirky anecdotes. They paint a bigger picture — one of a man who never forgot where he came from.
Despite the fame, Bono still talks about Cadbury’s Smash and tinned beans with the same affection most people reserve for childhood vacations.
And maybe that’s why fans still relate to him.
Sure, he’s dined with presidents, billionaires, and Michelin-star chefs. But deep down, he still remembers what it felt like to scrape together a dinner from leftovers and powdered potato.
Those hungry years built the frontman. Not just his music, but his worldview — his grit, his empathy, and his restless drive.
