U2 FRONTMAN Bono cuts an instantly recognisable figure. Perpetually clad in black and never caught without his shades of various tints and styles, the singer is pretty much the epitome of a rock icon.
However, these days, when a camera flash reflects off Bono's ever-present sunglasses (recently revealed as eye protection for glaucoma), the Finglas-born singer is just as likely to have been snapped meeting with world leaders to discuss humanitarian matters as belting out a million-selling hit.
"As a rock star, I have two instincts," he told an interviewer back in 2000. "I want to have fun, and I want to change the world. I have a chance to do both."
Indeed, the man formerly known as Paul Hewson is famously the only person ever to have been nominated for a trinity of top tier awards: Grammy (49 nominations and 22 wins, a rock record), Oscar (for The Hands That Built America from Scorsese's Gangs of New York) and the Nobel Peace Prize (three nominations so far).
Bono established his 'good deed' credentials on an international scale when U2 first came to prominence back in the mid-1980s, his vocal contribution to the Band Aid single Do They Know It's Christmas? and U2's subsequent landmark, star-making performance at Live Aid in 1985 helped cement Bono's reputation as a crusading rocker with a conscience and an keen eye for a good publicity opportunity.
He got plenty of flak for sermonising on issues such as world hunger while living a jet-set rockstar lifestyle, yet U2's artistic rejuvenation via a the experimental Achtung Baby (1991) and Zooropa (1994) records coincided with Bono's canny creation of self-parodies like The Fly and MacPhisto.
Thus, the band boosted their credibility even as their leader continued to speak out on Africa, Sellafield, Bosnia, Third World debt and other issues – including the Yes campaign for the Good Friday Agreement referendum vote here in the north.
This saw Bono bringing SDLP leader John Hume and UUP leader David Trimble on to the stage at a special Belfast concert, thrusting their hands into the air in a slightly awkward non-sectarian show of strength.
In the 21st century, Bono has continued to champion social issues, notably via co-founding the ONE organisation and the Red charity which respectively work to raise public/political awareness about poverty and preventable diseases in disadvantaged countries and to get businesses involved in the fight against AIDS.
Although Bono still gets the mickey taken out of him – notably for his appearance in Make Poverty History's infamous "every time I click my fingers, a child in Africa dies" ad campaign – those three Nobel Prize nominations, a memorable Time magazine cover (headline "Can Bono Save The World?") and the millions he's helped raise for the needy probably help him sleep at night.
It's kind of impressive that U2 weren't on the back burner during all this. In fact, Bono and co found time to make a pair of career-reviving LPs in All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000) and How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (2004).
Described by Bono as U2's attempt at "reapplying for the job of the best band in the world", their hit singles Beautiful Day, Vertigo and Elevation immediately became firm fixtures in the U2 live set.
And, while 2009's less than enthusiastically received No Line On The Horizon might have earned the nickname 'No Hit On The Radio' in some quarters, U2 made up for it with the 360 tour, a high-tech 'in the round' stadium concert experience which became the biggest grossing tour of all time.
They also made history last September, when U2 became the first band ever to be pilloried for giving an album away free: the 13th U2 LP Songs of Innocence was directly injected into every iTunes user's library "like a bottle of milk dropped at the door of anyone interested in music."
However, non-U2 fan users were quickly up in arms about the band's magnum opus effectively squatting on their hard-disks and it was hard not to feel sorry for Bono and co as their landmark deal with Apple turned sour in a manner that few would have predicted – especially as the highly personal album was actually their strongest work in years.
And then their singer literally added injury to insult with a nasty bicycle accident in Central Park.
"I really used to think that my head was harder than any surface it came in contact with," Bono told Rolling Stone in the wake of the crash which shattered his arm and fractured his eye socket and shoulder blade.
"I don't anymore."
U2 were forced to cancel the first dates of their Innocence + Experience tour and resulting nerve damage put paid to Bono's guitar playing.
However, despite the near back-to-back deaths of drummer Larry Mullen Jr's father and the band's longtime tour manager Dennis Sheehan coinciding with the start of their rescheduled dates, the show has gone on for U2.
Appropriately for a period stacked with momentous life changes, Innocence + Experience finds them celebrating a new record fuelled by Bono's lyrical reflection on the past and contemplation of the present in songs like Cedarwood Road, Iris (Hold Me Close), Volcano, Song For Someone and The Miracle (of Joey Ramone).
"We wanted to make a very personal album," he said.
"Let's try to figure out why we wanted to be in a band, the relationships around the band, our friendships, our lovers, our family.
"The whole album is first journeys – first journeys geographically, spiritually, sexually. And that's hard. But we went there."
Now, Bono and co are headed back to Ireland for their final shows of the year, including their first Belfast gig in 18 years and four Dublin dates. It should be quite a homecoming for this perpetually controversial rock icon and the biggest Irish band of all time.
:: U2, Wednesday November 18 & Thursday November 19, SSE Arena, Belfast. Limited number of production tickets on sale on Monday at 9am via Ticketmaster outlets.
From Innocence to Experience: A potted Bono and U2 time line
1960 Born Paul David Hewson
1971 Asked to leave Dublin's St Patrick's Cathedral Choir School for throwing dog excrement at his Spanish teacher
1972 Enrols at Mount Temple Comprehensive School
1974 Narrowly avoids UVF Dublin bombings, mother Iris succumbs to an aneurysm at his grandfather's funeral, is nicknamed Bono Vox by friends
1976 Attends audition at drummer Larry Mullen Jr's house, meets David Evans (The Edge) and Adam Clayton, begins dating future wife Alison 'Ali' Stewart
1978 First live performance as U2, Paul McGuinness becomes U2 manager
1979 CBS Ireland release Three EP
1980 Island Records release debut LP Boy
1981 First US tour
1982 Bono and Ali marry
1983 U2 play Red Rocks Amphitheatre (Under A Blood Red Sky), headline relocated Slane Castle concert at Dublin's Phoenix Park
1984 Pride (In The Name of Love) is U2's first US hit, Bono sings on charity single Do They Know It's Christmas?
1985 U2 play Live Aid
1987 The Joshua Tree LP becomes a top 10 hit, U2 play The King's Hall in Belfast
1988 U2 win their first two Grammys
1991 Achtung Baby released
1992 Bono and The Edge invest in The Clarence hotel
1994 Zooropa released
1997 U2 meet President Clinton, PopMart tour gig at Botanic Gardens in Belfast
1998 U2 perform at pro-'Yes vote' concert for Good Friday Agreement referendum, appear in The Simpsons
1999 Bono meets Pope John Paul II
2001 Bono's father Brendan 'Bob' Hewson dies, U2 win three Grammys for Beautiful Day LP
2002 U2 play Super Bowl half-time show, Bono's first Time cover, meets President Bush to discuss Africa, tours Africa with US treasury secretary to promote economic development
2004 U2 appear in Apple iPod ad, limited edition U2 iPod loaded with LP How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb released
2005 U2 inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Bono presses world leaders on AIDS in Africa at G8 conference, U2 play Live 8, Bono and Ali launch EDUN clothing line, Bono named Time magazine Person Of The Year
2006 U2 win five Grammys for How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, Bono guest edits The Independent highlighting AIDS, global warming and poverty
2007 Bono awarded an honorary knighthood for services to the music industry and humanitarian work
2009 U2 perform for President Obama, Bono and The Edge pen tunes for Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
2010 Meets President Obama to discuss Africa, undergoes emergency back surgery for injuries while preparing for U2 tour
2011 360 tour becomes highest grossing of all time, band targeted by Art Uncut for allegedly avoiding taxes in Ireland, headline slot at Glastonbury
2013 Paul McGuinness retires
2014 Songs of Innocence free, non-optional iTunes download, Bono crashes bike in New York's Central Park, suffers nerve damage
2015 Innocence + Experience tour launched.
