U2 frontman Bono reveals he lived on leftover airline food and Cadbury’s Smash after losing his mother at 14 – and spent his money on records instead

As one of the most successful rockstars in the world, Bono isn’t short of a penny or two.

But it turns out that life for the U2 frontman, 65, who is said to be worth £500million, wasn’t always so easy as he revealed he resorted to eating instant mashed potato and leftover aeroplane food after his mother died.

Speaking on the Ruthie’s Table 4 podcast, the Irish singer said that as a teenager, his brother Norman, who worked at Dublin Airport, used to bring home surplus airline food for him. 

He said: ‘After my mother died, I would usually return home with a tin of meat, a tin of beans and a packet of Cadbury’s Smash [instant mashed potato].

He continued: ‘Thinking back to being a teenager, food was just fuel.

‘I would spend my food money on things far more important like Alice Cooper’s Hello Hooray.’

As one of the most successful rockstars in the world, Bono isn’t short of a penny or two (pictured in 2023)

But it turns out that life for the U2 frontman, 65, who is said to be worth £500million, wasn’t always so easy as he revealed he resorted to eating instant mashed potato and leftover aeroplane food after his mother died (Bono’s parents Bob and Iris on their wedding day)

Bono’s mother, Iris Hewton, died in 1974, aged 48, after an aneurysm when he was just 14-years-old. 

He added: ‘The house was two miles away from the runway where my brother Norman worked for Aer Lingus. He had talked them into allowing him to bring home the surplus food from the airline. This was highly exotic fare.

‘Gammon steak and pineapple, an Italian dish called lasagne that we’d never heard of or one where rice was no longer a milk pudding but a savoury experience with peas.’

The singer, who grew up in Dublin, said he sadly doesn’t remember much about his mother but has vivid memories of the family kitchen. 

He told River Cafe owner and presenter Ruth Rogers: ‘Sadly, I don’t have many memories of my mother cooking or otherwise.

‘After my mother died, we just didn’t speak her name. So it’s hard when you do that to recall these things.

‘We certainly had kitchen table dramas, three men arguing a lot because the woman of the house was gone. And I remember my relationship with food changed.’

When asked about his experience of travelling the world and trying new food after joining U2, Bono said: ‘We were blessed with the gift of getting a manager who loved food and wine as much as he did music.

He said: ‘After my mother died, I would usually return home with a tin of meat, a tin of beans and a packet of Cadbury’s Smash [instant mashed potato]. Thinking back to being a teenager, food was just fuel’

He added: ‘The house was two miles away from the runway where my brother Norman worked for Aer Lingus. He had talked them into allowing him to bring home the surplus food from the airline’ (Bono pictured 1986)

‘Record companies would give us per diems, which means they pay for you to stay in a hotel up in Manchester or wherever after we had played.

‘But we wouldn’t stay in the hotel, and we would drive back and save up our per diems and use them in nice restaurants.’

The rocker, whose real name is Paul Hewson, also revealed he avoids drinking before gigs because of how demanding his vocals are.

‘I have only ever had alcohol twice before going on stage,’ he told the podcast.

‘Once because I had a wedding, and another was that my father had to put me to bed in Paris in the late 90s.

‘You can’t sing well if you drink before. If you sing those big notes, you have to be careful what you eat and drink before.’

Bono’s rise to fame began in 1976 when he formed a band with schoolmates in Dublin. The group named U2, quickly made a name for themselves with their raw sound and electrifying stage presence (Bono pictured with The Edge, Larry Mullen JR, and Adam Clayton in 1982)

Bono’s rise to fame began in 1976 when he formed a band with schoolmates in Dublin, answering a notice posted by drummer Larry Mullen Jr. 

The group, eventually named U2, quickly made a name for themselves with their raw sound and electrifying stage presence.

Their early albums, especially Boy and War, also gained critical acclaim, with Bono’s passionate vocals and stage presence earning him attention.

The band’s explosive performance at Live Aid in 1985 catapulted them onto the world stage, but it was the release of The Joshua Tree in 1987, with hits like With or Without You, that made them global superstars.