Burned Over Bono: U2’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Messiah and His Religious Politic

Chad E. Seales
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Abstract

Within the last decade, many fans and members of the popular press have labeled Bono, lead singer of the band U2, a “Rock ‘n’ Roll Messiah,” because of his global humanitarian efforts and relentless effusion of theological and political messages in song and concert. Focusing on the relationship between religious practice and secular activism, I argue that Bono has performed a secularized soteriology–a public prescription of spiritual and economic salvation unbounded by religious institutions–that conjures an imagined World Polity; and this message has been packaged and delivered in ways that blur distinctions between show business and modern revival techniques.

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