'They kind of saved my life' - Bono credits rock band U2 for being his reason to exist
Entertainment

'They kind of saved my life' - Bono credits rock band U2 for being his reason to exist

U2 FRONTMAN Bono has shared how important the Irish band have been to his formation as a young man.

The Dublin native, appearing on The Ellen Show alongside bandmate The Edge, spoke of how the band saved him following the death of his mother.

US TV host Ellen DeGeneres brought the two Irish men out on her daytime show to share that they were the first concert she attended and fondly remembered their more youthful days.

DeGeneres revealed U2 was her first music concert: "It was U2 on a riverboat, that held maybe 200 people, and went down the Mississippi river, and it was when you were touring with Boy. It was the greatest concert to be on a  riverboat and to see y’all [sic] live. The energy was incredible."

As the trio on the set of Ellen's show took a moment to remember their olden days, Bono became nostalgic of his days as a young boy.

Long-time friend and bandmate The Ege told DeGeneres that Bono was a thief of many people's school lunches and  was known for stealing food for himself.

Bono said the death of his mother influenced his mischievous ways at the time: "I was a little bit of a stray dog as a kid. There was no… My mother died when I was a kid, so I was sort of what you would call a latchkey kid in America."

Bono became extremely sentimental at one point of the interview, saying that through his grief U2 became a support.

He credited his friends and band members, saying: "I mean it’s no joke for me to say that nothing drives me crazy about them in any real sense because genuinely they kind of saved my life.

Bono even went as far as to say that he felt totally useless before assembling a band with his friends: "I mean I really felt as a teenager I had no reason to exist until I found them."