# Does Bono's U2 Sound More "Black" Now Then When U2 First Became Popular? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 25, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bonos-u2-sound-more-black-now-then-when-u2-first-became-popular/515033 "2009-10-25T04:36:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bonos-u2-sound-more-black-now-then-when-u2-first-became-popular/515033/1 "2009-10-25T04:36:32Z")
Subject line says it all. My wife watched his recent SNL appearance and observed he sounds black… jazz, soul, blues… My recollection is that this was less pronounced when I was a kid. Am I right, or just misremembering? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bonos-u2-sound-more-black-now-then-when-u2-first-became-popular/515033/2 "2009-10-25T17:25:45Z")
Anyone from the weekend afternoon crowd got anything for me? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bonos-u2-sound-more-black-now-then-when-u2-first-became-popular/515033/3 "2009-10-25T18:28:19Z")
Across their career Bono and the band have taken on various influences. The most obvious template for their early music was punk and new wave music that was popular at the time in Britain and the US. Bono’s accent in early U2 songs has a notably British twang. Nowadays he mainly sings in a unique “midatlantic” accent, but sometimes the emphasis is on a more particularly American or British or Irish sound. Many of their songs are heavily influenced by Gospel music and his voice in these songs generally reflects this. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bonos-u2-sound-more-black-now-then-when-u2-first-became-popular/515033/4 "2009-10-25T18:37:14Z")
I missed the edit window but wanted to include examples of the different styles. [I Will Follow](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2BqLlVHlWA), their first big hit from 1980, and Bono sounds like a British singer, especially at the “your eyes make a circle” part around 2.24. This is presumably because at the time their biggest influence was the punk/new wave stuff coming out of the UK. A later, 1987 megahit for them, [I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fBj2wsimvQ&feature=fvst), is an obviously Gospel-influenced track. I think it is often a case of the type of song they’re doing as to whether Bono sounds more “black” or not. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bonos-u2-sound-more-black-now-then-when-u2-first-became-popular/515033/5 "2009-10-25T18:44:12Z")
Thank you. OP answered. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus\_alba](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quercus_alba/32/4061_2.png) [@Quercus\_alba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus_alba)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bonos-u2-sound-more-black-now-then-when-u2-first-became-popular/515033/6 "2009-10-25T20:19:39Z")
Feel compelled to quote “The Commitments”– "Do you not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud: I’m black and I’m proud. " 🆒