Bono Shares Effusive Thank-You Notes to Kendrick, Beyoncé, Prince, More
For his 60th birthday last week, Bono shared a playlist called “60 Songs That Saved My Life.” The U2 frontman’s picks—including songs by David Bowie, Patti Smith, Kanye West, Kraftwerk, Massive Attack, and 54 others—come with personal letters he wrote to the artists and their survivors. The final batch was released today, and includes effusive tributes to Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, Prince, Nick Cave, Lady Gaga, and others. Listen to the playlist below, and find the full haul of letters at U2’s website and Rolling Stone.
Addressing Kendrick and Beyoncé in praise of “Freedom,” Bono writes:
Dear Beyoncé, Kendrick,
I mean this is going for broke. This is going for the break out.
Every prison that ever held a soul is going to feel the ground shake and the bars rattle here. Freedom is at the heart of why we make music, freedom from a toxic situation, from an oppressive nation, freedom from addiction or any self taught affliction, freedom from our own DNA. Spiritual and sexual liberation… that’s why we’re all here.
There is nowhere this song is not going to go. That freedom’s torch here is carried by you two standard bearers.... I give thanks.
And the last line spoken by Hattie White
“I was served lemons but I made lemonade.”
Well in my 60 years, I was served many platters but rarely one like the Queen Bey’s album LEMONADE.
Your fan, Bono
Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
