HE’S SAT DOWN with world leaders, had a world-class mullet, the biggest sunglasses ever and countless number one hits but Bono is about to receive a very prestigious award from Mexico.
The country’s government has announced that it is to bestow the Order of the Aztec Eagle on the U2 singer.
The award is the highest decoration that can be given to foreigners and is being handed over for the Dublin man’s humanitarian work and close ties to the country.
President Felipe Calderon may deliver the medal to the star during his visit to New York next week for the United Nations General Assembly, Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa told reporters, according to AFP.
Having spoken to the man himself Espinosa says that Bono “feels very honored and very pleased with this decision” adding that he had told her “that Mexico is a country that he loves and admires.”
The eccentric singer, who founded the global anti-poverty group ONE to help fight poverty and disease in Africa, met with President Calderon at his residence in Los Pinos last year.
The outgoing president thanked Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson, for expressing solidarity with Mexico over the country’s drug violence during a concert in the capital.
“Mexico needs to know you are not alone and we are with you… you are not alone in the darkness,” Bono told 93,000 fans at the Azteca football stadium in a gig in May 2011.
- with reporting from AFP
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say