FRONTMAN OF LEGENDARY Irish rock band U2, Bono, has been awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom by US President Joe Biden. 

The medal is the highest civilian honour available in the US.

Bono is among nineteen recipients of the award today, including former US Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, soccer player Lionel Messi, and designer Ralph Lauren. 

The medal is presented to people “who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors,” according to a White House statement.

Others among those to receive honours from the outgoing US president are basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson, longtime fashion editor Anna Wintour, and actors Denzel Washington and Michael J. Fox.

The honorees “are great leaders because they are good people who have made extraordinary contributions to their country and the world,” the White House said.

Others honoured in this year’s crop are chef Jose Andres, founder of the World Central Kitchen NGO, and primate researcher Jane Goodall, a leading environmentalist voice.

Biden also chose to posthumously award a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Robert Francis Kennedy, better known as “Bobby” Kennedy or his initials, “RFK.”

RFK served as US attorney general while his brother John F. Kennedy was president, and was assassinated in 1968 while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination.

“His legacy continues to inspire those committed to justice, equality, and public service,” Biden said in a statement.

On Thursday, in a slight to Trump, Biden awarded a Presidential Citizens Medal to Liz Cheney, a former Republican congresswoman from Wyoming who sat on the house panel investigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection on the US Capitol.

Trump expressed his indignation at the move Friday, calling Cheney, a daughter of former US vice president Dick Cheney, “totally corrupt” and wrote on Truth Social that “Biden rewarded her only because she hated “‘TRUMP.’”

Includes reporting by AFP