Why 'embarrassed' Bono almost cancelled U2's surprise album

U2 frontman, Bono. Photo / Getty Images

Bono tried to stop the release of U2's last album because he felt "embarrassed" by including a hugely personal song about his late mother.

The Irish rocker wrote Iris (Hold Me Close) about his mum, who died when he was 14 just days after collapsing at her father's funeral in 1974.

Bono admits he attempted to halt the release of the record, Songs of Innocence, just three days before it was launched via technology giant Apple in September because he wanted to pull the song from the track-list.

He tells CBS news, "It's not a very punk rock thing to do is it? Writing a song about your mother. I was really, really embarrassed . I woke up a few days before the Apple release and tried to stop it being on the album... (I thought) 'I can't do this. I can't do this to myself. I'm a macho Irish singer'..."

Bono texted his brother for advice and when he realised it was the anniversary of the day his mother was taken ill, he decided to go ahead with releasing the song.

He adds, "(My mother) collapsed at the grave site of her father... (She died a few days later) and the day I texted (my brother) three days before the Apple release - that day was the day she collapsed... If you are looking for cosmic rhymes and I am always looking for cosmic rhymes... That felt like a blessing to me."

- WENN