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Bono recalled on Tuesday how he once woke up in Abraham Lincoln’s bedroom after drinking red wine and strong cocktails with then-President Barack Obama.
Although the couple had been drinking, Bono suggested that his drowsiness was caused by an allergy to salicylates, which are present in wine and cause his head to “swell like a balloon and pop” or cause him to “fall asleep everywhere.”
Bono shared how he slept in the Lincoln bedroom of the White House in an interview with Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2 to promote his new memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story.
The U2 frontman and his wife Ali Hewson were attending a White House dinner hosted by Obama, with whom Bono is in a long-term relationship, when he found himself “slipping away for a chicken.”
The 44th President of the United States – he mixes cocktails. He doesn’t have many, he’s very measured,” Bono said, adding that “he does make strong cocktails, just to say the least.”
Bono and Barack Obama as senators in Washington DC in February 2006. The two have a long-standing relationship and Obama used Bono’s music in his 2008 and 2012 presidential election campaigns
Lincoln’s bedroom on the second floor of the White House is the room where Bono took a nap after claiming he had a reaction to salicylates in the wine he drank
U2’s Bono performs at the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. The ‘We Are One’ party took place at the Lincoln Memorial in 2009
When Bono disappeared, Obama became concerned and asked Hewson about his whereabouts.
‘She said, ‘He just went to sleep.’ [Obama] said, “I’m sorry?” Bono recalls.
Hewson explained to Obama that after years of marriage to Bono, she has become accustomed to such behavior and that he usually dozes off in the car, but since they couldn’t park outside the White House, that wasn’t an option.
She said, ‘He has to, he just has to go to sleep, he’ll be back in 10 minutes. I’ve been with him for 30 years, don’t worry about him, Mr. President. I’ll go find him.” Bono recalled.
But Obama insisted on going with her, remembering talking to Bono about Lincoln’s historic address in Gettysburg.
Then he knew he had to look in Lincoln’s bedroom, Bono recalled on the radio show.
“He just woke me up and laughed. The president laughed his head off,” Bono said.
But apparently Obama doesn’t believe Bono is allergic.
“He does tell people he drinks me under the table, he doesn’t believe the allergy stuff.”
The relationship between the rock star and the politician is strong. Bono’s global campaign and advocacy group, ONE, worked with the Obama administration during Barack’s two terms in office.
Obama is also clearly a fan of his music, as U2’s song City of Blinding Lights was featured in both his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. He even walked up to the song when he gave his farewell address in 2017.
The two have remained close together, with Bono enjoying lunch with Barack and Michelle in New York City in 2017.
“He is the most special man and they are the most special family,” Bono said in the interview.
“I’ve slept on the street, on bonnets, and I did fall asleep in the White House and they were very good at it.”
Bono releases a memoir titled Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story in which he chronicles his life through 40 of his songs
Michelle Obama and singer Bono have lunch at Finnegans Restaurant in Limerick, Ireland, in 2013
Irish musician Bono leaves Finnegan’s Pub in Dalkey, where he had lunch with US First Lady Michelle Obama and her two daughters