>Bono is expressing his gratitude after receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

>The legendary U2 frontman was among 19 individuals to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from President Joe Biden during a ceremony at the White House on Saturday (Jan. 4).

>“Thank you President Biden. Frontmen don’t do humble, but today I was,” Bono wrote on U2’s Instagram account after receiving the medal. “Rock n roll gave me my freedom… and with it the privilege to work alongside those who’ve had to fight so much harder for theirs. And I want to give it up for my band mates – Edge, Adam, and Larry – without whom I would never have found my voice.”

>Along with receiving the honor, Bono wrote an essay for The Atlantic, titled “The Gorgeous, Unglamorous Work of Freedom,” exploring the link between music and the quest for freedom.

>“Freedom is a word that turns up with embarrassing frequency in rock-and-roll songs,” Bono began the op-ed, citing Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom” as an example.

>“The reason I am climbing on this slippery soapbox called ‘freedom’ today is that I’m being given a presidential medal by that name—an honor I’m receiving mainly for the work of others, among them my bandmates and our fellow activists—and it’s got me thinking again about the subject,” the Irish rocker continued. “When we rock stars talk about freedom, we more often mean libertinism than liberation, but growing up in the Ireland of the 1960s, the latter had its place too. We were mad for freedoms we didn’t have: political freedom, religious freedom, and (most definitely) sexual freedom.”

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>Bono is expressing his gratitude after receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.>The legendary U2 frontman was among 19 individuals to…

>Bono is expressing his gratitude after receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
>The legendary U2 frontman was among 19 individuals to…