Jon Bon Jovi Makes Bizarre Claim About Bono’s Troubled Upbringing

Bono had a very “troubled” upbringing — or so Jon Bon Jovi’s been led to think.

The Bon Jovi front man was being interviewed on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast on Monday, during which he made a bizarre claim about the U2 singer’s childhood.

Explaining why his songs are mostly positive and upbeat, he explained how he lived a relatively sheltered life, unlike some other rockstars whose tragic backgrounds influenced their work … apparently.

“I would often bring up an example: so Bono is probably right at my age, he’s a couple of months older I think. His upbringing was obviously very different than mine,” he said.

“I never had the Orangemen walking through my neighborhood saying, you know, get the Catholic kid and beat him up.”

He added: “You know I didn’t have any of that kind of turmoil in suburban New Jersey when you had a wonderful middle-class upbringing with two hard working parents. So, of course, you’re writing the happy anthemic song.”

They get into in around the 46 minute mark:

Orangemen — a group loyal to the British Crown who derive their name from the Protestant King William of Orange — are a typical sight in Northern Ireland, mainly in the parts where British rule is celebrated.

The thing is, Bono — then Paul Hewson — grew up in the Dublin suburb of Finglas in the Republic of Ireland, where Protestants most certainly did not chase Catholic boys through the streets.

While The Troubles mostly affected the UK-controlled Northern part of the island of Ireland, the capital did see its fair share of violence; indeed the deadliest attack occurred exactly one week after Hewson’s 14th birthday when three of four car bombs were detonated in Dublin on May 17, 1974.

Bono, who had a Protestant mother and a Catholic father, had the unusual honor of attending a multi-denomination (but Protestant ran) school in a country where more than 90 percent of the schools were run by the Catholic Church; so perhaps Bon Jovi’s tale evolved over the years from a schoolyard bullying incident over Bono’s dad.

Dax typically finishes every episode with a ‘fact check’ segment, when co-host Monica Padman combs back through any questionable points brought up during the interview. But the only inaccuracy she caught was the fact Bono was two years older, not a few months as Jon had claimed.

Either way, Irish Twitter had a field day with the tall tale: