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Love Stories: Bono and Ali Hewson's 40-year marriage began as high school sweethearts

By Georgia Weir|

U2 frontman ?Bono and his wife, Irish activist Ali Hewson, have been married for 40 long years.

Hewson once said she was one of the musician's closest friends จC and close pals is exactly what the couple started off as. Bono and Hewson met as pupils at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Ireland.

Despite being in different grades and Hewson branding the future rock star an "eejit", Bono was instantly infatuated with the quiet girl from Raheny.

However, it would not be as simple as 'boy meets girl', Hewson was initially reluctant to be involved with Bono having never had a serious boyfriend before. But when the singer-songwriter's mother, Iris died unexpectedly, the two would form a budding relationship whilst Hewson took care of the musician.

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U2 Joshua Tree Tour Pจขirc Uจช Chaoimh - Cork, Ireland, Bono and his wife Ali Hewson arriving at Cork Airport prior to the concert. (Part of the Independent Ireland Newspapers/NLI Collection). (Photo by Independent News and Media/Getty Images)
Bono and his wife Ali Hewson. (Getty)

The unwavering support Hewson showed her young beau would become a steadfast trait of the pair's relationship.

To Hewson's parent's horror, the couple married when Hewson was just 22, in the Old Guinness Church of Ireland in 1982, with Adam Clayton (the bassist of U2) as best man. Hewson would also shelve her dreams of becoming a nurse to travel with U2.

Reflecting on the couples four decade marriage in his new memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, Bono wrote: "She's not just a mystery to me, by the way. She's a mystery to her daughters, to her sons," he said. "I mean, we're all trying to get to know her. She's endlessly fascinating. She's กญ full of mischief."

Hewson is notoriously low-key compared to her rock star counterpart. For years she was known to get around in 1991 Volkswagen Golf. Similarly, while her husband flies around the world on private jets, Hewson often opts for the more humble commercial economy flight.

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To left, U2 manager Paul McGuinness. Beside lady in fur coat are husband and wife Ali Hewson and Bono. 11/01/1986 (Part of the Independent Newspapers Ireland/NLI Collection). (Photo by Independent News And Media/Getty Images)
Hewson is known for being much more low-key than her rock star counterpart. (Getty)

The couple's private and down-to-earth marriage has not been mired with controversy, but like every married couple, Bono has admitted that it's not all been a bed of roses.

"It's not like our love was absent of any dark undercurrents or briny water, [but] we got each other through those bits where it was hard to see where we were," he wrote. "Ali calls it 'the work of love'. I wish she wouldn't use the word 'work' because I have a feeling there's an adjective, 'hard', that's inferred."

"If one of us got lost the other was going to get us back, that's kind of been the way it's been for us. I think in relationships somebody is in charge at some point, but you swap. It's a relay race."

In honour of the couple's ?40th wedding anniversary and Bono's memoir, the rocker posted a sweet tribute to his wife on the band's official twitter.

"40 years ago today, Bono married his soulmate, Ali. In a new animation featuring an excerpt from Bono's upcoming memoir, SURRENDER: 40 Songs, One Story, he recounts a special dayกญ their wedding," the tweet's caption reads.

One of the marital anecdotes Bono offers in his memoir is when in the 1980s, he had become "less present" at home due to a busy touring schedule.

"She was never going to be just my girlfriend and she was never going to be just my wife. So if I was home I'd better be present."

"And in the Eighties at some point I was home but I wasn't present. And that's when I think she wanted to jump," the rocker explains.

Despite the challenges, Bono and Hewson's marriage is now stronger than ever, and they are parents to four children, Jordan, 33, Eve, 31, Elijah, 23, and John, 21.

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The most captivating love stories in popular culture
The most captivating love stories in popular culture

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