
Surrender
40 Songs, One Story
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Narrated by:
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Bono
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By:
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Bono
About this listen
***WINNER OF THE 2024 AUDIE AWARD FOR AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR***
Bono—artist, activist, and the lead singer of Irish rock band U2—has written a memoir: honest and irreverent, intimate and profound, Surrender is the story of the remarkable life he’s lived, the challenges he’s faced, and the friends and family who have shaped and sustained him.
Narrated by the author, Surrender is an intimate, immersive listening experience, telling stories from Bono’s early days in Dublin, to joining a band and playing sold out stadiums around the world with U2, plus his more than 20 years of activism.
Throughout a remarkable life, music has always been a constant for Bono and in the audiobook, his distinctive voice is interwoven with a very personal soundtrack adding atmosphere and texture to each and every scene. From moments of classic U2 hits to snippets by The Clash, Patti Smith, Verdi, Johnny Cash and Mozart, Surrender also exclusively features clips of newly recorded reimagined versions of U2 songs including ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’, ‘With Or Without You’, ‘One’, ‘Beautiful Day’ and more, glimpsed for the first time on Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story.
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Critic reviews
A VOGUE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
“Honest and direct . . . [Surrender] is defined largely by humility. This is an introspective story written by a man whose spirit is never far removed from the sadness and grief of his childhood; the hunger, literal and figurative, of a teen wannabe rocker; and the gratitude of one who worked his butt off and made it to the top . . . This is the rare rock star memoir written by a rock star who, you get the impression, could have been a writer . . . Bono has a gift for making even the unattainable seem relatable . . . He’s humble, even self-effacing. He might be fun to have a beer with. He is very much of this Earth, even if on occasion he might seem to float above the water.”—The L.A. Times
“Compelling . . . Surrender is more introspective than salacious or score-settling, and proof that the tunesmith who wrote it also speaks fluent prose.”—The Washington Post
“Surrender soars whenever the spotlight comes on. Bono is never more powerful, on the page or the stage, than when he strives for the transcendence that only music can offer . . . [Bono] is open and honest, with language that can be witty and distinctive, addressing his competitive relationship with his father or growing up against the backdrop of Ireland’s political violence.”—The New York Times
Featured Article: The top 100 celebrity memoirs of all time
The best celebrity memoir audiobooks are in a league of their own—there is no greater listening experience than a memoir performed by the celebrity behind the title. Their charisma and authenticity greatly enhance the experience, making it all the more engaging. Many listeners who would never think to read a celebrity memoir in print gravitate to the genre in audio. There’s something magical about hearing, in their own voice, the nitty-gritty of a star’s path.
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For the past 30 years, Usher has exhilarated audiences with stadium-sized anthems, innovative choreography, and dazzling charm that has made him a once-in-a-generation superstar. The Last Showman is an introspective look into the past, present, and future of a beloved global R&B icon. Usher opens up about the inspirations, heartache, and growth that fueled the creation of his record-breaking magnum opus, Confessions, while revisiting some of its most iconic tracks.
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love you Ursher
- By Amazon Customer on 02-06-25
By: Usher, and others
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I Am Brian Wilson
- By: Brian Wilson, Ben Greenman - contributor
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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As a cofounding member of the Beach Boys in the 1960s, Wilson created some of the most groundbreaking and timeless popular music ever recorded. With intricate harmonies, symphonic structures, and wide-eyed lyrics that explored life's most transcendent joys and deepest sorrows, songs like "In My Room", "God Only Knows", and "Good Vibrations" forever expanded the possibilities of pop songwriting.
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Surviving the Minor Keys in Life - Love Overcomes
- By Russell on 12-01-16
By: Brian Wilson, and others
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Chasing Hope
- A Reporter's Life
- By: Nicholas D. Kristof
- Narrated by: Nicholas D. Kristof
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
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Since 1984, Nicholas Kristof has worked almost continuously for The New York Times as a reporter, foreign correspondent, bureau chief, and now columnist, becoming one of the foremost reporters of his generation. Here, he recounts his event-filled path from a small-town farm in Oregon to every corner of the world. This is a candid memoir of vulnerability and courage, humility and purpose, mistakes and learning—a singular tale of the trials, tribulations, and hope to be found in a life dedicated to the pursuit of truth.
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Ink Runs In My Veins
- By Lori Breit on 04-01-25
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High School
- By: Tegan Quin, Sara Quin
- Narrated by: Tegan Quin, Sara Quin
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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High School is the revelatory and unique coming-of-age story of Sara and Tegan Quin, identical twins from Calgary, Alberta, who grew up at the height of grunge and rave culture in the '90s, well before they became the celebrated musicians and global LGBTQ icons we know today. While grappling with their identity and sexuality, often alone, they also faced academic meltdown, their parents’ divorce, and the looming pressure of what might come after high school. This is the origin story of Tegan and Sara.
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I'm such a big fan.
- By Andrew J Montano on 09-26-19
By: Tegan Quin, and others
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Society's Child
- My Autobiography
- By: Janis Ian
- Narrated by: Janis Ian
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Janis Ian was catapulted into the spotlight in 1966 at the age of 15, when her soul-wrenching song "Society's Child" became a hit. But this was only the beginning of a long and illustrious career. In Society's Child, Janis Ian provides a relentlessly honest account of the successes and failures - and the hopes and dreams - of an extraordinary life.
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I know why this won the grammy
- By Pamela J on 02-24-13
By: Janis Ian
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And There Was Light
- Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Jon Meacham
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Hated and hailed, excoriated and revered, Abraham Lincoln was at the pinnacle of American power when secessionists gave no quarter in a clash of visions bound up with money, race, identity, and faith. In him we can see the possibilities of the presidency as well as its limitations. This book tells the story of Lincoln from his birth on the Kentucky frontier to his leadership during the Civil War to his tragic assassination: his rise, his self-education, his loves, his bouts of depression, his political failures, his deepening faith, and his persistent conviction that slavery must end.
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A Winner
- By Diane Moore on 10-31-22
By: Jon Meacham
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Broken Horses
- A Memoir
- By: Brandi Carlile
- Narrated by: Brandi Carlile
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Brandi Carlile was born into a musically gifted, impoverished family on the outskirts of Seattle and grew up in a constant state of change, moving from house to house, trailer to trailer, 14 times in as many years. Though imperfect in every way, her dysfunctional childhood was as beautiful as it was strange, and as nurturing as it was difficult. At the age of five, Brandi contracted bacterial meningitis, which almost took her life, leaving an indelible mark on her formative years and altering her journey into young adulthood.
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I have almost 2000 audible books and ...
- By M. Lynn on 04-22-21
By: Brandi Carlile
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Girl in a Band
- A Memoir
- By: Kim Gordon
- Narrated by: Kim Gordon
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Kim Gordon, founding member of Sonic Youth, fashion icon, and role model for a generation of women, now tells her story - a memoir of life as an artist, of music, marriage, motherhood, independence, and as one of the first women of rock and roll, written with the lyricism and haunting beauty of Patti Smith's Just Kids.
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Maskenfreiheit: The Freedom Conferred by Masks
- By Darwin8u on 10-12-15
By: Kim Gordon
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More Myself
- A Journey
- By: Alicia Keys, Michelle Burford
- Narrated by: Alicia Keys, America Ferrera, Bono, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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As one of the most celebrated musicians in the world, Alicia Keys has enraptured the globe with her heartfelt lyrics, extraordinary vocal range, and soul-stirring piano compositions. Yet away from the spotlight, Alicia has grappled with private heartache - over the challenging and complex relationship with her father, the people-pleasing nature that characterized her early career, the loss of privacy surrounding her romantic relationships, and the oppressive expectations of female perfection.
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Title should be Safe Version of Myself
- By Mel on 04-05-20
By: Alicia Keys, and others
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Miracle and Wonder
- Conversations with Paul Simon
- By: Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam
- Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam, Paul Simon
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
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Miracle and Wonder: Conversations with Paul Simon is part memoir, part investigation, and unlike any creative portrait you’ve ever heard before. Recorded over a series of 30 hours of conversation between Simon, Gladwell, and Gladwell’s oldest friend and co-writer, journalist and Broken Record podcast co-host Bruce Headlam, the conversation flows from Simon’s music, to his childhood in Queens, NY, to his frequent collaborators including Art Garfunkel and the nature of creativity itself.
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A lifelong companion who will never know my name
- By scsurfer on 11-16-21
By: Malcolm Gladwell, and others
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A Very Punchable Face
- A Memoir
- By: Colin Jost
- Narrated by: Colin Jost
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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If there’s one trait that makes someone well-suited to comedy, it’s being able to take a punch - metaphorically and, occasionally, physically. Told with a healthy dose of self-deprecation, A Very Punchable Face reveals the brilliant mind behind some of the dumbest sketches on television, and lays bare the heart and humor of a hardworking guy - with a face you can’t help but want to punch.
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Amazing
- By Erin E. Kace on 07-27-20
By: Colin Jost
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Face It
- A Memoir
- By: Debbie Harry
- Narrated by: Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, Clem Burke, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Musician, actor, activist, and the iconic face of New York City cool, Debbie Harry is the front woman of Blondie, a band that forged a new sound that brought together the worlds of rock, punk, disco, reggae, and hip-hop to create some of the most beloved pop songs of all time. As a muse, she collaborated with some of the boldest artists of the past four decades. The scope of Debbie Harry’s impact on our culture has been matched only by her reticence to reveal her rich inner life - until now.
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Disappointed
- By Jessica Eastman on 12-23-19
By: Debbie Harry
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Life
- By: Keith Richards, James Fox
- Narrated by: Johnny Depp, Joe Hurley
- Length: 23 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Now at last Keith Richards pauses to tell his story in the most anticipated autobiography in decades. And what a story! Listening obsessively to Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records in a coldwater flat with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones, building a sound and a band out of music they loved. Finding fame and success as a bad-boy band, only to find themselves challenged by authorities everywhere....
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Ins and outs
- By Jesse on 11-07-10
By: Keith Richards, and others
loved it.
important to me
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Incredible
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Even better than the real thing!
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Big fan!
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Connecting us all
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An incredible story by a brilliant musician and thoughtful writer
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Barely a U2 fan— I pretty much only know the hits and my parents had a copy of The Joshua Tree that they would play occasionally in my youth. But I’ve been listening more because of this book.
I typically don’t read celebrity books but bought this on a whim thinking that a lyricist might have fun and thoughtful prose. I was right!
I enjoyed how Bono’s writing is infused with the poetry of his lyricism and I love how he added clips of the songs when referencing them.
I enjoyed getting a behind the scenes storytelling of U2’s creative process for each album.
He can be cheesy at times, but this seems to be an unavoidable consequence of his spirituality and passion when the depth he is trying to communicate just can’t make it through the language.
His take on spirituality is much more modern than I was expecting— it is flexible and richly loving.
Sometimes he seems full of himself, but it’s just sprinkled in and worth bearing for the minute or two you encounter it. Reasonably, he’s had a large reach globally, so maybe some of it is true. He also owns up to it multiple times.
It seems like he genuinely put himself into this book. It was delightful to read.
Worth reading if you’re looking at reviews!
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The first third or so deals with Bono’s early life and the band’s origin story. As a big fan of U2, this was fascinating to me, I knew some of the basic facts of how the band formed, but was fascinating to hear the details of how they formed, how they broke into stardom, how they linked up with Paul McGuiness. I loved hearing about young Bono obsessed with the importance of the band getting a van for touring, certainly they’ve stepped up their game in that regard over the years.
The story of Bono’s relationship with his father runs throughout the book, and was somewhat surprisingly a highlight for me. Gave he story a strong emotional core. He also talks at length about his relationships with his wife and bandmates. He sprinkles this with anecdotes about his experiences with several legendary musicians - Sinatra, Dylan, Prince, among them, as well as several politicians. A good chunk was also devoted to his activism, how he got involved with it and what he actually did.
There were some good details about the making of some of the bands landmark albums, especially Achtung Baby, and to a lesser degree Joshua Tree, but I didn’t feel like this was a main focus of the book. I would suggest for example the book U2: At the end of the world, for those looking for more behind the scenes info from the Achtung/ZooTV era. I was impressed that Bono did not shy away from copping to some missteps, including the Somgs of Innonce - iPod debacle, amongst many others. His analysis of why Pop was not well received I have heard before, but he gave a few more details. To some degree, I was disappointed and would have liked to have heard more about the making of some of the less popular albums. I would be fascinated to know more details about the making of a lot of songs on Pop and No Line, but as I said, this was not that type of book.
Having Bono read the book was a great idea. His cadence and inflections, the way he laughed as he recalled some of the stories, added so much depth. You really felt as if you were getting to know the man.
Overall, definitely worth a listen for all hardcore U2 fans, and still plenty to keep less ardent fans engaged.
So much more than I expected
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Loved loved loved
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I have been a fan of U2 since I was 8 years old (1986), when U2 War was given to me as a birthday present. Joshua Tree sealed the deal for me, I was hooked for life - have bought every album since. I am not usually big on autobiographies or memoirs, so Surrender wasn't on my wishlist - until I heard Bono's interview on the Smartless podcast. Bono's presence was endearing and authentic, and his stories left me wanting more ...so I jumped on Audible and bought the audiobook.
Within the first 15 minutes, I was mesmerized by this book. Bono's words are eloquent and often poetic - his speaking voice in the book is calm and soothing - he could easily be a guest meditation leader on Calm. If he simply read his book, it would have been more than enough...but Bono went and made this into an entire experience - it has music (some original performances by Bono, as well as live performance recordings of various U2 concerts) and even sound effects. The production level of Surrender is on par with a studio LP, I'm not exaggerating - I found myself consistently asking, "Did I really only pay $17 for all of this??". The Surrender audiobook really is a work of art, and it has all the touches of a piece that has been lovingly crafted by an artist.
Bono has always been someone who I wish I could meet and to really know in this life. He's an amazing artist and philanthropist. Now at 47, I have no illusions that will ever happen, but, after experiencing Surrender, I feel like I really have met Bono - his sincerely feels genuine throughout his performance of the book - and I am glad to have gotten to know Bono, even if he doesn't know me.
Now that I've finished listening to Surrender, I think I'm going to go listen to it again now. It's that good - enough said.
Inspirational, beautiful, soothing, and melodic
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