Bono ‘star-struck’ by Aung San Suu Kyi
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (L) and U2 singer Bono arrive on June 18, 2012 for a press conference at the Oslo Forum at Losby Gods in Lorenskog, Norway. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi has received superstar treatment and been cheered by crowds of many thousands as she visited Norway on her first Europe trip in a quarter-century after years of house arrest.
Rock star Bono was star-struck by Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday when they met and spent an hour answering questions at a conference in Oslo, according to the Associated Press.
Suu Kyi was scheduled to attend a concert in her honor in Dublin on Monday evening, where she is due to accept a Freedom of Dublin honorific title, bestowed on her in 2000.
Bono said, "I’m star-struck … but I’m managing to get over it," according to the AP. He wrote the 2000 hit "Walk On" in tribute to Suu Kyi's exile in Myanmar, and dedicated his band's 2009 world tour to her.
During the tour, video messages from Suu Kyi played on giant screens. "Suu Kyi came on the road with us," Bono said, according to The Telegraph. "Seven million people we played to. She was there every night. A digital version, but she's very good live!"
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Bono continued, "You get the feeling with Daw Suu that peace is not the absence of war around us but rather peace is the absence of war within us," using the honorific title, according to The Telegraph.
Suu Kyi said of "Walk On," "I like the song because it's very close to how I feel, that it's up to you to carry on."
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After the concert, hosted by Bono and Bob Geldof, with other guest singers, Suu Kyi will be presented with the Ambassador of Conscience Award, from Amnesty International, reported Agence France Presse.
She is also scheduled to accept an honorary degree on Wednesday from Oxford University, where she lived and studied for many years with her late husband, said the AFP.
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