During the last episode of Season 25: Oprah Behind The Scenes, Oprah shared that she had never listened to U2’s music prior to interviewing Bono. She said that while taping her shows in Australia last year, she and her producers received texts inviting them to a party hosted by Bono. Despite the event’s midnight start time and everyone feeling “so incredibly exhausted,” they felt it would be insane to turn down a party invitation from Bono.
Producers found Oprah in the corner of a room talking to both Bono and The Edge. Oprah described the occasion, “I was pinching myself the whole time. Bono is so darn interesting and I had never really had a conversation with The Edge … and the whole time I kept thinking ‘damn, I wish I had a camera.’”
One of Oprah’s producers asked if Bono was pinching himself about sitting in a corner with Oprah Winfrey. Oprah said, “I don’t think so … First of all, that was my first U2 concert and I would have to say have known him now for six, seven years, and I got to know him as a person first, not as a rock star. Because before I met him, I never listened to U2 music. [note: Bono first appeared on Oprah’s show in 2002 to discuss the ONE Campaign] I will have to say I hadn’t listened to anything. I didn’t know him as a rock star. And that night in Australia, seeing him on stage for the first time in front of 70,000 people, I went ‘Damn, he really is a rock star! Oh my God, that’s what everybody is so excited about. Yeah, that was a big moment for me.”
Oprah also shared in an earlier episode of Behind The Scenes that she finally understood what Bono meant about the feeling of walking on stage in front of thousands of adoring fans when she took the stage at the United Center for her surprise shows.
(c) @U2/Lawrence, 2008