‘I survived off Dublin Airport leftovers after my mum died before I ever stepped foot on a plane', Bono admits
The Dubliner's mum Iris died suddenly in 1974, aged 48, when he was just 14-years-old following a stroke.
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Bono's mum died when he was a teenager
Credit: Getty Images - Getty
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Bono on holiday with his parents Bobby and Iris and older brother Norman
Credit: Refer to Picture Desk
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Bono spoke about how he lived off food provided by Aer Lingus
Credit: Getty Images - Getty
Iris had
Bono, who's real name is Paul, and his older brother Norman were brought in three days later to say goodbye to Iris in her hospital bed, describing her as at peace in her final moments.
The singer has opened up on what his life was like growing up with his dad Bob and brother without his beloved mum.
Speaking on the
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"After my mother died, we just didn't speak her name. So it's hard when you do that to recall these things.
"We certainly had kitchen table dramas, three men arguing a lot because the woman of the house was gone.
"And I remember my relationship with food changed - really changed. I saw it as fuel, I took no pleasure in it.
"After Iris died, 10 Cedarwood Road stopped being a home, it was just a house. Most days I'd return holding a tin of meat, a tin of beans and a packet of Cadbury's Smash [instant mashed potato]."
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The 65-year-old admitted that he would spend his food money on "far more important things" such as Alice Cooper's record and that food became just "fuel" for him.
Bono then explained how his brother fell into "good fortune" when he got a job in Cara at Aer Lingus.
Catherine Zeta Jones joined by Bono to celebrate husband's Dublin birthday
The dad-of-four explained: "He had talked them into allowing him to bring home the surplus airline food prepared for Aer Lingus packages.
"The food was sometimes still warm when he carried them in in tin boxes in the kitchen. This was highly exotic fare.
"Gammon steak and pineapple, an Italian dish called lasagne or one where rice was no longer a milk pudding but a savoury experience with peas.
'ROMANCE OVER'
"If my father and I were proud that Norman had removed the need for us to buy groceries or even have to cook, after six months the after taste of tin was all we could remember."
Bono began to secretly opt for cereal at night instead of the tinned food.
And to Bono's dismay, his school's dinners got their hot lunches from Dublin Airport.
The Irish star added: "I'd never been on an airplane but already my romance with flying was over.
"Airplane food for lunch and tea was more than any apprentice rockstar could handle."
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