Bono: Pressure to look ‘macho’ stopped me from admitting love of Abba

Bono said the music of Abba was like “the national anthem for young mothers” when they were growing up around Dublin in the 1970s.

Bono and The Edge performed in Radio 2’s Piano Room at the Maida Vale studios (BBC/PA)

U2 frontman Bono has said the pressure to look “macho” as a young man stopped him from admitting he enjoyed the music of Abba.

The singer, 62, said he did not have the “courage” to “own up” to liking the Swedish pop superstars but now was able to see that “you can’t be empirical about everything in art”.