Bono shares “60 songs that saved my life” playlist to mark 60th birthday

Bono is celebrating his 60th birthday. To commemorate the occasion, the U2 frontman has shared a playlist called ’60 Songs That Saved My Life’.

“These are some of the songs that saved my life,’ Bono shared of the playlist. “The ones I couldn’t have lived without… the ones that got me from there to here, zero to 60… through all the scrapes, all manner of nuisance, from the serious to the silly… and the joy, mostly joy.’”

The playlist features tracks by a vast lineup of artist’s like the Beatles, Patti Smith, Kanye West, Daft Punk, David Bowie, Nirvana, Massive Attack, Iggy Pop, Arcade Fire, Jay Z, Kraftwerk, Public Enemy, Billie Eilish and more.

To accompany the playlist, Bono has written a letter to each artist behind the music, explaining why the song means what it does to him. So far, he’s published letters to Kraftwerk, Billie Eilish and FINNEAS, Daft Punk, Pharrell, Nile Rodgers, Massive Attack, and the families of David Bowie and Luciano Pavarotti.

“‘Neon Lights’ is a song that brought into being a future that has now become so familiar, it is easy to forget just how strange it was,” Bono wrote of ‘Neon Lights’ by Kraftwerk, whose co-founder Florian Schneider passed away last week. “This perfectly constructed pop song.” Bono added of Schneider, “May he rest in peace.”

The first six letters from the project are available to read below.

Check out Bono’s 60 Songs That Saved My Life Playlist:

1. Luciano Pavarotti, Bono & Zucchero – ‘Miserere’
2. Sex Pistols – ‘Anarchy In the UK’
3. Kanye West – ‘Black Skinhead’
4. Billie Eilish – ‘everything i wanted’
5. David Bowie – ‘Life on Mars?’
6. The Beatles – ‘I Want to Hold your Hand’
7. Ramones – ‘Swallow My Pride’
8. The Clash – ‘Safe European Home’
9. Public Enemy – ‘Fight The Power’
10. Patti Smith – ‘People Have the Power’
11. John Lennon – ‘Mother’
12. The Rolling Stones – ‘Ruby Tuesday’
13. Elton John – ‘Daniel’
14. Andrea Bocelli- ‘Con Te Partiro’
15. Elvis Presley – ‘Heartbreak Hotel’
16. Johnny Cash – ‘Hurt’
17. This Mortal Coil – ‘Song to the Siren’
18. Kraftwerk – ‘Neon Lights’
19. The Fugees – ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’
20. Prince – ‘When Doves Cry’
21. Daft Punk feat Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers – ‘Get Lucky’
22. Madonna – ‘Ray of Light’
23. JAY-Z feat Alicia Keys – ‘Empire State of Mind’
24. Talking Heads – ‘Love Goes to Building on Fire’
25. Lou Reed – ‘Satellite of Love’
26. The Verve – ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’
27. Joy Division – ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’
28. New Order – ‘True Faith’
29. R.E.M. – ‘Nightswimming’
30. Adele – ‘Chasing Pavements’
31. Arcade Fire – ‘Wake Up’
32. Pixies – ‘Monkey Gone to Heaven’
33. Oasis – ‘Live Forever’
34. Iggy Pop – ‘Lust for Life’
35. Gavin Friday – ‘Angel’
36. Massive Attack – ‘Safe From Harm’
37. Kendrick Lamar feat U2 – ‘XXX’
38. Bob Marley & The Walers – ‘Redemption Song’
39. Echo and the Bunnymen – ‘Rescue’
40. Nirvana – ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’
41. Pearl Jam – ‘Jeremy’
42. Bob Dylan – ‘Most of the Time’
43. Beyoncé feat Kendrick Lamar – ‘Freedom’
44. Depeche Mode – ‘Walking In My Shoes’
45. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – ‘Into My Arms’
46. Simon & Garfunkel – ‘The Sounds of Silence’
47. Coldplay – ‘Clocks’
48. INXS – ‘Never Tear Us Apart’
49. New Radicals – ‘You Get What You Give’
50. Angélique Kidjo – ‘Agolo’
51. Lady Gaga – ‘Born This Way’
52. Frank Sinatra & Bono – ‘Under My Skin’
53. David Bowie – ‘Heroes’
54. Simple Minds – ‘New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84)’
55. Sinéad O’Connor – ‘You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart’
56. Van Morrison – ‘A Sense of Wonder’
57. Bruce Springsteen – ‘There Goes My Miracle’
58. Daniel Lanois – ‘The Maker’
59. Peter Frampton – ‘Show Me The Way’
60. Bee Gees – ‘Immortality (Demo Version)’