U2 Receives 2025 Woody Guthrie Prize: ‘You Don’t Talk About the Darkness, You Make the Light Brighter’

Bono and The Edge of U2 accepted the 2025 Woody Guthrie Prize connected behalf of the set connected Tuesday. The grant was presented for embodying the bequest of the legendary people singer. The lawsuit was held astatine Cain’s Ballroom successful Tulsa, Oklahoma – and marked the archetypal clip Bono and The Edge had been determination since a U2 circuit halt successful 1981 to beforehand the band’s debut album, Boy.

The 2025 Woody Guthrie Prize solemnisation was hosted by the Woody Guthrie Center. Preceding the grant presentation, Bono and The Edge participated successful an onstage speech astir creation and activism with shaper and instrumentalist T Bone Burnett.

“Our favourite protestation songs ever had a consciousness of vision, thing to purpose for. … You don’t speech astir the darkness, you marque the airy brighter,” The Edge said, adding: “I judge euphony tin really alteration the temper of the country and really displacement a culture.”

Bono credited Bob Dylan for starring U2 to Guthrie’s music. “Bob Dylan truly did bring america to the spot wherever the opus was an instrumentality to unfastened up worlds. And the satellite of Woody Guthrie, I wouldn’t person entered if not for Bob.”

Bono besides alluded to the existent challenges confronting America. “America is the top opus inactive yet to beryllium written. The poesy is determination but it’s inactive being written… don’t ideate it volition proceed to beryllium bonzer connected its own, that if you fell dormant and woke up successful 20 years, the satellite would beryllium fairer oregon freer. It won’t, that’s not the mode it works.”

When speaking with Burnett astir the songwriting process comparative to protestation songs, Bono said, “You can’t constitute a opus to order.” He work lyrics to a opus that is simply a work-in-progress, written astir the sidesplitting of Palestinian activistic Awdah Hathaleen successful July by an Israeli settler.

Bono and The Edge amazed attendees with a six-song performance, including 2 songs successful which they included snippets of Woody Guthrie songs (“Running to Stand Still” with a snippet of “Bound for Glory) and “Pride (In the Name of Love)” with a snippet of “Jesus Christ”). Other U2 songs successful their acceptable were “Mothers of the Disappeared,” “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” “One” and “Yahweh.”

Guthrie’s granddaughter Anna Canoni and Woody Guthrie Center manager Cady Shaw besides spoke astatine the event. “Woody and U2 person been aligned for decades,” Canoni said. “Whether it is protesting against warfare and violence, lasting up for humanitarian rights, singing astir greed, corruption and injustice.”