Bono Stories of Surrender and new version of book in May

Original Story by Aaron J Sams (2025-02-26)

Update: February 26

The new version of Bono’s book Stories of Surrender will be released May 27, 2025, and will accompany the film Stories of Surrender which debuts on Apple TV+ on May 30.

The description of the book is as follows:

A revised edition of Bono’s extraordinary, bestselling memoir to accompany the upcoming Apple Original Films documentary Bono: Stories of Surrender. The revised edition and the Apple documentary are both based on Bono’s critically acclaimed theater show. The revised edition features a new introduction by the author and a selection of chapters from the original memoir. As frontman for legendary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band U2, Bono’s career has been written about extensively by others. In 2022, he picked up the pen to tell his story himself in the New York Times best-selling memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, a candid, humorous and deeply personal account of a remarkable life. The writing process led to an unconventional book tour in the form of a live theater show, based on the book, which Bono performed across North America and Europe. This performance combined storytelling, dramatic readings and reimagined versions of U2’s iconic songs, all brought to life as a “quarter-man show” on stage. The upcoming Apple Original Films documentary, Bono: Stories of Surrender, captures the essence of this one-of-a-kind show while delving deeper into the family, friends, and faith that have shaped Bono’s life. A revised paperback edition of his memoir, also entitled Bono: Stories of Surrender, will be released alongside the film, refined to mirror the arc of his live performance. With a new introduction by Bono, the book invites readers into the front row of his fascinating, ever-evolving “work in progress” life.

We will continue to update here as more information is available. For more information on the film, including a look at what performances were filmed see our news story here. Our entry for the original version of the book, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story is available here.

Listings for the new version of the book, called Stories of Surrender are now starting to show up on Amazon in the US, Canada and UK, independent booksellers, and other chain stores. We’ll be collecting some links together later in the day, but it’s early and these listings are new, so not all of the information is available at this time.

Update: February 19

The new version of Bono’s memoir, titled Stories of Surrender will be out on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. Expect the Apple Original Film to be made available the same week. We expect an announcement of both projects soon.

The soft cover new edition of the book will have 384 pages in North America. See below for more details on this new version of the book, which is expected to be announced soon.

Original Story: February 11

As we told you last month, Bono’s Surrender will be back in the spotlight later this year. We now have new details that we can share with you about the film and an accompanying release of the book in softcover.

First up is the Apple Original Films documentary, Bono: Stories of Surrender. The film will be formally announced soon, and is expected to debut in early May on Apple’s subscription service, Apple TV+. The film features Bono’s one man show to promote his memoir, with much of the footage being filmed at the Beacon Theater in New York, where Bono did an 11 night run of shows in April and May of 2023. The final two shows were filmed for this movie, as were an additional day of material at the theatre, in front of an audience of fans. A final performance at Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Italy, was also filmed with an emphasis on the final song performed. More information about these shows can be found in our show archive and our news article “Filming Surrender“.

Ahead of the debut on Apple TV+, it is expected the film will also have appearances at film festivals this Spring. The film is directed by Andrew Dominik. At this point we have no details about a home video release of the film.

The performances captured for the film include Bono telling stories from his memoir, as well as performances of U2 songs, featuring Bono backed by a band consisting of Jacknife Lee, Kate Ellis and Gemma Doherty. Songs included include “City of Blinding Lights”, “With or Without You”, “Pride (In the Name of Love)” and more.

A new revised version of Bono’s book is also planned, now titled Bono: Stories of Surrender to match the film. The book will be revised and published in paperback. The revisions are said to follow the arc of the film, and will include a brand new introduction by Bono. It appears that this will be a shortened version of the book, with only a selection of chapters being included.

We’ll have more details about the film and the accompanying book when the project is officially announced. Stay tuned! In the meantime you can find more information about the original version of the book here.

Thanks to M for her help with this article.

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