BOH-NO Bono admits he's 'so embarrassed' by U2's songs and hates the band name

Bono has admitted that gets “so embarrassed” when he hears U2’s songs on the radio.

The band’s frontman made it clear that he’s not a fan of his own singing voice – which he said makes him “cringe a little bit” - and can’t bear to listen to most of the group’s discography.

Speaking on the Awards Chatter podcast, the 61-year-old shared: “I’ve been in the car when one of our songs has come on the radio and I’ve been the colour of, as we say in Dublin, scarlet. I’m just so embarrassed.

“I do think U2 pushes out the boat on embarrassment quite a lot and maybe that’s the place to be as an artist, you know right at the edge of your level of embarrassment.”

Speaking about his own voice, he said that U2’s 2004 hit Vertigo is “probably is the one I’m proudest of.”

“It’s the way it connects with the crowd,” he added.

Bono also admitted that he hates U2’s name, which was first suggested by Steve Averill of Dublin band The Radiators, who went on to design many of U2’s album covers, in the late 1970s.

“I really don’t [like it],” he said.

“But I was late into some kind of dyslexia. I didn’t realise that The Beatles was a bad pun either.

“In our head it was like the spy plane, U-boat, it was futuristic - as it turned out to imply this kind of acquiescence, no I don’t like that name. I still don’t really like the name.

“Paul McGuinness, our first manager, did say, 'Look, it’s a great name, it’s going to look good on a T-shirt, a letter and a number.’”