Big Fan Dave Fanning defends Bono after singer admitted he hated U2's band name

Dave Fanning has responded to Bono’s comments about U2’s songs being “embarrassing”, saying that it’s just “a bit of a laugh.”

Earlier this week, Bono made it clear that he’s not a fan of his own singing voice – which he said makes him “cringe a little bit” - and admitted he can’t bear to listen to most of U2’s discography.

Dave, a broadcaster and longtime friend of the band, said that everyone gets embarrassed about things they did in the past and said that Bono’s voice has improved with age.

“I’d look at stuff like Reeling in the Years and think ‘Oh, I did wear a duffel coat like that’ or ‘Jeepers, I did have a bad beard,’” he said on Newstalk’s The Hard Shoulder on Wednesday.

“If you look back on your past and you’re not embarrassed, then you didn’t live.

“His voice has changed down throughout the years... Maybe the long his hair is, the stronger his vocals are. You’ve got to have fire in the belly and right through the whole way, Bono has had fire in the belly. It’s essential.”

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.

But Dave said that this is common for many new bands.

“A lot of bands aren’t that gone [on their names]. It’s one of the last things they think of sometimes,” the 65-year-old said.

“I was talking to Noel Hogan only last week, from The Cranberries. They, for the first while, were called The Cranberry Saw Us.

“With U2, it was Steve Averill [who suggested the name] and Paul McGuinness, the manager, said: ‘It will look good on t-shirts' and I think, when you think of the 80s and 90s, he was right.”