Dierks Bentley Emails U2’s Bono

Dierks Bentley’s new album “Riser” draws on some of his deepest emotions and most creative thoughts he’s ever felt.  He started work on it following the death of his father.  But it also draws on a friendship he started three years ago with the lead singer of U2: Bono.  Dierks told Country Countdown USA that he recently contacted Bono about a song that he wrote for “Riser:” “I really love great songs.  If you’re in Nashville, you admire great songs.  U2 songs have that tension, either in music or lyrics.  So I love the energy of their music.  I’ve got to know Bono, and I actually sent him ‘Here On Earth,’ because I wanted him to sing on it, and he wrote back something nice, it was really intuitive.  He read into the part of the song where I say, ‘Please I’m on my knees, help me believe.’  Bono wrote, ‘Maybe you should put the word ‘Lord’ in there, since it’s a prayer.’ The fact that he read into that is so cool, because that was the point of the song.  This guy has reached such a low that he’s on his knees, and he has faith, but he’s being tested.  That song was inspired by my dad passing away, and also by the Sandy Hook school shooting.  Real grief, not natural order grief, how does faith play into that?  Anyway, I haven’t talked to Bono since then, but that he’d make time to write me back about that song speaks volumes about who he is as a person.  It means a lot.”

Dierks first met Bono three years ago when U2 performed in Nashville.  Dierks was one of several artists invited to dinner with Bono at the home of former Tennessee Senator Bill Frist.  That night, they discussed Bentley’s song “Home,” and Bono told him the song was very special.  That conversation led to Bono introducing Dierks’ performance of it at the ACM Awards.  The song was ultimately nominated for numerous awards including a Grammy.  Dierks Bentley’s new album “Riser” features “Here On Earth,” as well as his current Top 10 hit “I Hold On,” and it’s available February 25th.

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