U2 is being honored with the award of a lifetime.
The Irish band known for using its humanitarianism as much as its musical legacy have been named the honorees of the prestigious 2025 Woody Guthrie Prize.
Each year, the Woody Guthrie Prize is awarded to an artist who best exemplifies the spirit of the folk music legend through by speaking out for those less fortunate through their work and by advocating for social change. Band members Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. have been doing just that for half a century.
“U2 embodies the mission of the Woody Guthrie Prize, using music to confront injustice and inspire action,” says Cady Shaw, Senior Director, Woody Guthrie Center. “By presenting the 2025 Woody Guthrie Prize to U2, we honor a legacy of music that continues to challenge who we are and connect us the world over.”
U2 formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1976, cultivating one of the longest-running careers in rock music. The band has become synonymous with themes of justice, love, hope, and peace, which have been present in their music throughout the last five decades. U2’s body of work confronts social issues head on, including hits like “Pride (In the Name of Love),” “War,” and “One.”
“You know Dr. [Martin Luther] King’s great line about, the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice? I don’t think that’s true anymore. But I think we have to bend it,” Bono told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year.
In addition to be honored with the 2025 Woody Guthrie Prize, the band members are also recipients of Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award, which honors artists who use their platform to advance the cause of human rights.
Woody Guthrie was a beloved folk artist whose works centered around themes of social issues, including American socialism. Guthrie penned classics including “This Land Is Your Land,” and many of his works have been archived by the Library of Congress. Guthrie died in 1967 at the age of 55, and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
Frontman, Bono, and guitarist, The Edge, will accept the award on behalf of the band on Oct. 21 at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The evening will serve as a fundraising event, and will include an appearance from Woody Guthrie’s granddaughter, Anna Canoni.
