George W. Bush announced Friday that Irish rock star Bono will receive the George W. Bush Presidential Center's Medal for Distinguished Leadership.
Bush called Bono "the real deal" for his medical and economic efforts for those in need, according to an Instagram post Friday. Bono is the lead singer of U2 and has led philanthropy efforts all over the world. He has particularly worked to help the poor in African nations.
"Bono’s passion for ending poverty and disease is the real deal," Bush wrote. "He uses his celebrity not for personal gain, but to improve and save lives."
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Bono has famously performed at charity concerts, such as Live Aid in 1985, and has combined philanthropy and music in many other projects. He has critiqued systems of administering aid that are not focused on long-term development, and championed economic development as the logical goal of his efforts.
"Aid is just a stopgap," he said at Georgetown University in 2013. "Commerce [and] entrepreneurial capitalism take more people out of poverty than aid. We need Africa to become an economic powerhouse."
In Bush's Instagram post Friday, he expressed his thanks for Bono’s heart and leadership.
"I am thankful for his big heart and for his leadership, and I am proud to announce that he will be the first recipient of the @thebushcenter's Medal for Distinguished Leadership next spring," Bush wrote.
Bush also focused on African aid during his presidency. He has received applause even from his critics for his help in fighting major African health crises, specifically malaria and HIV/AIDS. In 2012, Bono praised Bush’s efforts against the spread of HIV/AIDS on Jon Stewart's "Daily Show."
Bono had previously criticized the U.S. decision to enter into the Iraq War, and Bush’s leadership, but a relationship grew out of the two’s shared concern for Africa. In 2005, Bono met Bush in the White House and advocated for more relief efforts to help the world’s poor.
"I’m representing the poorest and the most vulnerable people," Bono said at the time.
The Bush Presidential Center includes Bush's presidential library and the Bush Institute, which both seek to promote leadership. Bono will be awarded the center's first leadership medal in the spring of 2018.