Singer-songwriter and philanthropist Paul David Hewson just won this year’s prestigious Woman of the Year award from Glamour.
Hewson joins the gold-standard ranks of women including Olympian Simone Biles, the founders of #BlackLivesMatter Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi, first female finance minister of France Christine Lagarde, and several more women who have shaped our year and carved a path into the future.
But everyone’s talking about this Irish billionaire musician. He did a lot of really nice things for women, and gosh darn it, he gets a gold star.
After hearing the news, he called his wife, Alison Hewson, as Glamour writes: “I asked did she think I deserved it. She wasn’t sure. She said I’ve work to do!”
The wife of this Woman of the Year award winner has been involved in anti-nuclear activism since the 90s, and in 2004 tabloids speculated that the Labour Party wanted to put Hewson up for the Irish presidential election. Her work with the Chernobyl Children’s Project inspired a Cranberries song, and she received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the National University of Ireland for her work on environmental issues.
Who were we talking about again? Oh, yes, Paul David Hewson. This amazing Woman of the Year was named one of the 100 Greatest Britons in 2002 in a public poll despite the fact he is Irish, and the most politically effective celebrity of all time by the National Journal. He was named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” in May 2004 and again in the 2006. Breaking glass ceilings everywhere.
In 2005 he recorded a version of “Don’t Give Up” with Alicia Keys, with proceeds going to Keys’ Keep a Child Alive foundation, a non-profit organization that provides medicine to families with HIV and AIDS in Africa. Keys’ philanthropic work with those affected by HIV has continued since childhood when her mother’s friend died from the disease. She now uses her fame to empowering the next generation of women.
Wait, sorry, back to the amazing PDH. He received the Philadelphia Liberty Medal in 2007, along with a $100,000 prize. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala accepted the award on behalf of Debt AIDS Trade Africa. Okonjo-Iweala served two terms as Finance Minister of Nigeria, was the first female, black candidate to contest for the presidency of the World Bank Group, and was Managing Director of the World Bank from 2007 to 2011. She is Chair of the Board of the African Union’s African Risk Capacity and Chair of the Board of the Nelson Mandela Institution. Among other awards, she’s been listed for 5 consecutive years as one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the World by Forbes Magazine.
What were we saying? Oh, right. Paul David Hewson, Glamour’s first Man of the Year on the Women of the Year list, has done some noteworthy things for women around the world. He also sometimes goes by the nickname Bono.
Meanwhile, fellow award-winning musician Bob Dylan is probably still shaking his head and hiding with the blinds closed.
