Bono reveals he lived on airline food and instant mash at 14 after his mother died

Bono's diet consisted of instant mashed potatoes and airline food

The Irish singer's mother passed away from a sudden aneurysm while attending her father's funeral. Bono was just 14 years old.

The U2 singer told Ruthie's Table 4 podcast that he and his family struggled immensely after his mother's sudden death.

The 65-year-old singer said: "My relationship with food changed, I just saw it as fuel as something to get done, I took no pleasure in it."

He further explained that he, his brother, and father coped by eating pre-made airline dinners, which were easily available as Norman worked at Dublin airport.

"He [Norman] had talked the company into allowing him to bring home surplus airline food, prepared for airline passengers. The meals were sometimes still warm when he carried them in their tinned boxes into our kitchen," Bono read from his autobiography.

He detailed the dishes that he and his family used to eat, such as gammon steak with pineapple and lasagne. He described the meals as "exotic", but with "an aftertaste of tin".

They ate these dinners routinely for at least six months.

Bono went on to describe what they would have for tea before the airplane food came into play: "Most days I would usually return home with a tin of meat, a tin of beans and a packet of Cadbury’s Smash [instant mashed potato]."

He continued to cite from his book: "We used to buy a cheap fizzy drink called Cadet Orange because it had enough sugar to keep you going, but was so foul you wouldn’t want anything else down your throat for hours.

"We drank it after I would spend my food money on things far more important, like Alice Cooper’s 45 Hello Hooray."

Bono was a founding member of the iconic Irish rock band, U2, which formed in 1976, while the members were attending Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin.

U2 has since released 15 studio albums and has sold an estimated 150-170 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists.

The band have also racked up 22 Grammys, eight Brit Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards.