In 1991, U2 returned with Achtung Baby, which was a major musical departure for the band, relying less on straight-ahead rock and roll and more on electronic sounds. The subsequent Zoo TV tour added many multimedia components to their usual stage show. Bono replaced his typical grand stage gestures with a character he created, The Fly, who was meant as an ironic parody of a rock star. As the tour continued over the course of the year, The Fly turned into the more demonic MacPhisto. Despite, or because of, all these stage antics, the tour was a huge success. Although the band promised a return to rock and roll with their next album, 1996’s Pop, was even more electronic and dance oriented. The record was a fairly big hit internationally but was regarded as a disappointment, especially in the United States where it did not sell as much as their previous albums. In 2000 U2 released what has become one of their most critically and popularly acclaimed albums, All That You Can't Leave Behind. In the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, the band has once again become a powerful politial and emotional pop force. The band won a total of 7 Grammys (in 2001 and 2002) for the album. Bono has gone on to even wider reknown, as the founder of DATA (Debt, Aid, Trade for Africa), a non-profit debt-relief advocacy group, prompting Time magazine to ask on its March 4 issue, "Can Bono Save The World?"

Bono has been married to Alison Stewart since 1982; they continue to live in Dublin with their children, Eve and Jordan.