It’s not the first time the U2 singer has received another country’s top award, with President Jacques Chriac presenting him with France’s Legion D’Honneur in 2004.
According to the band’s official website, Bono is “very flattered to be honoured, particularly if the honour – like its French counterpart – opens doors for his long-standing campaigning work against extreme poverty in Africa.”
On the musical front, Bono granted an exclusive Christmas Day interview to his old BBC Radio One pal Jo Whiley.
Talking about the follow-up to Vertigo, he revealed that: "Our band has certainly reached the end of where we've been at for the last couple of albums. I want to see what else we can do with it, take it to the next level. I think that's what we've got to do.
"We're gonna continue to be a band, but maybe the rock will have to go; maybe the rock has to get a lot harder. But whatever it is, it's not gonna stay where it is.”
Asked to expand on that, Bono said that they’re planning to write acoustically.
"I would like to do a couple of tunes in that direction, with just a lot of space around the voice. I'd like to strip things down; that's something I'd be very interested in at the moment."
In the meantime, U2’s new single, ‘Window In The Skies’, hits the racks this week with live 2006 versions of ‘Kite’ and ‘Zoo Station’ and their recent Leonard Cohen collaboration, ‘Tower Of Song’, among the bonus cuts.