Bono’s eldest daughter, Jordan Joy Hewson, is stepping into the music spotlight, making a dramatic shift from a successful tech career to pursuing music full time.
In a recent interview with The Irish Times, Hewson, 37, discussed her new five-track EP, LED Moon, released under the name Jordan Joy. Insisting that her move into music is anything but a “side-project,” she said a major rupture in her personal life helped open her up to songwriting.
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“I hope that I can put an album together soon,” she said. “That would be the goal,” she added, saying she’s “happiest making music.”
Who Is Bono’s Daughter Jordan Joy Hewson?
Jordan is the eldest child of U2 frontman Bono and activist and entrepreneur Ali Hewson. She has three younger siblings: actor Eve Hewson; Elijah Hewson, frontman of the Irish rock band Inhaler; and actor John Hewson.
Although music was part of her upbringing, Jordan said she never thought she could become an artist and found the music industry intimidating. Her siblings have since supported and advised her as she pursues her musical ambitions.
“Eve has a lot of experience with putting herself out there. She’s very focused. John is very wise, and he’ll tell me if something is good or crap. He’s got a great musical sensibility. In the early days, when I was starting to write songs, Eli was showing me the ropes. My cousin Duncan helped me demo my first songs to send to producers. So there’s a lot of support and interest in the family,” she told the Times.
What Was Bono’s Daughter Doing Before Music?
Before focusing on music, Jordan built a career in technology. She founded Speakable, a social-impact tech company, in 2016. Its Action Button product was designed to help people engage with causes and civic campaigns.
In 2019, she made Forbes’ European 30 Under 30 list for social entrepreneurs. She also studied political science at Columbia University before earning a master’s degree in fine arts in poetry.
Jordan experimented with music under the name Tenderhooks in 2023, but she said she wasn’t fully ready to embrace being an artist then.
“I didn’t think I could be an artist,” she said. “The industry looked intimidating. I think you have to really know who you are to be an artist. I was too young … and it wasn’t a part of myself I was open to.”
The Heartbreak That Helped Change Her Life
After NationBuilder acquired Speakable in 2021, Jordan left New York, where she had lived for 11 years, and returned to Dublin during the pandemic. Around the same time, she was navigating a breakup and major life change.
“My life did a 180,” she said of the company’s acquisition. “It was a lot of change. Music helped me get through things I was going through personally. Music came and found me.”
The upheaval helped Jordan open up to songwriting, leading her toward a creative path she hadn’t imagined for herself.
What to Know About Jordan Joy’s New EP, ‘LED Moon‘
Jordan’s five-track EP blends alt-pop with indie electronica and explores themes of love, change, and finding a sense of place. The track list opens with “LED Moon” and closes with “LED Moon (Slower),” which has an unusual origin story.
While attempting to record backing vocals, her brother Elijah accidentally slowed down the title track. Jordan then sang over her own pitch-shifted vocals, with harmonies added by frequent collaborator Jackson Phillips.
The EP also features “One on One,” “Don’t Kill the Vibe,” and “Indigo Girl,” and follows the release of several singles under the Jordan Joy name in 2026.
Jordan is now “creativity dating,” as she put it, finding new collaborators and joining writing sessions in Los Angeles, Norway, and London. She’s performed at open-mic nights but said she had not yet played an official live show under this project when she spoke to the Times. She planned her first official shows in the U.K. for November.
“I hope that I can put an album together soon,” she said. “That would be the goal.”
As for whether she’ll return to tech, Jordan was clear about where her ambitions lie: “I’m happiest making music. This is not a side-project.”
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