U2 are a rock band from Dublin, Ireland. The band consists of Bono (vocals and guitar), The Edge (guitar, keyboards, and vocals), Adam Clayton (bass guitar) and Larry Mullen, Jr. (drums and percussion).
The band formed in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency. By the mid-1980s, however, the band had become a top international act, noted for their anthemic sound, Bono's impassioned vocals, and The Edge's textural guitar playing. Their success as a live act was greater than their success at selling records until their 1987 album The Joshua Tree[1] increased the band's stature "from heroes to superstars," according to Rolling Stone.[2] U2 responded to the dance and alternative rock revolutions, and their own sense of musical stagnation by reinventing themselves with their 1991 album Achtung Baby and the accompanying Zoo TV Tour. Similar experimentation continued for the rest of the 1990s. Since 2000, U2 have pursued a more traditional sound that retains the influence of their previous musical explorations.
U2 have won more Grammy Awards than any other band.[3] In 2005, the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone magazine listed U2 at #22 in its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.[4] Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and social justice causes, including Amnesty International, the ONE Campaign, and Bono's DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa) campaign.
Formation and early years (1976–1979)


U2 in 1979: (left to right) Clayton, Mullen, Bono, Edge
The band formed in Dublin on 25 September 1976.[5] Larry Mullen, Jr., then 14, posted a notice on his secondary school notice board (Mount Temple Comprehensive School) seeking musicians for a new band. Seven teenage boys attended the initial practice in Mullen's kitchen. It was, as Mullen put it, "'The Larry Mullen Band' for about ten minutes, then Bono walked in and blew any chance I had of being in charge." The group featured Mullen on drums, Paul Hewson (Bono) on lead vocals, Dave Evans (The Edge) and his brother Dik Evans on guitar, Adam Clayton, a friend of the Evans brothers on bass guitar, and initially Ivan McCormick and Peter Martin, two other friends of Mullen.[6] Soon after, the group settled on the name "Feedback", because it was one of the few technical terms they knew.[7] Martin did not return after the first practice, and McCormick left the group within a few weeks. Most of the group's material initially consisted of cover versions, which the band said was not their forte.[citation needed] The original material the band did write demonstrated a sound influenced by their post-punk peers.[8]
We couldn't believe it. I was completely shocked. We weren't of an age to go out partying as such but I don't think anyone slept that night....Really, it was just a great affirmation to win that competition, even though I've no idea how good we were or what the competition was really like. But to win at that point was incredibly important for morale and everyone's belief in the whole project.
— The Edge on winning the CBS competition[9]
In March 1977, the band changed their name to "The Hype".[10] Dik Evans, who was older and by this time at college, was becoming the odd man out. The rest of the band was leaning towards the idea of a four-piece ensemble and he was "phased out" in March 1978. During a farewell concert in the Presbyterian Church Hall in Howth, which featured The Hype playing covers, Dik ceremoniously walked offstage. The remaining four band members completed the concert playing original material as "U2".[11] Steve Averill, a punk rock musician and family friend of Clayton's, had suggested six potential names from which the band chose "U2" for its ambiguity and open-ended interpretations, and because it was the name that they disliked the least.[12]
On Saint Patrick's Day in 1978, U2 won a talent show in Limerick, Ireland. The prize consisted of £500 and funding to record a demo, which was an important milestone and affirmation for the fledgling band.[11] The band recorded their first demo tape at Keystone Studios, in Harcourt Street, Dublin, in April 1978.[13] In May, Paul McGuinness, who had earlier been introduced to the band by Hot Press journalist Bill Graham, agreed to be U2's manager.[14] U2's first release, an Ireland-only EP entitled Three, was released in September 1979 and was the band's first Irish chart success.[15] In December 1979, U2 performed in London for their first shows outside Ireland, although they failed to get much attention from audiences or critics.[16] In February 1980, their second single "Another Day" was released on the CBS label, but again only for the Irish market.[17]
[edit] Boy, October, and War (1980–1983)
Island Records signed U2 in March 1980, and "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" became the band's first internationally released single that May.[18] The band's debut album, the Steve Lillywhite produced Boy, followed in October, and received generally positive reviews.[19] Although Bono's lyrics were unfocused and seemingly improvised, a common theme was the dreams and frustrations of adolescence.[20] The album included the band's first United Kingdom hit single, "I Will Follow". Boy's release was followed by U2's first tour of continental Europe and the United States.[21] Despite being unpolished, these early live performances demonstrated U2's potential, as critics noted that Bono was a "charismatic" and "passionate" showman.[22]
The band's second album, October, was released in 1981 and contained overtly spiritual themes. Bono, The Edge, and Mullen had joined a Christian group in Dublin called the 'Shalom Fellowship', which led them to question the relationship between the Christian faith and the rock and roll lifestyle.[23] The album received mixed reviews and limited radio play. It did not sell well outside of the UK, which put pressure on their contract with Island and focused the band on improvement.[24]
Resolving the doubts of the October period, U2 released War in 1983.[25] A record where the band "turned pacifism itself into a crusade,"[26] War's sincerity and "rugged" guitar was intentionally at odds with the "cooler" synth-pop of the time.[27] The album included "Sunday Bloody Sunday," where Bono had lyrically tried to contrast the events of Bloody Sunday with Easter Sunday.[28] Rolling Stone magazine wrote that the song showed the band was capable of deep and meaningful songwriting. War was U2's first album to feature the photography of Anton Corbijn, who remains U2's principal photographer and has had a major influence on their vision and public image.[29] U2's first commercial success, War debuted at number one in the UK, and its first single, "New Year's Day", was the band's first overseas hit.[30]
On the subsequent War Tour, the band performed to sold-out concerts in mainland Europe and the U.S. The image of Bono waving a white flag during performances of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" became a familiar sight.[31] U2 recorded the Under a Blood Red Sky live album on this tour and a live video was released, both of which received extensive play on the radio and MTV, expanding the band's audience and cementing the band's prowess as a live band.[32] Their generally unfavourable record deal with Island Records was coming to an end, and in 1984 U2 signed a highly lucrative extension. They negotiated the return of their copyrights (such that they owned the rights to their own songs), an increase in their royalty rate, and a general improvement in terms, at the expense of a larger initial payment.[33]
In July 2008, U2 released re-mastered and deluxe versions of Boy, October, and War. [34]
[edit] The Unforgettable Fire and Live Aid (1984–1985)
We knew the world was ready to receive the heirs to The Who. All we had to do was to keep doing what we were doing and we would become the biggest band since Led Zeppelin, without a doubt. But something just didn't feel right. We felt we had more dimension than just the next big anything, we had something unique to offer. The innovation was what would suffer if we went down the standard rock route. We were looking for another feeling.
— Bono on The Unforgettable Fire's new direction.[35]
The Unforgettable Fire was released in 1984. Ambient and abstract, it was at the time the band’s most marked change in direction.[36] The band feared that following the overt rock of the War album and tour, they were in danger of becoming another "shrill", "sloganeering arena-rock band".[37] Thus, experimentation was sought[38] as Adam Clayton recalls, "We were looking for something that was a bit more serious, more arty."[35] The Edge admired the ambient and "weird works" of Brian Eno, who, along with his engineer Daniel Lanois, eventually agreed to produce the record.[39]
The Unforgettable Fire has a rich and orchestrated sound. Under Lanois' direction, Larry's drumming became looser, funkier, and more subtle and Adam's bass became more subliminal; the rhythm section no longer intruded, but flowed in support of the songs.[40] Complementing the sonic atmospherics, the album's lyrics are open to many interpretations, providing what the band called a "very visual feel".[36] Bono's recent immersion in fiction, philosophy, and poetry made him realise that his songwriting responsibilities—about which he had always been reluctant—were a poetic one. Due to a tight recording schedule, however, Bono felt songs like "Bad" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)" were incomplete "sketches".[41] "Pride (In the Name of Love)", about Martin Luther King, was the album's first single and became the band's biggest hit at that point, including being their first to enter the U.S. top 40.[42]
Much of The Unforgettable Fire Tour moved into indoor arenas as U2 began to win their long battle to build their audience.[44] The complex textures of the new studio-recorded tracks, such as "The Unforgettable Fire" and "Bad", were problematic to translate to live performance.[36] One solution was programmed sequencers, which the band had previously been reluctant to use, but are now used in the majority of the band's performances.[36] Songs on the album had been criticised as being "unfinished", "fuzzy", and "unfocused", but were better received by critics when played on stage.[45]
U2 participated in the Live Aid concert for Ethiopian famine relief at Wembley Stadium in July 1985.[46] U2's performance was considered one of the show's most memorable and was a turning point in the band's career.[47] During the song "Bad", Bono leapt down off the stage to embrace and dance with a fan, showing a television audience of millions the personal connection that Bono could make with audiences.[48] In 1985, Rolling Stone magazine called U2 the "Band of the 80s," saying that "for a growing number of rock-and-roll fans, U2 have become the band that matters most, maybe even the only band that matters."[49]
[edit] The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum (1986–1989)
Motivated by friendships with Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and Keith Richards, the band looked back to the roots of rock music, and Bono focused on his skills as a song and lyric writer.[50] Realising "that U2 had no tradition", the band explored American blues, country, and gospel music.[51] For their fifth album, the band wanted to build on The Unforgettable Fire's atmospherics, but instead of its out-of-focus tracks, they sought a harder-hitting sound within the strict discipline of conventional song structures.[52] U2 interrupted their 1986 album sessions to serve as a headline act on Amnesty International's A Conspiracy of Hope tour, but rather than be a distraction, the tour added extra intensity and power to their new music.[53] In his 1986 travels to San Salvador and Nicaragua, Bono saw the distress of peasants bullied in internal conflicts subject to American political intervention. This first-hand experience later became a central influence on the new music. The band wanted music with a sense of location, a 'cinematic' quality; the album's music and lyrics draw on imagery created by American writers whose works the band had been reading.[54]
The wild beauty, cultural richness, spiritual vacancy and ferocious violence of America are explored to compelling effect in virtually every aspect of The Joshua Tree—in the title and the cover art, the blues and country borrowings evident in the music...Indeed, Bono says that "dismantling the mythology of America" is an important part of The Joshua Tree's artistic objective.
— Rolling Stone[55]
The Joshua Tree[56] was released in March 1987. The album juxtaposes antipathy towards America against the band's deep fascination with the country, its open spaces, freedom, and what it stands for.[57] It became the fastest-selling album in British chart history, and was number one for nine weeks in the United States.[58] It won U2 their first two Grammy Awards.[59] The album's first two singles, the 'rock & roll bolero "With or Without You"[37] and the rhythmic gospel "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", quickly went to number one in the U.S. U2 became the fourth rock band to be featured on the cover of Time magazine,[60] which declared U2 "Rock's Hottest Ticket".[61] The album brought U2 a new level of success and is cited by Rolling Stone as one of rock's greatest.[62] The Joshua Tree Tour was the first during which the band played numerous stadium shows alongside smaller arena shows.[63]
The documentary Rattle and Hum featured footage recorded from The Joshua Tree Tour, and the accompanying double album of the same name included nine studio tracks and six live U2 performances. Released in record stores and cinemas in October 1988, the album and film were intended as a tribute to American music.[64] The film included tracks recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis and tracks performed with Bob Dylan and B. B. King. Despite a positive reception from fans, Rattle and Hum received mixed reviews from both film and music critics;[65] one Rolling Stone editor spoke of the album's "excitement", another described it as "bombastic and misguided".[66] The film's director, Phil Joanou, described it as "an overly pretentious look at U2".[67] Most of the album's new material was played on 1989's Lovetown Tour, which primarily consisted of shows in Australia and Europe. With a sense of musical stagnation, Bono announced at an end-of-decade concert that U2 had come to the end of an era and had to "...go away and just dream it all up again".[68]
[edit] Achtung Baby, Zoo TV, and Zooropa (1990–1993)
Buzzwords on this record were trashy, throwaway, dark, sexy, and industrial (all good) and earnest, polite, sweet, righteous, rockist and linear (all bad). It was good if a song took you on a journey or made you think your hifi was broken, bad if it reminded you of recording studios or U2...Berlin became a conceptual backdrop for the record. The Berlin of the Thirties—decadent, sexual and dark—resonating against the Berlin of the Nineties—reborn, chaotic and optimistic...
— Brian Eno on the recording of Achtung Baby[69]
In November 1991, U2 released their seventh studio album, Achtung Baby. Stung by criticism of Rattle and Hum, the band made a calculated change in musical and thematic direction, their most dramatic since The Unforgettable Fire.[70] Sonically, Achtung Baby incorporated dance, industrial, and alternative rock influences of the time and the band referred to the album as the sound of "four men chopping down the Joshua Tree".[71] Thematically, it was a more inward-looking and personal record; it was darker, yet at times more flippant, than the band's previous work. Commercially and critically, it has been one of the band's most successful albums and a crucial part of the band's early 1990s reinvention.[72] Like The Joshua Tree, it is cited by Rolling Stone as one of rock's greatest.[62]
The band initially worked on Achtung Baby in East Berlin, seeking inspiration and renewal on the eve of German reunification. Daniel Lanois produced the album with assistance from Brian Eno.[73] In the Berlin sessions, conflict arose within the band over the quality of material and musical direction. While Adam and Larry preferred a sound similar to U2's previous work, Bono and The Edge were inspired by alternative and European dance music and advocated a change. Weeks of slow progress, arguments, and tension subsided when the band rallied around a chord progression The Edge had written, creating the song "One".[74]
The Zoo TV Tour of 1992–1993 was a multimedia event, and showcased an extravagant but intentionally bewildering array of hundreds of video screens, upside-down flying Trabant cars, mock transmission towers, satellite TV links, subliminal text messages, and Bono's over-the-top stage characters such as "The Fly", "Mirror-Ball Man", and "(Mister) MacPhisto". The extravagant shows were intentionally in contrast to the austere staging of previous U2 tours, and mocked the excesses of rock and roll by appearing to embrace these very excesses. The shows were, in part, U2's way to represent the pervasive nature of cable television and its blurring of news, entertainment, and home shopping.[76] Prank phone calls were made to President Bush, the United Nations, and others. Live satellite uplinks to war-torn Sarajevo caused controversy.[77]
Quickly recorded and released during a break in the Zoo TV tour in mid-1993, the Zooropa album continued many of the themes from Achtung Baby and the Zoo TV tour. Initially intended as an EP, the band expanded Zooropa into a full-length LP album. It was an even greater departure from the style of their earlier recordings, incorporating techno influences and other electronic effects.[78] In keeping with this intentional departure from their previous style, Bono stepped down from the mic for the final track on Zooropa, and invited Johnny Cash to perform "The Wanderer".
Most of the songs were played at least once during the 1993 leg of the tour, which extended through Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan; half the album's tracks became fixtures in the set.[79]
[edit] Passengers, Pop, and PopMart (1995–1998)
In 1995, U2 released an experimental album called Original Soundtracks 1. Brian Eno, producer of three previous U2 albums, contributed as a full partner, including writing and performing. For this reason, and due to the record's highly experimental nature, the band chose to release it under the moniker "Passengers" to distinguish it from U2's conventional albums. It was commercially unnoticed by U2 standards and it received generally poor reviews. However, the single "Miss Sarajevo" featuring Luciano Pavarotti, and which Bono cites as one of his favourite U2 songs,[80] was a hit.
It's not enough to write a great lyric; it’s not enough to have a good idea or a great hook, lots of things have to come together and then you have to have the ability to discipline and screen. We should give this album to a re-mixer, go back to what was originally intended, so that 'Mofo' is on top of the stickiest groove with a proper plastic attack, 'Do You Feel Loved' is done as a liquid bass line hook that carries the intimacies whispered on top of it, 'If God Will Send His Angels' should be diamonds and pearls.
— Bono on Pop[81]
On 1997's Pop, U2 continued experimenting; Tape loops, programming, rhythm sequencing, and sampling provided much of the album with heavy, funky dance rhythms.[82] Released in March, the album debuted at number one in 35 countries, and drew mainly positive reviews.[83] Rolling Stone, for example, stated that U2 had "defied the odds and made some of the greatest music of their lives."[84] Others felt that the album was a major disappointment and sales were poor compared to previous U2 releases.[85] The band was hurried into completing the album in time for the impending pre-booked tour, and Bono admitted that the album "didn't communicate the way it was intended to".[86]
The subsequent tour, PopMart, commenced in April 1997. Like Zoo TV, it featured advertising influences and was intended to send a sarcastic message to those accusing U2 of commercialism. The stage included a 100-foot (30 m) tall golden yellow arch (reminiscent of the McDonald's logo), a 150-foot (46 m) long video screen, and a 40-foot (12 m) tall mirrorball lemon. U2's "big shtick" failed, however, to satisfy many who were seemingly confused by the band's new kitsch image and elaborate sets.[87] The late delivery of Pop meant rehearsal time was severely reduced, and performances in early shows suffered.[88] A highlight of the tour was a concert in Sarajevo where U2 were the first major group to

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