U2 are a rock band from Dublin, Ireland. Formed in 1976, 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). U2 have consistently been one of the most popular acts in the world since the mid-1980s. The band has sold upwards of 170 million albums worldwide,[1] and they have won 22 Grammy awards, more than any other rock artist.[2]
U2 formed in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency. By the mid-1980s, however, the band had released several successful albums and developed a devoted international following, largely from extensive touring. U2 became noted for its anthemic sound that emphasised Bono's vocals and The Edge's textural approach to guitar playing, as well as the band's political and social activism. The band reached a level of mega-stardom with their highly praised 1987 release The Joshua Tree. The band's transformation through their 1991 album Achtung Baby and the accompanying Zoo TV Tour was in response to criticism of their image, their own sense of musical stagnation, and the dance and alternative music revolutions. This experimentation, in both recording and performance, continued for the rest of the 1990s.
In the early years of the 21st century, U2 have pursued a more traditional sound while maintaining influences from their previous musical explorations. They continue to enjoy the highest level of commercial and critical success. The band is active in human rights and social justice causes, such as Amnesty International, Make Poverty History, the ONE Campaign, Live Aid, Live 8, Bono's DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa) campaign, and The Edge's Music Rising.

History

Formation and breakthrough (1976–1979)

U2 formed in Dublin, Ireland on 25 September 1976. Larry Mullen Jr., then fourteen, 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. Known for about a day as "The Larry Mullen Band," the group featured Mullen on drums, Adam Clayton on bass guitar, Paul Hewson (Bono) on lead vocals, Dave Evans (The Edge) and his brother Dick Evans on guitar, as well as Ivan McCormick and Peter Martin, two other friends of Mullen.[3] Soon after, the group settled on the name "Feedback", because it was one of the few technical terms they knew.[4] Martin did not return after the first practice, and McCormick left the group within a few weeks.
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[5]
In March 1977, the band changed its name to "The Hype".[6] Dick Evans, who was older and by this time at college, was becoming the odd man out as the rest of the band was leaning towards the idea of a four-piece; he was 'phased out' in March 1978. During a farewell concert in the Presbyterian Church Hall in Howth, which featured The Hype playing covers, Dick ceremoniously walked offstage. The remaining four band members completed the concert playing original material as "U2".[7]
The origin of the name "U2" is unclear. It is the name of a famous 1960s surveillance plane, the Lockheed U-2; however, the Dublin punk rock guru Steve Averill[8] claimed it was chosen by the band from a list of ten names created by him and Adam Clayton. In a 2002 interview with Larry King, Bono said "I don't actually like the name U2," and "I honestly never thought of it as 'you too'."[9]


U2's first release, the Three EP.
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.[7] The band recorded their first demo tape at Keystone Studios, in Harcourt Street, Dublin, in April 1978.[10] In May, Paul McGuinness, who had earlier been introduced to the band by Hot Press journalist Bill Graham, agreed to be U2's manager. U2's first release, an Ireland-only EP entitled Three, was released in September 1979 and soon reached the top of the Irish charts. In December 1979, U2 performed in London for their first shows outside Ireland, although they failed to get much attention from audiences or critics. In February 1980, their second single "Another Day" was released on the CBS label but again only for the Irish market.
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. The band's debut album, the Steve Lillywhite-produced Boy, followed in October and has been praised as one of the better debuts in rock history.[11] Despite Bono's unfocused, seemingly improvised lyrics, the hopes and frustrations of adolescence ran through the album as a lyrical theme[12] which touched on fear over sex, identity confusion, death and uncontrollable mood swings.[13] The album included the band's first hit single, "I Will Follow". Boy's release was followed by U2's first tour of continental Europe and the United States.[14] Despite their unpolished nature, these early live performances helped demonstrate U2's potential, as critics noted that Bono was a very "charismatic" and "passionate" showman.[15] 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.[16]
Music sample:
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" (1983) (file info) — play in browser (beta)
From the album War.
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Resolving the doubts of the October period, U2 released War in 1983. A record where the band "turned pacifism itself into a crusade,"[17] War's sincerity and "rugged" guitar was intentionally at odds with the "cooler" synth-pop of the time.[18] The album included the song "Sunday Bloody Sunday," where Bono had lyrically tried to contrast the events of Bloody Sunday with Easter Sunday.[19] Rolling Stone magazine wrote that the song showed the band was capable of deep and meaningful songwriting.[20] War was U2's first album to feature the photography of Anton Corbijn who remains U2 principal photographer and has had a major influence on their vision and public image.[21] U2's first commercial success, the album debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, and its first single, "New Year's Day", was the band's first overseas hit.[22]
For the first time, the band began performing to sold-out concerts in mainland Europe and the U.S. on their subsequent War Tour. The image of Bono waving a white flag during performances of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" became a familiar sight. U2 recorded the Under a Blood Red Sky album on this tour and a live video was released, both of which received radio and MTV play and helped expand the band's audience.[23] With their generally unfavourable record deal with Island Records coming to end, in 1984 U2 signed an unusually lucrative extension. Forgoing a larger initial payment, they instead negotiated the return of their copyrights such that they owned the rights to their own songs, extending their contract, increasing the royalty rate, and a general improvement in terms.[24]
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.[25]
The Unforgettable Fire was released in 1984. Ambient and abstract, it was at the time the band’s most marked change in direction.[26] 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".[27] Thus, rather than become another formula band, experimentation was sought;[28] as Adam Clayton recalls, "We were looking for something that was a bit more serious, more arty."[29] The Edge admired the ambient and 'weird works' of Brian Eno, who along with his engineer Daniel Lanois, eventually agreed to produce the record.[30]
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, such that the rhythm section no longer intruded, but flowed in support of the songs.[31] Complementing the sonic atmospherics, the album's lyrics are open to many interpretations, providing what the band called a "very visual feel".[26] Bono's recent immersion in fiction, philosophy and poetry, made him realise that his songwriting mission—about which he had always been reluctant—was 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".[32] "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, being their first to enter the U.S. top 40.
Music sample:
"The Unforgettable Fire" (1984) (file info) — play in browser (beta)
Sample of "The Unforgettable Fire" from the album The Unforgettable Fire (1984). Typical of the album, the song has a rich, symphonic sound built from ambient guitar and driving rhythm; a lyrical "sketch".[33]
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The Unforgettable Fire Tour saw U2 shows moving into indoor arenas in the United States, although in Europe they had not quite attained the same status yet. Translating the complex textures of the new studio-recorded tracks such as "The Unforgettable Fire" and "Bad" to live performance was problematic.[26] One solution was programmed sequencers, which the band had previously been reluctant to use, but are now used for the majority of U2 songs in performance.[26] Songs criticised as being "unfinished", "fuzzy" and "unfocused" on the album, made more sense on stage.[34]


U2's performance at Live Aid was a turning point in their career.
U2 participated in the Live Aid concert for Ethiopian famine relief at Wembley Stadium in July 1985.[35] A career turning point, U2's performance was considered one of the show's most memorable.[36] During the song "Bad", Bono leapt down off the stage to embrace and dance with a fan. Initially thinking they'd "blown it", it was, in fact, a breakthrough moment for the band, showing a television audience of millions the personal connection that Bono could make with audiences.[37] In 1985, Rolling Stone magazine called U2 the "Band of the 80's," 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."[38]
The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum (1986–1989)



U2's The Joshua Tree

Following the Unforgettable Fire, and realising "that U2 had no tradition, we were from outer space", the band explored American blues, country and gospel music.[39] Friendships with Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Keith Richards encouraged the band to look back to the roots of rock music and focused Bono on his skills as a song and lyric writer.[40] 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.[41]
U2 interrupted their 1986 album sessions to serve as a headline act on Amnesty International's A Conspiracy of Hope Tour; but rather than a distraction, the tour added extra intensity and power to their new music.[42] In his 1986 travels to San Salvador and Nicaragua, Bono saw first hand the distress of peasants bullied in internal conflicts subject to America political intervention, which became a central influence on the album. The album juxtaposes antipathy towards America against the band's deep fascination with the country, its open spaces, freedom and what it stood for.[43] The band wanted music with a sense of location, a 'cinematic' quality; its music and lyrics drew on imagery created by American writers the band had been reading.[44]
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[45]
Named The Joshua Tree as a "tribute" to (rather than a "metaphor" for) America,[46] the album was released in March 1987. It became the fastest selling album in British chart history and was number one for nine weeks in the United States.[47] It won U2 their first two Grammy Awards.[48] The rock & roll bolero[49] Its first two singles, "With or Without You" 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 (following The Beatles, The Band, and The Who), who declared that U2 was "Rock's Hottest Ticket".[50] The album brought U2 to a new level of mega-stardom and is often cited as one of rock's great albums.[51] The Joshua Tree Tour sold out arenas and stadiums around the world, the first time the band had consistently played venues of that size.
The documentary Rattle and Hum featured footage recorded from The Joshua Tree Tour shows 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. The film was recorded, in part, at Sun Studios in Memphis with tracks performed with Bob Dylan and B.B. King. Despite a positive reception from fans, Rattle and Hum received mixed-to-negative reviews from both film and music critics.[52] With a sense of musical stagnation, Bono announced at an end-of-decade concert that the weary U2 had come to the end of an era and had to "...go away and just dream it all up again".[53]
Achtung Baby, Zoo TV, 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[54]
In November 1991, U2 released the often experimental and distorted Achtung Baby. Hurt by the mixed reaction to Rattle and Hum,[55] the album was calculated change in musical and thematic direction; their most audacious shift since The Unforgettable Fire. Sonically, it incorporated both dance and industrial influences of the time; the band referred to it as the sound of "four men chopping down the Joshua Tree".[56] Thematically, it was a more inward-looking and personal record; both darker, yet sometimes more flippant, than the band's previous work. Commercially and critically it was one of the band's most successful albums and, like The Joshua Tree, is often cited as one of rock's greatest.[57] The album was a crucial part of the band's early 1990s reinvention.[58]
The band initially worked on Achtung Baby in East Berlin, again with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois producing. In the early sessions, conflict arose within the band over the direction of the album. While Adam and Larry preferred to keep a similar sound, Bono and The Edge were inspired by alternative and European dance music and advocated a change. Weeks of slow progress, argument, and frustration ended when Edge came up with a chord progression that the band quickly worked up into the song "One".[59]
Music sample:
"The Fly" (1991) (file info) — play in browser (beta)
Sample of "The Fly" – chosen as the first single from Achtung Baby (1991) because its hip-hop beats, distorted vocals and hard industrial edge sounded nothing like U2.[60]
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1992-1993's Zoo TV Tour 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 over-the-top stage characters such as "The Fly", "Mirror-Ball Man" and "(Mister) MacPhisto" played by Bono. U2 used the show to mock the excesses of rock and roll by appearing to embrace these very excesses. Live prank phone calls to President Bush caused controversy, as did satellite uplinks to war-torn Sarajevo.[61]


The Zoo TV stage
Recorded in 1993 during a break in the Zoo TV tour, the Zooropa album continued many of the themes from the Achtung Baby album and Zoo TV tour. Initially intended as an EP, Zooropa expanded into a full-fledged LP, and was released in July of 1993. It was an even greater departure from the style of their earlier recordings, incorporating techno style and other electronic effects. Most of the songs were played at least once in the 1993 leg of the tour through Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, with half the album's tracks becoming fixtures in the set.
Passengers, Pop, and Popmart (1995–1998)

After time off—and side projects including the Batman Forever and Mission: Impossible soundtracks—the band released an experimental album called Original Soundtracks 1 in 1995. 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" rather than "U2" to distinguish it from their conventional albums. Commercially, it was a relatively unnoticed album by U2 standards and received generally poor reviews, although the single "Miss Sarajevo" featuring Luciano Pavarotti, and which Bono cites as one his favourite U2 songs,[62] 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 base 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[63]
On 1997's Pop, U2 continued experimenting; utilising tape loops, programming, rhythm sequencing and sampling to gave much of the album a techno/disco feel. Released in March, the album debuted at #1 in 35 countries, and drew mainly positive reviews.[64] Rolling Stone stated that U2 had "defied the odds and made some of the greatest music of their lives."[65] Although highly regarded by some, many others, particularly American fans, felt that the album was a major disappointment and it was commercially disappointing by U2 standards. 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".[66]
The subsequent tour, Popmart, commenced in April 1997, and continued the Zoo TV theme of decadence. The set included a 100-foot tall golden yellow arch, a large 150-foot long video screen, and a 40-foot tall mirrorball lemon. Like Zoo TV, it featured advertising influences and was intended to send a sarcastic message to those accusing U2 of commercialism. U2's "big shtick" failed, however, to satisfy many seemingly confused by the band's new kitsch image and elaborate sets.[67] The late delivery of Pop meant that rehearsal time was severely reduced, which impacted the quality of early shows.[68] A highlight of the tour was the concert in Sarajevo where U2 was the first major group to perform following the war.[69] a concert which Larry Mullen described as "an experience I will never forget for the rest of my life, and if I had to spend 20 years in the band just to play that show, and have done that, I think it would have been worthwhile."[70] Although the tour was the second-highest grossing of 1997, costs meant that the tour's net profits were modest.[71]
After the tour concluded, the band released their first compilation album, The Best of 1980-1990, in 1998. The album saw the release of the popular single, "The Sweetest Thing".
"Reapplying for Best Band In The World" (2000-present)

All That You Can't Leave Behind is easy to relate to, full of solid songs that appeal to a wide audience with its clear notions of family, friendship, love, death, and re-birth. More Lanois than Eno on first impression, the sounds on this album come from a band that has digested the music it started to consume while making Rattle and Hum. This time they are neither imitating or paying tribute. This time it's soul music, not music about soul.
—Caroline van oosten de Boer[72]
In the early years of the 21st century, U2 have pursued a more traditional sound while maintaining influences from their previous musical explorations. All That You Can't Leave Behind, which reunited U2 with the production team of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, was released in October 2000. All That You Can't Leave Behind was considered by many of those not won over by the band's 1990s experimentation as a return to the grace;[73] Rolling Stone regarded it as U2's "third masterpiece" alongside The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby.[74] The album debuted at #1 in 22 countries[75] and spawned a world-wide hit single, "Beautiful Day," which earned three of six Grammy Awards associated with the album. "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of", "Elevation" and "Walk On" were other successful singles.


U2 performs at Super Bowl XXXVI Halftime Show, 3 February 2002
The Elevation Tour saw the band performing in a scaled-down setting, returning to arenas after nearly a decade of stadium productions, with a heart-shaped stage and ramp permitting greater proximity to the audience. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks the new album gained added resonance; in October, U2 performed a series of sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In later interviews, Bono and the Edge, would call these New York City shows among their most memorable and emotional performances. In early 2002, U2 performed during halftime of Super Bowl XXXVI.[76]
Following the success of the Elevation Tour, the band released two concert films from the tour, Elevation: Live from Boston and U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle in 2001 and 2003, respectively. Additionally, in 2002, the band released their second compilation album, The Best of 1990-2000, which saw the inclusion of two new tracks, "Electrical Storm" and "The Hands That Built America".
The band's next studio album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb was released on 22 November 2004. Sonically, the band were looking for harder-hitting rock than the previous All That You Can't Leave Behind and thematically, Bono asserts that "A lot of the songs are paeans to naiveté, a rejection of knowingness."[77] The first single "Vertigo" was featured on a widely-aired television commercial for the Apple iPod in conjunction with the release of special edition U2 iPod and an iTunes U2 box set. The album debuted at number one in 32 countries; first week sales in the US doubled that of the previous album and set a record for the band.[78] Claiming it as a contender as one of U2's three best albums, Bono said, "There are no weak songs. But as an album, the whole isn't greater than the sum of its parts, and it fucking annoys me."[79] Using a similar setup and stage design as the previous tour, the Vertigo Tour featured a setlist that varied more across dates than any U2 tour since the Lovetown Tour, including songs not played since the early 1980s. Much like the Elevation Tour, the Vertigo Tour was a large commercial success.[80]
Music sample:
"Vertigo" (2004) (file info) — play in browser (beta)
From the album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
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In 2005, Bruce Springsteen inducted U2 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[81] On 8 February 2006, U2 won Grammy Awards for each of the five categories they were nominated (see list of U2 awards).[82] The band released an extensive autobiography on 25 September 2006 entitled U2 by U2 drawn from interviews with contributing author/editor Neil McCormick. A compilation album U218 Singles was released on 21 November 2006, containing 16 of the band's best-known singles.[83] In October 2006, the band switched to Mercury Records after 26 years signed to Island Records, both of which are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. U2 are reportedly working on a new album[84] with producer Rick Rubin.[85] The band have said that the new material is heading in a new direction from the last two albums.[86]

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U2(Elevation)