U2

Band Members

Bono (Paul David Hewson, b. May 10, 1960, Dublin, Ireland): vocals, guitars. 1976 to date.

The Edge (David Howell Evans, b. August, 8, 1961, Barking, Essex, England): guitars, keyboards, vocals. 1976 to date.

Adam Clayton (b. March 13, 1960, Chinnor, Oxfordshire, England): bass, vocals. 1976 to date.

Larry Mullen, Jr. (b. October 31, 1961, Dublin, Ireland): drums, vocals. 1976 to date.

Dik (Richard G.) Evans (b. 1957, Barking, Essex, England): guitars, 1976 – 1978.

Ivan McCormick (b. England, 1963): guitars, 1976.

Biographical Sketch

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin, formed in 1976. The group consists of Bono (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), the Edge (lead guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals), Adam Clayton (bass guitar), and Larry Mullen Jr. (drums and percussion). Initially rooted in post-punk, U2’s musical style has evolved throughout their career, yet has maintained an anthemic quality built on Bono’s expressive vocals and the Edge’s chiming, effects-based guitar sounds. Their lyrics, often embellished with spiritual imagery, focus on personal and sociopolitical themes. Popular for their live performances, the group have staged several ambitious and elaborate tours over their career.

The band, intially briefly known as Feedback (1976 – 1977) and The Hype (1977 – 1978), was formed when the members were teenaged pupils of Mount Temple Comprehensive School and had limited musical proficiency. Within four years, they signed with Island Records and released their debut album, Boy (1980). Subsequent work such as their first UK number-one album, War (1983), and the singles Sunday Bloody Sunday and Pride (In the Name of Love) helped establish U2’s reputation as a politically and socially conscious group. By the mid-1980s, they had become renowned globally for their live act, highlighted by their performance at Live Aid in 1985. The group’s fifth album, The Joshua Tree (1987), made them international superstars and was their greatest critical and commercial success. Topping music charts around the world, it produced their only number-one singles in the US to date: With or Without You and I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.

Facing creative stagnation and a backlash to their documentary / double album, Rattle and Hum (1988), U2 reinvented themselves in the 1990s. Beginning with their acclaimed seventh album, Achtung Baby (1991), and the multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour, the band pursued a new musical direction influenced by alternative rock, electronic dance music, and industrial music, and they embraced a more ironic, flippant image. This experimentation continued through their ninth album, Pop (1997), and the PopMart Tour, which were mixed successes. U2 regained critical and commercial favour with the records All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2000) and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004), which established a more conventional, mainstream sound for the group. Their U2 360° Tour of 2009 – 2011 set records for the highest-attended and highest-grossing concert tour, both of which were surpassed in 2019. The group most recently released the companion albums Songs of Innocence (2014) and Songs of Experience (2017), the former of which received criticism for its pervasive, no-cost release through the iTunes Store.

U2 have released 14 studio albums and are one of the world’s best-selling music artists, having sold an estimated 150 – 170 million records worldwide. They have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, and in 2005, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 on its list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and social justice causes, including Amnesty International, Jubilee 2000, the ONE/DATA campaigns, Product Red, War Child, and Music Rising.

Read more about U2 on Wikipedia.

Major Awards and Honors

Hall of Fame Inductions

Rock’n Roll Hall of Fame

• 2005: U2 (Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr.)

Grammy Hall of Fame

• 2014: Rock Album – “The Joshua Tree”

Others

Grammies

American Music Awards

• 1977: Favorite Pop/Rock Album – “Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)”
• 1981: Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group
• 1996: Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group
• 1996: Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist
• 1996: Favorite Pop/Rock Album – “Hell Freezes Over”

Grammies

• 1988: Album of the Year – “The Joshua Tree”
  Grammy awarded to: Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois, producers.
• 1988: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “The Joshua Tree”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.), artists.
• 1989: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “Desire”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.), artists.
• 1989: Best Performance Music Video – “Where The Streets Have No Name”
  Grammy awarded to: U2, artists; Meiert Avis, director; Ben Dossett and Michael Hamlyn, producers.
• 1993: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “Achtung Baby”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.), artists.
• 1994: Best Alternative Music Performance – “Zooropa”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.), artists.
• 1994: Best Music Video, Long Form – “Zoo TV: Live from Sydney”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr.), artists; Ned O’Hanlon and Rocky Oldham, video producers; David Mallet, video director.
• 2001: Record of the Year – “Beautiful Day”
  Grammy awarded to: Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, producers; Steve Lillywhite and Richard Rainey, engineers / mixers.
• 2001: Song of the Year – “Beautiful Day”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.), songwriters.
• 2001: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “Beautiful Day”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.), artists.
• 2002: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “Elevation”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.), artists.
• 2002: Best Rock Album – “All that You Can’t Leave Behind”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.), artists.
• 2002: Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.), artists.
• 2001: Record of the Year – “Walk On”
  Grammy awarded to: Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, producers; Steve Lillywhite and Richard Rainey, engineers / mixers.
• 2005: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “Vertigo”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.), artists.
• 2005: Best Rock Song – “Vertigo”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.), songwriters.
• 2005: Best Short Form Music Video – “Vertigo”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.), artists; Alex and Martin, video directors.
• 2006: Album of the Year – “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”
  Grammy awarded to: Brian Eno, Flood, Daniel Lanois, Jacknife Lee, Steve Lillywhite & Chris Thomas, producers; Greg Collins, Flood, Carl Glanville, Simon Gogerly, Nellee Hooper, Jacknife Lee & Steve Lillywhite, engineers / mixers; Arnie Acosta, mastering engineer.
• 2006: Best Rock Album – “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.), artists.
• 2006: Song of the Year – “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.), songwriters.
• 2006: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.), artists.
• 2006: Best Rock Song – “City of Blinding Lights”
  Grammy awarded to: U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.), songwriters.

Golden Globe Awards
(Hollywood Foreign Press Association)

• 2003: Best Original Song – “The Hands That Built America”
  – Movie: Gangs of New York
• 2014: Best Original Song – “Ordinary Love”
  – Movie: Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

American Music Awards

• 2002: Artist of the Year – U2

MTV Video Music Awards

• 1987: Viewers’ Choice – “With or Without You”
• 1989: Best Video from a Film – U2 with B.B. King: “When Love Comes to Town”
  – From Rattle & Hum
• 1992: Best Group Video – “Even Better Than the Real Thing”
• 1992: Best Special Effects in a Video – “Even Better Than the Real Thing”
• 1995: International Viewer’s Choice for MTV Europe – “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”
• 2001: Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award – U2

MTV Europe Music Awards

• 1995: Best Group – U2
• 1997: Best Live Act – U2
• 1999: Fire Your Mind Award – Bono
• 2009: Best Live Act – U2
• 2017: Global Icon – U2

Meteor Music Awards (Ireland)

• 2001: Best Irish Band – U2
• 2001: Best Irish Album – “All that You Can’t Leave Behind”
• 2001: Best Irish Songwriter – Bono and The Edge
• 2002: Best Irish Band – U2
• 2002: Best Live Performance – U2
• 2002: Best Irish Songwriter – Bono and The Edge
• 2002: Best Irish Rock Album – “All that You Can’t Leave Behind”
• 2002: Best Irish Rock Single – “Walk On”
• 2002: Best Irish Video – “Elevation”
• 2002: Best Irish Songwriter – Bono
• 2002: Best Irish Musician – The Edge
• 2003: Best Irish Group – U2
• 2003: Humanitarian Award – Bono
• 2006: Best Irish Album – “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”
• 2006: Best Irish Band – U2
• 2006: Best Live Performance – U2
• 2010: Best Irish Album – “No Line on the Horizon”
• 2010: Best Irish Band – U2
• 2010: Best Live Performance – U2

Brit Awards

• 1988: Best International Group – U2
• 1989: Best International Group – U2
• 1993: Most Successful Live Act – U2
• 1998: Best International Group – U2
• 2001: Outstanding Contribution to Music – U2

Ivor Novello Awards (Great Britain)

• 1994: Special Award for International Achievement – U2
• 2002: Best Song Musically And Lyrically – “Walk On”
• 2003: Outstanding Song Collection – U2
• 2005: International Hit of the Year – “Vertigo”

People’s Choice Awards

• 2005: Favorite Musical Group or Band – U2
• 2006: Favorite Tour Artist – U2

Juno Awards (Canada)

• 1989: International Entertainer of the Year – U2
• 1993: International Entertainer of the Year – U2

Billboard Touring Awards

• 2005: Top Tour – Vertigo Tour
• 2005: Top Draw – Vertigo Tour
• 2005: Top Boxscore – Vertigo Tour
• 2009: Top Boxscore – U2 360° Tour
• 2010: Top Tour – U2 360° Tour
• 2010: Top Draw – U2 360° Tour
• 2011: Top Tour – U2 360° Tour
• 2011: Top Draw – U2 360° Tour
• 2017: Top Boxscore – The Joshua Tree Tour 2017

Rolling Stone Magazine

• 100 Greatest Artists of All Time: #2 – U2
• 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time: #38 – The Edge
• 100 Greatest Singers of All Time: #32 – Bono
• 500 Greatest Albums of All Time:
  • #124 – “Achtung Baby”
  • #135 – “The Joshua Tree”
• 500 Greatest Songs of All Time: 
  • #36 – “One”
  • #93 – “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”
  • #131 – “With or Without You”
  • #268 – “Sunday Bloody Sunday”
  • #378 – “Pride (In the Name of Love)”
  • #427 – “New Year’s Day”

VH1

• 100 Greatest Artists of Rock & Roll: #29 – U2

Discography

Band Releases

• Boy (1980)
• October (1981)
• War (1983)
• Under a Blood Red Sky (1983)
• The Unforgettable Fire (1984)
• The Joshua Tree (1987)
• Rattle and Hum (1988)
• Achtung Baby (1991)
• Zooropa (1993)
• Pop (1997)
• The Best of 1980–1990 (1998)
• All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2000)
• The Best of 1990–2000 (2002)
• How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004)
• The Complete U2 (2004)
• U218 Singles (2006)
• No Line on the Horizon (2009)
• Songs of Innocence (2014)
• Songs of Experience (2017)

Collaborations and Guest Appearances on Other Artists’ Albums

Original Soundtracks 1 (1995)
– With Brian Eno as “Passengers”.
Kendrick Lamar: DAMN (2017)
– Song: “XXX.” (featured appearance)

Compilations and Soundtracks

• They Call It An Accident (soundtrack) (1982)
  – Song: October
• A Very Special Christmas (1987)
  – Song: Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
• Red Hot + Blue (1990)
  – Song: Night and Day
• Batman Forever (1995)
  – Song: Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
• The End of Violence (1997)
  – Song: I’m Not Your Baby
• The Million Dollar Hotel (2000)
  – Songs: The Ground Beneath Her Feet and Stateless
• We’re a Happy Family (2003)
  – Song: Beat on the Brat
• Instant Karma (2007)
  – Song: Instant Karma
• We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial (DVD) (2009)
  – Songs: Pride (In the Name of Love) and City of Blinding Lights
• The 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Concerts (2010)
  – Songs: Vertigo, Magnificent, Because the Night (with Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith and Roy Bittan), I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (with Bruce Springsteen), Mysterious Ways, Where Is the Love? / One (with The Black Eyed Peas), Gimme Shelter (with Mick Jagger, Fergie and will.i.am), Stuck in a Moment That You Can’t Get Out Of (with Mick Jagger) and Beautiful Day

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The Joshua Tree

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Achtung Baby

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War

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All That You Can’t Leave Behind

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The Best of 1980 – 1990

From the Lyrics

Pride (In The Name Of Love)

(Album: The Unforgettable Fire)

“One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come, he to justify
One man to overthrow

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
[…]

One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed on an empty beach.
One man betrayed with a kiss
[…]

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride”

Sunday Bloody Sunday

(Album: War)

“I can’t believe the news today
Oh, I can’t close my eyes
And make it go away
How long …
How long must we sing this song
How long, how long …
’cause tonight … we can be as one
Tonight…

Broken bottles under children’s feet
Bodies strewn across the dead end street
But I won’t heed the battle call
It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
[…]

And the battle’s just begun
There’s many lost, but tell me who has won
The trench is dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters
Torn apart
[…]

Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away
[…]

And it’s true we are immune
When fact is fiction and TV reality
And today the millions cry
We eat and drink while tomorrow they die

(Sunday, Bloody Sunday)

The real battle just begun
To claim the victory Jesus won”

Where The Streets Have No Name

(Album: The Joshua Tree)

“I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I want to reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name

I want to feel sunlight on my face
I see the dust cloud disappear
Without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We’re still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It’s all I can do

The city’s aflood
And our love turns to rust
We’re beaten and blown by the wind
Trampled in dust
I’ll show you a place
High on a desert plain
Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We’re still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It’s all I can do
Our love turns to rust
We’re beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, and I see love
See our love turn to rust
We’re beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, when I go there
I go there with you
It’s all I can do”

Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of

(Album: All That You Can’t Leave Behind)

I’m not afraid
Of anything in this world
There’s nothing you can throw at me
That I haven’t already heard

I’m just trying to find
A decent melody
A song that I can sing
In my own company

I never thought you were a fool
But darling look at you
You gotta stand up straight
Carry your own weight
These tears are going nowhere baby

You’ve got to get yourself together
You’ve got stuck in a moment
And now you can’t get out of it

Don’t say that later will be better
Now you’re stuck in a moment
And you can’t get out of it

I will not forsake
The colors that you bring
The nights you filled with fireworks
They left you with nothing

I am still enchanted
By the light you brought to me
I listen through your ears
Through your eyes I can see

And you are such a fool
To worry like you do
I know it’s tough
And you can never get enough
Of what you don’t really need now
My, oh my
[…]

I was unconscious, half asleep
The water is warm ’til you discover how deep

I wasn’t jumping, for me it was a fall
It’s a long way down to nothing at all
[…]

And if the night runs over
And if the day won’t last
And if our way should falter
Along the stony pass
[…]

It’s just a moment
This time will pass

Walk On

(Album: All That You Can’t Leave Behind)

“And love is not the easy thing
The only baggage
That you can bring
And love is not the easy thing
The only baggage you can bring
Is all that you can’t leave behind

And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it’s a long way off
And if your glass heart should crack
And for a second you turn back
Oh no, be strong

Walk on
Walk on
What you got, they can’t steal it
No they can’t even feel it

Walk on
Walk on
Stay safe tonight

You’re packing a suitcase for a place
None of us has been
A place that has to be believed
To be seen

You could have flown away
A singing bird
In an open cage
Who will only fly
Only fly for freedom

Walk on
Walk on
What you got
They can’t deny it
Can’t sell it or buy it
[…]

And I know it aches
How your heart it breaks
And you can only take so much
[…]

Home
Hard to know what it is
If you never had one

Home
I can’t say where it is
But I know I’m going

Home
That’s where the hurt is
[…]

Leave it behind
You’ve got to leave it behind

All that you fashion
All that you make
All that you build
All that you break

All that you measure
All that you steal
All this you can leave behind

All that you reason
All that you care

It’s only time
And I’ll never fill up all my mind

All that you sense
All that you speak
All you dress up
And all that you scheme

All you create
All that you wreck
All that you hate”

Links

• U2’s official website
• U2 Station (unofficial site)
• U2Tours.com (unofficial site)
• ZooStation (unofficial site)
• Three Chords and the Truth (unofficial site)
• U2Start.com (unofficial site)
• U2Wanderer.org (unofficial site)
• U2’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame biography
• U2’s Billboard Magazine profile
• U2’s Allmusic Guide biography
• U2 at Britannica.com
• U2 at the Guardian
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• Reviews and blog posts related to U2 on this blog, Lioness at Large