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Bono, the lead singer, with lead guitarist the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen started their band, U2 in the late 70’s after winning a battle of the Bands. Over the next decades U2 has had albums including “Joshua Tree”, “Rattle and Hum” and “Achtung Baby” as well as hits like “I Will Follow”, “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”, “Where the Streets have No Names”, “Bad” and “Beautiful Day”…. more

A Biography of U-2

Name a band that was considered great and successful in the 1980s. How about the ‘90s? How about the’00s? Now name a group whose greatness has spanned all three decades.  One such group is U2.

Only a few other bands can make claim to this type of achievement.  U2 has had many chart topping hits over the past 30 years, and they have done this on their own terms, both artistically and on the business side of the industry.  The band has broken free from the usual limitations that many other rock bands and rock music, have encountered in the same  era. They have amassed a passionate number of fans along the way--fans that follow them around the world and on the radio and into music stores. Along the way, they have also earned the respect of both peers and critics.  With their original sound and lyrics plus their profound social messages, U2 continues to change the way we think of rock n roll today.

But just who are the members of this band called U2?  And who are they as a group?

The current members are:

BONO:  He was born in May 1960 as Paul David Hewson.  Bono is both a singer and musician from Ireland, and is the lead vocalist for the band.  Raised in Dublin, bono attended Mt. Temple Comprehensive School.  He is married to Ali Hewson, whom he met at school.  He also met his future band-mates at school.  Bono writes most U2 songs himself, and usually imbues them with social, political and religious commentary.

THE EDGE: He was born in August 1961 as David Howell Evans.  He's currently a keyboardist, guitarist and back vocalist for the band.  He has a unique electric guitar timbre and style of playing which has been important in defning U2's sound.

ADAM CLAYTON:  He was born in March 1960 (and believe it or not, uses his real name). He is U2's bass player.  Adam has lived in Dounty Dublin since he was five years old.  In addition to playing with the band, he has worked with individuals on solo projects during his career. for instance, he worked with U2 band member Larry Mullen, Jr. to create the theme for the movie MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE.

LARRY MULLEN, JR:  He was born in October 1961 as Lawrence Mullen, Jr.  Born and raised in Dublin, he is currently U2's drummer, as well as a founding member (back when the group was known as The Larry Mullen Band).  During his career with U2, he has also worked on several side projects, including working with Adam Clayton to re-record the theme for MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE.

So now that we've met the members, let's look at how they came together and eventually formed the band, U2.

In 1976, the four members of the group were in school at Mount Temple High School.  Although today, we tend to think of U2 as Bono's group, at the time, it was Larry Mullen's band.  he posted an ad on the school bulletin board seeking other young people interested in creating a rock band. Bono, Adam Clayton and David and Dik Evans.  By their own admission, the group did not play very well at the time, but still they called themselves a band.  For a while they perforrmed under the name The Larry Mullen Band and then changed the name to Feedback.  Then they changed it again to "The Hype."

In the fall of 1977, The Hype performed at a Mount Temple High School talent contest.  By this time, they had honed their skills considerably, and thus they were well-received.  However, following the performance, Dik Evans left the band, leaving just four of them--the four who remain in the band today.

As the group entered the 1980s, they did so with their new name of U2.  For much of the early part of the decade, they remained disspirited, thanks to poor showings on the UK music charts and some bad reviews.  However, theyd id win several major categories in a Hot Press Reader's Poll.  And so, U2 kept trudging along, eventually signing an international recording deal with Island Records.  Under this label, U2 recorded their first single, "11 O'Clock Tick Tock."  The song was the group's comment about the lack of depth available on the London club scene.  The song was a hit in the UK.

After touring Britain, in October 1980, U2 released their first full-length LP Entitled "Boy," the rcord had a theme of moving from childhood to adulthood.  Rather than using a punk sound as in earlier work, U2 now had a more distinct alternative rock sound. 

U2 then went on their second tour.  After this, they settled down and recorded their second album, entitled "October."  One single, "Fire," had already been complted during a rest period in America; they recorded the song in the Bahamas and it became a hit.

In 1982, U2 was touring again, this time with a successful Dublin and London tour.  They reaffirmed their role as one of the decade's best live acts when they performed in front of 5000 eager fans at the Dublin RDS.  Then in March, the group released a new single entitled "a Celebration."  It reached the top 50 on the UK charts, marking "A Celebration' as another mild hit.  On the B side of the single is a song entitled "Trash, Trampoline and the Party Girl."  Bono wrote this song about Adam.  The song, recroded in two hours, was released without an album.

The third studio album for U2 was "War," and it was just as much a hit on tour as it was at the record shops.  The group's hard work at events paid worthwhile dividends, with the song "New Year's Day" reaching number 10 in the UK.  It reached the top 60 in the United States; the album itself reached the number one spot in the UK.

"War" as an album had a sound that was slightly different from "Boy" and "October."  The album showed the group's determnation in creating a different sound while attempting to discover their own musical roots.  From their formation, the group had developed their own rock style.  As of the making of this new album, the group decided the time had come to examine other styles and integrate them with their own when the opportunity presented itself.  This was epecially apparent with the single, "Seconds," in which the Edge played an acoustic guitar.  However, in "Two Hearts Beat as One" and "New Year's Day," the rhythm section and the bass dominated the first,a nd created an awe-inspiring number, even as the other produced an obvious rhythm-sound.

U2's "War" tour was quite successful,w ith numerous shows selling out.  Throughout this tour, a white flag was used by Bono to symbolize peace.  And during the California festival where they performed, along with David Bowie, John Cougar, Steve Nicks and the Pretenders), Bono caught fans' attention with his stage antics as he climbed to the stage top in order to get the attention of those toward the black. He then placed a white flag for everyone to see, again as a symbol for peace.  Those who attended the concert recall being very moved by the gesture.

In fact, U2 was becoming as well known for putting on a great concert as they were for their records / CDs.  As a result, U2 manager Paul McGuiness felt it was time to record a live U2 performance.

That live recording became "Under a Blood Red Sky."  It was recorded as part of their "War" tour.  By now, U2 solidified their place as premier rock artists. 1984 to 85 brought us "The Unforgettable Fire" and U2's performance at Live Aid, an event that seemed tailor-made for the group.

"Unforgettable Fire" was described as abstract and ambient, and was the band's most notable change in direction up to that point.  They did  so explaining they did not want to become known as just another shrill arena-rock band.  The risk paid off:  "Unforgettable Fire", because of its rich, symphonic sound, easily found an audience.  Some of the songs were initially criticized by critics as unfinished or unfocused, but received praise when performed live on stage.

The 1986 to 89 years for U2 can be summed up in three words:  "The Joshua Tree."  At this point, motivated by their friendships with Keith Richards, Bob Dylan and Van Morrison, the band looked back to the early roots of rock.  The group, and particularly Bono as the chief song writer, explored American blues, gospel, and country music.  They wanted ther next album to build on "Unforgettable Fire's" atmosphere, but they wanted a sound that was harder-hitting.  And so was born "Joshua Tree," released in 1987.  The recording juxtaposes antipathy aimed at America against U2's own fascination with the country, its freedom, open spaces, and principles.  The albumm that resulted became not only U2's biggest success, but the fastest-selling album in the history of the British musical charts.  It remained number one for nine consecutive weeksin the U.S.  Its first two singles, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for" and "With or Without You" zoomed to number one on the U.S. charts.  As a result, U2 became only the fourth rock band ever featured on TIME MAGAZINES'S cover.  The album also garnered the first two Grammys in U2's career.

For their next Album, U2 again made significant changes in their thematic and musical direction.  The album, "Achtung Baby," in fact, has the most dramatic change since "The Unforgettable Fire."  Completed in 1991, the album features hip-hop beats, a hard industrial edge, distorted vocals, a touch of alternative rock and a bit of European dance music.

Following the recording of "Achtung Baby" came U2's Zoo TV Tour, a true multimedia event, and the predecessor of today's huge multimedia U2 events.   In the midst of that tour was the "zooropa" album, continuing some of the themes from "Achtung Baby." Following this one was an experimental 1995 release, "Original Soundtracks."  The band admits this project did poorly. Nonetheless, they continued experimenting with new ideas: tape loops, rhythm sequencing, programming and sampling, all of which provided their next album with funky, heavy dance rhythms.  The album, "Pop," fed into their new PopMart tour.  Both the album and concerts received generally good reviews.  ROLLING STONE went so far as to call it some of the best music of U2's lives. The album and tour poked lighthearted fun at the 1990s pop culture, with an air of sarcasm.  Despite getting good reviews, though, "Pop" did not do as well financially as other recordings.

This leads us up to the U2 of the 21st Century.  Since the mediocre reception of "Pop," U2 has changed their sound again.  Their style now mixes conventional rock with some influences from their 1990s experiements. 

One of the big events of this decade was the group's performance at the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVI.  They had a rather hard-hitting sound in an album released in 2004, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," which was accompanied by their Vertigo Tour.  And of course, most recently, the band recorded their 12th album, "No Line on the Horizon," which is part of the current U2 360° Tour.

It's been a sometimes-rugged, always exhilirating journey for both U2 and their fans. And for their part, Bono and company seem prepared to continue the journey for several more years. 

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