Home
Members Bio
     Bono
     The Edge
     Adam Clayton
     Larry Mullen Jr.
Pictures
Videos
Music
News
Songs
Sitemap
Contact Us

U2

U2 is an Irish rock band formed in Dublin, featuring Bono (Paul David Hewson) on vocals, rhythm guitar and harmonica; The Edge (David Howell Evans) on lead guitar, keyboards and backing vocals; Adam Clayton on bass guitar; and Larry Mullen, Jr. on drums and occasionally backing vocals.

Formed in 1976, U2 has consistently remained among the most popular acts in the world since the mid 1980s. The band has sold approximately 50.5 million albums in the U.S., according to the RIAA, and upwards of 170 million worldwide, have had six #1 albums in the US and nine #1 albums in the UK and are one of the most successful bands of the rock era. The band has won 22 Grammy awards, more than any other recording artist.

The band is also politically active in human rights causes, such as the Make Poverty History campaign as well as Live Aid, Live 8, and Bono's DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa) campaign.

The band was formed in Dublin on Saturday, the 25th of September 1976. Larry Mullen, Jr., then fourteen, posted a notice on his secondary school bulletin board (Mount Temple Comprehensive School) seeking musicians for a new band. The response that followed that note resulted in seven boys attending the initial practice in Larry'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 vocals, Dave Evans (The Edge) on guitar, his brother Dik Evans on guitar and Mullen's friends Ivan McCormick and Peter Martin. Soon after, the group settled on the name Feedback. Martin only came to the first practice, and McCormick was out of the core group within a few weeks, being dismissed by Adam Clayton with the excuse that he was too young to play at the bars in which they would be booked.

After 18 months of rehearsals, Feedback changed their name to The Hype. The band performed with their new name at a talent show in Limerick, Ireland on 17 March 1978. One of the judges for the show happened to be CBS Records' Jackie Hayden; they won the contest, earning a £500 prize. Hayden was impressed enough with the band that he gave them studio time to record their first demo.

The origin of the name U2 is not clear. Although it is also the name of a famous 1960s spy plane, the Dublin punk rock guru Steve Averill (better known as Steve Rapid of The Radiators From Space) claimed that it was chosen by the band from a list of ten names created by him and Adam Clayton. In an interview with Larry King, Bono is quoted as saying "I don't actually like the name U2," and "I honestly never thought of it as 'you too'." Others feel that U2 derived its name from the Irish Unemployment form (in the same way as UB40 in the UK).

Dik Evans announced his departure in March 1978. The Hype performed a farewell show for Dik at the Community Centre in Howth. Dik walked offstage halfway through the set and later joined the Virgin Prunes, a fellow Dublin band. The remaining four members finished their performance as U2. In May, Paul McGuinness became U2's manager.

U2 released their first single (in Ireland only) in September 1979, entitled U2-3, as a 12 inch and subsequently a 7 inch. The first 1,000 12 inch copies were individually hand numbered and it went on to top the Irish charts. In December 1979, U2 performed in London, their first shows outside Ireland, but 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.

U2 made their first appearance on US television on Tomorrow hosted by Tom Snyder. It aired on 4 June 1981, and the band performed "I Will Follow" and "Twilight", followed by an interview.