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| U2 Biography : Biography of U2 |
Birth of the Band:
U2- one of the world's most popular and most creative musical bands in history, known for their electrifying sonic
effects coupled with soul searching, impressive lyrics- have been making for more than twenty five years original music
for the body and soul, all the while promoting social consciousness and making the world a better place.
It all started in the fall of 1976, when the fourteen years old Larry Mullen posted an add on the bulletin board of his
high school in Dublin "Mount Temple Comprehensive School", looking for musicians to form a new band.
Five students got together: Paul Hewson, (a.k.a Bono- born May 10, 1960, now vocalist), Larry Mullen-(born October 31,
1961, now drummer), Adam Clayton (Born march 13, 1960, now bass player), Guitarist- Dave Evans (a.k.a the Edge- born
August 8, 1961, now guitarist) and his older brother Dick formed a band they originally called "Feedback". Although
none of them could really sing or play music at the time, they persevered and dedicated all their free time for
rehearsal (mainly in Larry's kitchen) and quickly developed a strong and creative friendship.
They later on changed their name to the .Hype" and soon after Edge's brother left the band to join another group, they
thought of a catchier name for their band, one that would connect then to their audience and decided on U2!
The Road to Stardom:
In March 1978, while performing at a talent show in Ireland which they won, they impressed one of the judges at the
time-Jackie Hayden, who gave them studio time at CBS to record their first Demo.
Having graduated from school, and with Paul McGuinness as their manager, U2 started to pick up attention in Dublin and
released their first single in September 1979 "U2:3", an Irish only release, and another Number one in the Irish charts
"Another Day" in 1980.
Always on the move, U2 signed their first international agreement with "Island Records" and released their first album
"The Boy" in 1980, produced by Steve Lillywhite. Unique in their style of powerful music and influential songwriting,
often reflecting on their embrace of the Christian faith and addressing the period's troubles, their second album
"October" in 1981 followed and with their third album "War" in 1983, releasing the "New Year's Day" single. U2 had
reached the No1 in the UK charts and had finally entered the top 50 in the USA.
Capturing, breathtaking live performances in Europe and the US, included their performance of "Under a Blood Red Sky"
and they especially addressed the troubles in Ireland in "Sunday Bloody Sunday", during which Bono wrapped himself in a
white flag to symbolize the song's peaceful message.
In 1984, they produced their fourth album "The Unforgettable Fire", with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, and hit high on
the UK and US charts with the single "Pride (in the Name of Love)".
To further support their commitment to humanitarian causes, they played at "Live Aid Concert", "Ireland's self Aid",
and got involved with "Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope". Around that time, in 1985, the "Rolling Stone"
Magazine named U2 "The Band of the Eighties"!
However, they truly hit international Super stardom, and were called "Rock's Hottest ticket" on the cover of .Time"
magazine with the release of their Fifth Album: "The Joshua Tree". It was the fastest selling album in the UK, went
Platinum in 48 hours, reaching number one in more than 22 countries (With or without you, Still haven't found..,
Streets Have No Name). At the 1987 Grammys, they received the .Album of the Year' for the Joshua Tree, .Best Vocal of
the Year" for "I still haven't found what I am looking for" and the .Best Rock Performance' award.
The "Rattle and Hum' project followed which was a documentary about their American tour and a double soundtrack from
which the single "Desire" was the first UK number one single. After touring in Australia, New Zealand and Japan, they
ended the 80's with a New Year's Eve live show broadcast all over the world, and Bono announced that "it was time to go
away and dream it all up again".
After a lot of hard work in Berlin, they released "Achtung Baby' album in November 1991- a much more dance and
electronic kind of music. The "Fly" entered the UK charts at number 1 and "Mysterious ways" and .One" were top ten in
the USA. The following "Zoo TV" tour a visually stunning tour, filled with the latest electronics such as, suspended
cars used as spotlights, sound system that used over a million watts, a satellite dish, flashed ironic sayings and
records of the gulf war on gigantic video screens .was sending the message of how due to all this media we cannot tell
real war from video games anymore!
In July 1993, they released .Zooropa", their most experimental album so far, and won "Best Alternative Album of the
Year" in 1994. In 1995, the worked on "the Passenger project" and they released the single "Hold me, Thrill me, Kiss
me, Kill me" for the "Batman Forever" movie soundtrack, which was another great success. In 1996, Bono and Edge worked
on the "Goldeneye" James bond soundtrack for Tina Turner, while Larry and Adam worked on the "Mission Impossible"
soundtrack.
In March 1997, they released the album "Pop" and went on the "PopMart" tour, during which they used gigantic mirrorball
lemon and a gigantic olive and the world's largest screen. Most people didn't realize that by this set-up, U2 were
trying to make fun of themselves.
In 1998, they released the re-recorded "sweetest thing" which climbed the charts, and the "Best of: 1980-1990" which
achieved the highest selling of a Greatest Hits collection by any band ever. In March 2000, "Million Dollar Hotel" Bono
scripted movie was released and the U2 track "Ground beneath her feet" with lyrics written by the notorious writer
Salman Rushdie.
On Halloween 2000, the album "All that you can leave behind" was released, and the "Elevation" tour followed in 2001.
The album first entered the charts at number 1 in 29 countries. The singles "Beautiful day" and "Stuck in a moment" hit
number 1 in many countries. Rolling Stones called this album U2's third masterpiece and were named "Band of the Year".
In 2001, at the Grammys in New York, U2 won "Best performance by a Rock Duo or Group" award, the "Song of the Year"
Award for "Beautiful Day" and "the Record of the Year".
In 2002, Bono founded DATA (Debt, Aid, Trade, Africa) continued his campaigns to stop the debt in third world
countries. He made friends with political and social people of the highest status all over the world.
"The Best of 1990-2000" was released in 2002. It included two new songs, where "the Hands that built America" was used
as the theme song for "Gangs of New York" movie and won in January 2003, the Golden Globe award for "Best Original
Song".
U2, while putting their friendship before all else, have given music a whole new dimension for almost 3 decades now and
surely they will keep on surprising us by moving our feet and feeding our souls for many many more years to come.
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