Early rehearsals took place in their music teacher's classroom at Mount Temple. The remaining five members settled on the name "Feedback" for the group because it was one of the few technical terms they knew. McCormick was dropped from the group after a few weeks. Mullen later described it as "'The Larry Mullen Band' for about ten minutes, then Bono walked in and blew any chance I had of being in charge." Martin, who loaned his guitar and amplifier for the first practice, could not play and was quickly phased out sources differ on whether he was in attendance at the first meeting or not. Mullen played drums and was joined by: Paul Hewson ("Bono") on lead vocals David Evans ("the Edge") and his older brother Dik Evans on guitar Adam Clayton, a friend of the Evans brothers, on bass guitar and Ivan McCormick, with whom he and Mullen had a mutual friend in Peter Martin. At least five people responded and attended the first practice, which was held on 25 September in Mullen's kitchen. In 1976, Larry Mullen Jr., then a 14-year-old pupil of Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, Ireland, posted a note on the school's notice board in search of musicians for a new band. The band formed in 1976 while attending Mount Temple Comprehensive School (pictured in 2007) in Dublin. 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. Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". 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. 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. 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. 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.
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. This experimentation continued through their ninth album, Pop (1997), and the PopMart Tour, which were mixed successes.
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. 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".įacing creative stagnation and a backlash to their documentary/double album, Rattle and Hum (1988), U2 reinvented themselves in the 1990s. The group's fifth album, The Joshua Tree (1987), made them international superstars and was their greatest critical and commercial success.
By the mid-1980s, they had become renowned globally for their live act, highlighted by their performance at Live Aid in 1985. 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. Within four years, they signed with Island Records and released their debut album, Boy (1980).
The band was formed when the members were teenaged pupils of Mount Temple Comprehensive School and had limited musical proficiency. Popular for their live performances, the group have staged several ambitious and elaborate tours over their career. Their lyrics, often embellished with spiritual imagery, focus on personal and sociopolitical themes. 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. 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. U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin, formed in 1976.