Years active 1976 - present
Origin Dublin, Ireland
Genre (s) Rock
Alternative rock
Pop
New Wave
Label (s) Mercury (2006-present)
Island (1980-2006)
CBS (1979-1980)
Manager Paul McGuinness
Members
Lead singer Bono
Guitarist The Edge
Bassist Adam Clayton
Drummer Larry Mullen Jr.
http://www.u2.com
Portal Track listing
Bono acts as The Fly, 1992

U2 is an Irish rock band with Bono (Paul David Hewson), vocals and guitar, The Edge (David Howell Evans) on guitar, piano, vocals and sometimes bass, Adam Clayton on bass and sometimes guitar and Larry Mullen Jr on drums. This occupation is in the beginning always remains unchanged, which is rare in pop history. Even the entourage of the group manager to roadie and sound engineer and art director, has over the years with U2 largely unchanged.

The band is politically active in human rights and supports many charities, including benefit concerts and fundraising events. The Live Aid benefit concert on July 13, 1985 was the final breakthrough of the group.

The Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn has a major impact on the image of the band. Several album covers and videos of his hand.


U2 began on September 25, 1976 at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin under the name Feedback. Larry Mullen Jr. was a sheet hung in the school where you could sign up for the band. Bono responded, which he said he could play the guitar and singing, which he both (as he later said in an interview) could not. The Edge also responded. Adam Clayton would - according to an interview - his bijgevraagd, "He looked so tough, when he joined the band would come down we would be popular." The band was formed when five members are, besides the ultimate U2 occupation was Dik Evans (brother of The Edge) on guitar. Early 1978 the band changed its name to The Hype. During that period, Dik Evans left the band. Almost simultaneously changed the tire on the advice of the Irish singer and adman Steve Averill U2 in its name (the name in 1960 over Russia downed American spy plane, carrying Gary Powers). On October 14, 1980 the band played for the first time in the Netherlands, the KRO studios in Hilversum. The next day in the Melkweg in Amsterdam, then on the 16th at Vera in Groningen. The first tour in the Netherlands was completed on October 17 at Gigant in Apeldoorn. U2 performed the next day in a small room in Uccle for a seventy spectators, each of 220 Belgian francs (5.45 euros or 12.02 dollars) paid. [1]

U2 was, for example, of the Scottish band Simple Minds, mostly to the current new wave counted. The band developed on the first album, Boy (1980) and October (1981), but a particular and recognizable style. Especially in the early Christian faith had a strong influence on the lyrics of U2, which is particularly apparent on songs like "I Will Follow," "Gloria" and "With A Shout (Jerusalem)".

In January 1980 U2 enjoyed his television debut on The Late Late Show of the Irish public broadcaster RTE on "Stories for Boys".
[Edit] Breakthrough

After a brief silence around the band in 1983 released the album War. Two songs from this album were hits around the world: New Year's Day and the powerful Sunday Bloody Sunday, which reverted to the massacre of Sunday, January 30, 1972 (Bloody Sunday), with fourteen deaths between demonstrators and the British army in Derry Northern Ireland.

After the album The Unforgettable Fire (1984) was The Joshua Tree (1987) released by many as the highlight in the work of U2. The album peaked in both the United Kingdom and the United States first in the charts worldwide and there were more than 25 million copies.

U2 later went with the album Rattle and Hum (1988) and the eponymous documentary about the band. Rattle and Hum does not pull the line through the previous albums, but is a tribute to American music. It is a mixture of covers and original songs both in studio and in concerts recorded. Including B.B. King worked on this album.
[Edit] The Dalton Brothers

The Dalton Brothers were a country and western band, created and performed by U2. The band performed as opening on November 1, November 18 and December 12, 1987 during The Joshua Tree Tour. After these performances the band disappeared and nothing was heard until 2007, that year became a U2 cover band once more as The Dalton Brothers.

During the performances, the band members dressed as cowboys and they called themselves The Daltons. Alton Dalton was Bono, The Edge, Luke Dalton, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen was Betty Dalton Dalton Jr was Duke.

The songs they played were their own songs they renamed to country music or covers of country artists. So they played songs by Hank Williams, Leon Payne and Johnny Cash.

One of the performances of The Dalton Brothers can be seen on the DVD of The Joshua Tree 20th Anniversary Box as easter egg.
[Edit] New road

The band at that time was so much interest that the over-exposure nearly spelled the end of U2. The band members withdrew and beat, thanks to a long stay in Berlin, a new direction. The result of the stay in Berlin, the album Achtung Baby (1991), was much more experimental than previous albums. The band sought a new style: the Zoo TV tour and the album Zooropa (1993) had as its theme a parody of the entertainment industry. This theme was further continued with the album Pop (1997) and subsequent large-scale Popmart tour.
U2 at a gig in Kansas City, November 28, 2001.

The Elevation tour following the album All That You Can not Leave Behind (2000), was much smaller. This album was very old fashioned success. There were nearly 12 million copies were sold. In the Netherlands, U2 scored their first number one hit later that year and again with the song: Beautiful Day and Elevation.

Elevation After the band was still around. Bono, meanwhile, spent much time on his new organization DATA (Debt, AIDS Trade Africa), which includes work to alleviate the debt burden in Africa.

On November 22, 2004 released the band's next album: How to Dismantling an Atomic Bomb. The first of these single, Vertigo, was from September 24, 2004 on Dutch radio and was available in Dutch shops from November 8, 2004. The second single "Sometimes You Can not Make It on Your Own" Bono has written during his father Bob Hewson was dying from cancer. Bono also sang this song during the funeral of his father. HTDAAB from today until 12 million copies sold worldwide.

On March 14, 2005 U2 was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On April 15, 2006, the band released One again, along with singer Mary J. Blige. The single reached in this version a higher position in the Top 40: half spot and kept up to 22 weeks recorded. U2 also took in that year along with Green Day on a version of the song "The Saints Are Coming" of the Scottish punk band The Skids, Big Country of the later frontman Stuart Adamson. The proceeds of this single went to the Music Rising Foundation of The Edge for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

To set a good example was on 1 January 2007 the single Window in the Skies in stores. Both singles are from the U218 Singles compilation. This is also the last album that U2 released on the Island label. The band made in 2006 moved to Mercury Records announced. On January 23, 2008, a 3-D concert film release, \ U2 3D. The film is set during the Vertigo Tour.

As of September 2007 worked on a new U2 album, again with the producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. Before his new album made three writing sessions, one in Morocco and two in France. Images of a repetitive U2 can be seen in a documentary about Lanois, "Here Is What Is." On December 3, 2007, British newspaper 'The Independent' announces that the new U2 album, trance, metal and Moroccan influences will have [2]. Later found that this is totally not the case.

Before the release of the new U2 album released in July, the remastered versions of their first 3 albums, "Boy," "October" and "War" (in 2007 did the same with U2 "The Joshua Tree").

On December 19, 2008 was U2 on their website that on February 27, 2009 the new album will be released, called No Line on the Horizon. It was also announced that Anton Corbijn was working on a new film about U2, which will be made available as a download, and also on the extra DVD of the deluxe edition of the new album will be.

On January 19, 2009 was the new single Get On Your Boots in theaters worldwide on various radio stations. The song was from February 15 as a digital download service, and since February 16 as a CD single. On February 18 leaked new album No Line on the Horizon, one week before the official would appear on the Internet. On the day the album was officially available in the Netherlands, February 27, 2009, the album already has sold 60,000 times, giving the album an instant platinum status in the Netherlands had.

U2 on June 30, 2009 to 360 ° Tour began at Camp Nou, Barcelona. On July 21 and 20 was 360 ° tour in the Amsterdam ArenA. The name 360 ​​° was chosen because the public through the 360 ​​° stage design to the band literally sitting or standing around. The stage is made in Belgium by StageCo and has quickly earned the nickname "The Claw" received. There are three stages of this made [3].