U2

Dublin

U2 began in September 1976, when Larry Mullen Jr., then 14, put up a notice at Mount Temple Comprehensive in Dublin. The first practice was in his kitchen on 25 September. The group played as Feedback, then as The Hype, and in March 1978 it became U2, a name chosen from six suggestions by Steve Averill. The line-up of Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Mullen has not changed since early 1978, when the Edge's older brother Dik left after a farewell concert on 4 March. Paul McGuinness became their manager that summer.

On 18 March 1978 they won Pop Group '78 in Limerick. In 1979 they cut demos at Windmill Lane, and the Three EP gave them their first Irish chart success in September. A show at the National Stadium in Dublin in early 1980 led to a deal with Island Records for four albums. Boy arrived in October 1980 with Steve Lillywhite producing, and October followed in October 1981. Bono's briefcase of lyrics was lost in Portland, Oregon, in March 1981, and around then the band left the Shalom Fellowship and met the photographer Anton Corbijn.

War and the world stage

War, released on 28 February 1983, went to number one in Britain on its debut and displaced Michael Jackson's Thriller. It carried Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Year's Day, and gave the band their first US gold record. For The Unforgettable Fire in October 1984 they worked for the first time with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who would shape most of their records for the next two decades. Their Live Aid appearance at Wembley on 13 July 1985 followed.

The Joshua Tree and its aftermath

The Joshua Tree came out on 9 March 1987 and was recorded largely in two Dublin-area houses, with live takes favoured. It reached number one in more than 20 countries, including the United States for the first time, and has sold over 25 million copies. With or Without You and I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For both topped the US singles chart, and Where the Streets Have No Name opened the album. It won the 1988 Grammy for Album of the Year.

Rattle and Hum followed in October 1988, together with a film by Phil Joanou, which was a commercial failure. The Lovetown Tour ended in 1990, and Bono told a Dublin audience in late 1989 that it was the end of something for U2.

Reinvention

The band began again in Berlin in October 1990, at Hansa, with Eno and Lanois. The sessions around German reunification were marked by disagreement over direction, until the song One broke the deadlock and work moved back to Dublin. Achtung Baby, released in November 1991, went to number one in the United States and sold about 18 million copies. The Zoo TV Tour of 1992 and 1993 carried it around the world, and Zooropa, which began as a four-song EP, was recorded between tours and released in July 1993. That June they signed a six-album deal with Island and PolyGram reported at about US$60 million.

Pop appeared in March 1997 and the PopMart Tour ran from April 1997 to March 1998, including a show in Sarajevo in September 1997. The Best of 1980-1990 collected the earlier years in November 1998.

Since 2000

All That You Can't Leave Behind (October 2000) sold over 12 million copies and produced Beautiful Day, which won three Grammys in 2001. The band played the Super Bowl XXXVI halftime show on 3 February 2002. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb in 2004 was made after a near-complete album was discarded and restarted with Steve Lillywhite. No Line on the Horizon, the U2 360 Tour of 2009 to 2011 and Songs of Innocence, delivered through iTunes in 2014, came next, followed by Songs of Experience and the re-recordings of Songs of Surrender in 2023.

In 2023 they became the opening residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas with U2:UV Achtung Baby Live. Pollstar ranks them second among live acts for gross between 1980 and 2022, at US$2.13 billion. They have won 22 Grammys, entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, and have sold about 170 million records. Rolling Stone put them at number 22 on its list of the 100 greatest artists.