U2 A Brief History of the World’s Biggest Band By Set A Saavedra Professor Donald Jack Dunn Introduction to Music 22 March 2011

The Beginning (1976-1979) Dublin, Ireland 1976: 14 yr. old drummer Larry Mullen Jr. posts a note at his middle school looking to form a band. The band started out with Larry Mullen Jr. on drums, Adam Clayton on bass, Dave Evan (a.k.a. The Edge) on guitar, and Paul Hewson (a.k.a. Bono. After seeing that Bono cannot really play any instruments he is picked to be the lead singer even though he really can’t sing either. Larry recalls, “But he was such a charismatic character that he was in the band anyway, as soon as he arrived. I was in charge for the first five minutes, but as soon as Bono got there, I was out of a job” (Buckley). They name themselves Feedback and then The Hype but eventually settle for U2 after the Cold War spy plane.

After winning a local talent show in Limerick, Ireland called the Limerick Civic Week band challenge in 1978 they earned the right to some studio time as a prize to record their first music demo. Along the way the band teams up with a local business man named Paul McGuiness who became their manager. Paul is still their current manager to this day.

The Classic Albums (1980-1990) After releasing a couple of popular singles within Ireland, the band signed with Island Records to their first international contract in 1980. Their first album under this new contract was titled Boy and was released that October. The album garnered rave reviews because the songs covered topics such as faith, religion, spirituality and death (McGee). This was so different to the other music that was popular in the day such as hard rock and punk. The album reached #63 on Billboard's 200. U2 gained fan bases in the US and the rest of Europe when it toured after the release of this album and their success continued in 1981 when they released their second album October which continued the groups road down religion and faith with the songs “Gloria” and “With a Shout”

The album that really put U2 on map was WAR which was released in 1983 The album that really put U2 on map was WAR which was released in 1983. The songs “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Years Day” were massive hits. The popularity of this album was cemented when the group performed at the Red Rock Amphitheater in Denver, Colorado. This performance is considered by many to be one of the best live performances ever by a group.

In 1984 the group released The Unforgettable Fire which featured “Pride (In The Name Of Love)”. The following year the group was named “Band of the 80’s” by Rolling Stone Magazine. U2 hit super stardom with their release of The Joshua Tree in 1987. They had two number one hits on that album “With or Without You” and “I Still Haven't Found What I am Looking For”. “Where the Streets Have No Name” hit number 13 from the same album. The album was also critically acclaimed when it won Album of the Year and Best Rock Performance honors at the Grammy's. Listen to: “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” Listen to : “With Or Without You”

1987 also saw U2 appear on the cover of TIME Magazine with the title “U2 Rock’s Hottest Ticket”. This was the first time the magazine had featured a music group on its magazine cover. The following year the group released their next album, Rattle And Hum. The music had more of a blues, folk and country rock sound to it. Some of the songs featured other famous singers such as B.B. King in the song “When Love Comes to Town” as well as Bob Dylan in the song “Love Rescue Me”. The album peaked at #1 and has gone Platinum five times since it’s release.

Evolution (1990-1999) The group stepped out of the limelight for a couple of years but returned very strongly in 1991 with their next album titled Achtung Baby. Bono described the album as, “the sound of four men chopping down The Joshua Tree" (U2 Biography). This album was a serious departure from their previous albums as it introduced new instruments and sounds not heard or used in past albums but was welcomed with open arms by critics and fans alike. The album also lacked any political references compared to past albums where it was an almost expected thing the group had to do (McGee). The album itself reached number 1. The albums singles such as “Mysterious Ways”, “One”, “Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” and “Even better than the real thing” broke the Top 40 with the first two songs hitting the top ten in the music charts.

In 1993 the group released their eighth album titled Zooropa In 1993 the group released their eighth album titled Zooropa. The album contained such hits as “Numb”, “Lemon” and “Far Away, So Close”. In 1997 the group released their eighth album titled Pop which debuted at number 1 in 27 countries. Notable songs from this album included “Discotheque” which reached number 10 and “Staring at the Sun” which reached number 26. The group also went back on the road from 1997-1998 on the Pop Mart tour. This show was bigger than the Zoo TV tour and included huge on stage props consisting of a giant olive, a 100 foot toothpick, a 35 foot lemon, and a 100 foot tall golden arch. U2 was going after the concept of commercialism in this tour and even though they did not sell out every concert, the Pop Mart tour was still the second highest grossing tour that year.

A Familiar Sound (2000- Present) The year 2000 saw U2 return to more of its original sound when it released their next album All That You Can’t Leave Behind. In this album Bono was quoted as saying that the group was "reapplying for the job of the best band in the world" as many of their original fans had left them when they changed who they were (U2 Biography). The standout single of the this album was “Beautiful Day” which earned 3 Grammy’s but also had other hits such as “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” and “Elevation”. The release of this album was followed by the Elevation tour. The tour was almost sold out at every venue and grossed $110 million in the US and was second only to The Rolling Stones’ Voodoo Lounge tour in 1994 in total revenues of all time (McGee). In 2002 the group performed in what can be considered the world’s biggest musical stage by performing at halftime of Super Bowl XXXVI. Listen To: “Beautiful Day” Listen To: “Elevation”

2004 brought yet another album titled How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb with the Vertigo tour following its release in 2005. The album won eight Grammy’s and the tour was another huge success that saw many sold out arenas. That year also saw U2 become inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by the “Boss” Bruce Springsteen. Bono was also named by TIME magazine as the person of the year along with Bill and Melinda Gates for their humanitarian work. Their latest album No Line on the Horizon was released in February 2009 after a few years of trying to find the right producers to work with. The album received its first ever 5-star review from Rolling Stone magazine and debuted at number 1 in 30 different countries but has failed to produce any standout hits. U2 also went back on the road that year with the 360º tour which features the world’s largest stage that allows the audience to surround the group on all sides.

Conclusion It’s amazing that in a world where the popularity of a music group can come and go in a mere moment that U2 can still sell out an arena and produce hit album after hit album. It seems like after 30 years U2 is still going strong with no end in sight. The group is still as relevant today as they were when The Joshua Tree was released. What other band today can claim the title of the World’s Biggest Band? As long as they keep evolving on their own terms they will retain that title. And there seems to be no contender in sight.

Works Cited   Buckley, Frank. "A Social History of U2 1976-2005 The Collected adventures of U2, and several peculiar anecdotes." Dubliner Magazine April 2007: 1. Web. 23 Feb 2011. <http://thedubliner.typepad.com/the_dubliner_magazine/2007/04/a_social_histor.html>. MgGee, Matt. "U2's History ." @U2 2007: 1. Web. 23 Feb 2011. <http://www.atu2.com/band/bio.html>. "U2 Biography." Rolling Stone Magazine 2001: 1. Web. 23 Feb 2011. <http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/u2/biography>.