Formation and breakthrough (1976 – 1980)

The band was formed in Dublin on Saturday, September 25, 1976. Larry Mullen, Jr., then fourteen, posted a notice on his secondary school bulletin board (Mount Temple Comprehensive School) seeking musicians for a new band. The response that followed that note resulted in seven boys attending the initial practice in Larry's kitchen. Known for about a day as "The Larry Mullen Band," the group featured Mullen on drums, Adam Clayton on bass guitar, Paul Hewson (Bono) on vocals, Dave Evans (The Edge) on guitar, his brother Dik Evans on guitar, and Mullen's friends Ivan McCormick and Peter Martin. Soon after, the group settled on the name Feedback. Martin only came to the first practice, and McCormick was out of the core group within a few weeks, being dismissed by Adam Clayton with the excuse that he was too young to play at the bars in which U2 would be booked.

After 18 months of rehearsals, Feedback changed their name to The Hype. The band performed with their new name at a talent show in Limerick, Ireland on 17 March 1978. One of the judges for the show happened to be CBS Records' Jackie Hayden; they won the contest, earning a £500 prize. Hayden was impressed enough with the band that he gave them studio time to record their first demo.

The origin of the name U2 is not clear. Although it is also the name of a famous 1960's spyplane, the Dublin punk rock guru Steve Averill (better known as Steve Rapid of The Radiators From Space) claimed that it was chosen by the band from a list of ten names created by him and Adam Clayton. In an interview with Larry King, Bono is quoted as saying "I don't actually like the name U2," and "I honestly never thought of it as 'you too'." Others feel that U2 derived its name from the Irish Unemployment form (in the same way as UB40 in the UK)

Dik Evans announced his departure in March 1978. The Hype performed a farewell show for Dik at the Community Centre in Howth. Dik walked offstage halfway through the set and later joined the Virgin Prunes, a fellow Dublin band. The remaining four members finished their performance as U2. In May, Paul McGuinness became U2's manager.

U2 released their first single (in Ireland only) in September of 1979, entitled U2-3, as a 12 inch and subsequently a 7 inch. The first 1,000 12 inch copies were individually hand numbered and it went on to top the Irish charts. In December 1979, U2 performed in London, their first shows outside Ireland, but failed to get much attention from audiences or critics. In February 1980, their second single "Another Day" was released on the CBS label but again only for the Irish market.

U2 made their first appearance on US television on Tomorrow hosted by Tom Snyder. It aired on June 4, 1981, and the band performed "I Will Follow" and "Twilight", followed by an interview.

Boy and October (1980 - 1982)

Island Records signed the band in March of 1980. U2 released its first international single "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" in May 1980 and released its first album, Boy the following October. It was met with critical praise  and is considered by some as one of the better debuts in rock history. Despite Bono’s unfocused, seemingly improvised lyrics, Boy has a definite theme – an examination of adolescence touching on fear over sex, identity confusion, death and uncontrollable mood swings. The album gave the band their first hit single, "I Will Follow," which remains a fan favorite to this day. Boy's release was followed by U2's first tour beyond Ireland and the United Kingdom. Despite their unpolished nature, these early live performances nevertheless helped demonstrate U2's potential, as critics noted that Bono was a very "charismatic" and "passionate" showman^{[citation needed]}. One critic was even reminded of a young Rod Stewart.

The album art seen at left is the United Kingdom album cover. American record-company executives thought the cover communicated gay undertones and changed the image for the U.S. release.

The boy on the cover is Peter Rowan, a brother of one of Bono's friends. Peter also appears, three years later, on the cover of War.

The band's second album, October, was released in 1981 . The album contained spiritual lyrics with Bono, The Edge and Larry being committed Christians and making little effort to hide that fact. The three band members had joined a religious group in Dublin called "Shalom," which led all three to question the relationship between the Christian faith and the rock and roll lifestyle. While the Bible has remained a major source of inspiration for Bono’s lyric writing, October is U2’s only overtly religious album and is generally held to be among their least successful work.

War (1983)

In 1983, U2 returned with apparently a newfound sense of direction and the release of their third album, War. The album included the song "Sunday Bloody Sunday," which dealt with the troubles in Northern Ireland using religious imagery and what many considered as forceful and almost rebellious lyrics. The ability to use a range of powerful images, taking a song initially about sectarian anger, and turn it into a call for Christians to unite and claim victory over death and evil, proved to many that the band was capable of deep and meaningful songwriting ^[11]. When some Irish-Americans tried to misrepresent the song as a rallying call for the Provisional IRA Bono responded with what became one of his most recognizable phrases, notably the performance on the live EP Under a Blood Red Sky - "this song is not a rebel song. This song is Sunday Bloody Sunday." Furthermore, as captured in the concert film Rattle and Hum, during the performance of the song on November 8, 1987, the day after the IRA bombing in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, in which 11 people were killed during a Remembrance Day service, Bono denounced the violence in Ireland and the Irish expatriates who supported it. Unlike the style and emotions conveyed by other musicians in the early 1980's, many saw in Bono anger and passion that were palpable, especially as demonstrated by his blunt assertion "Fuck the 'revolution'!"

The album's first single, "New Year's Day", was U2's first international hit single, reaching the #10 position on the UK charts and nearly cracking the Top 50 on the US charts. MTV put the "New Year's Day" video, directed by Meiert Avis, into heavy rotation, which immediately launched U2 to the mass American audience. For the first time, the band began performing to sold-out concerts in mainland Europe and the U.S. on their subsequent War Tour. The image of Bono waving a white flag during performances of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" would immediately become a familiar sight. U2 recorded the Under a Blood Red Sky EP on this tour and a live video was also released, both of which received radio and MTV play and helped expand the band's audience.

The Unforgettable Fire and Live Aid (1984 – 1986)

The album

The band released their fourth album, The Unforgettable Fire, in 1984 with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois receiving producing credits. The album was named after a series of paintings made by survivors of the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The Unforgettable Fire had a significant experimental aspect with the band striving to achieve a more atmospheric sound. Critics and fans alike found Bono's lyrics to be more subtle and poetic, while the Edge's guitar became more effects-driven and his sound more symphonic, and the rhythm section demonstrated its versatility ^{[12] [13]}. Some critics, such as Rolling Stone's Kurt Loder, however, found that The Unforgettable Fire ironically lacked the "fire" of U2's previous albums.

Although listeners would, for the most part hear a new sound from U2, their material, although less overtly so, remained political. "Pride (In the Name of Love)", a song about civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., was the first single, cracking the UK Top 5 and the US Top 40. Arguably the centerpiece of the album, the six-minute long "Bad" was to become a live favourite, but was never released as a single.

Live Aid and other activities

The associated Unforgettable Fire tour saw U2 playing indoor arenas for the first time. U2 also participated in the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium for Ethiopian famine relief in July 1985, which was seen by more than a billion people worldwide. U2 were not expected to be one of the main draws for the event, but the band provided the show with one of its most memorable moments, a relentless 13-minute version of "Bad" in which Bono hurdled off the stage to dance with a fan. The other band members were upset with Bono for spending the time they had planned for playing "Pride (In the Name of Love)," and Bono was convinced he had squandered a chance for promoting the band to a greater audience. Larry Mullen Jr. admitted that the rest of the band had considered leaving the stage as he was performing. The Live Aid version of "Bad" has however become one of U2's most renowned performances, and was an indication of the personal connection that Bono could make with audiences.

In 1985, Rolling Stone magazine called U2 the "Band of the 80's," saying that "for a growing number of rock-and-roll fans, U2 have become the band that matters most, maybe even the only band that matters."

U2 went on to a headlining spot on 1986's A Conspiracy of Hope Tour for Amnesty International. This 6-show tour across the U.S. performed to sold-out arenas and stadiums, and helped Amnesty International triple its membership in the process.

In May 1986 U2 headlined Self Aid, a benefit concert held in Dublin to highlight the chronic unemployment problem in Ireland at the time. The 14 hour concert was the largest that had ever been staged in Ireland and it was broadcast live in its entirety on Irish Television. U2's performance included spirited cover versions of 'C'mon Everybody' and 'Maggie's Farm'. Other acts who performed at the event included Van Morrison, The Boomtown Rats and Christy Moore.

The Joshua Tree"

 

In March 1987, U2 released The Joshua Tree. The album debuted at #1 in the UK, quickly reached #1 in the U.S., and would go on to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and second Grammy for the video "Where the Streets Have No Name". The singles "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" also quickly went to #1 in the U.S., with "Where the Streets Have No Name" being another heavily played track. U2 was the fourth rock band to be featured on the cover of Time magazine (following The Beatles, The Band, and The Who), who declared that U2 was "Rock's Hottest Ticket".

The album, partly inspired by the band's fascination with America, contains country and folk music influences, and is often cited as one of rock's great albums. ^[15]

The Joshua Tree Tour sold out stadiums around the world, the first time the band had consistently played venues of that size. At Wembley Stadium in London, in 1987, U2 performed a version of The Beatles' "Help!" - dedicating it to those in the audience who were dreading another five years of the recently re-elected Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. The band also covered The Beatles' "Helter Skelter", declaring "This song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles. We're stealin' it back."

"Rattle and Hum" & the Love Town tour

The band filmed various shows from The Joshua Tree Tour for the documentary and double album Rattle and Hum. Released in record stores and cinemas in 1988 (to video in 1989), the album and film was intended as a tribute to American music. Recorded, in part, at Sun Studios in Memphis (along with The Point Depot, Dublin, Ireland), with tracks performed with Bob Dylan and B.B. King, and sang about blues great Billie Holiday. Among the live recording on the album were Helter Skelter (see above), and a cover version of Bob Dylan's famous song All Along The Watchtower. Despite a positive reception from fans, Rattle and Hum received mixed-to-negative reviews from both film and music critics^{[citation needed]}.

After an 18-month break from touring, U2 went on the Lovetown Tour (with special guest B.B. King), which visited Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, but avoided the US and most of Europe. Perhaps feeling that U2 was somewhat stagnating, Bono announced during a December 30, 1989 concert in Dublin that it was time "to go away and dream it all up again."

Achtung Baby, Zoo TV and Zooropa (1991 – 1994)

 

"Achtung Baby"

The band began work on Achtung Baby in East Berlin with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois producing. The initial sessions did not go well, with conflict within the band over the direction of the album, although the writing of the song "One" was a breakthrough. In November of 1991, U2 released the often experimental and distorted Achtung Baby in which the band had used influences from dance music. It was also a more inward and personal record, and as a result, darker than the band's previous work. Commercially and critically it was one of the band's most successful albums, and like The Joshua Tree, is often cited as one of rock's greatest ^[16]. It played a crucial part in the band's early 1990's reinvention.

Zoo TV

 

U2 played their Zoo TV Tour over 1992 and 1993 with multimedia event showcasing a bewildering but extravagant array hundreds of video screens, upside-down flying Trabant cars, mock transmission towers, satellite TV links, subliminal text messages, and over-the-top stage characters "The Fly", "Mirror-Ball Man" and "(Mister) MacPhisto". U2 used the show to mock the excesses of rock and roll by appearing to embrace these very excesses. Live prank phone calls to President Bush caused controversy, as did link-ups to war-torn Sarajevo.

"Zooropa"

Following many of the themes from Achtung Baby album and Zoo TV tour, U2 went back into the studio to record their next release during a break in the Zoo TV Tour. The album was intended as an additional EP to Achtung Baby, but soon Zooropa expanded into a full-fledged LP and was released in July of 1993. Zooropa was an even greater departure from the style of their earlier recordings, incorporating techno style and other electronic effects. The Zooropa album was, like Achtung Baby before it, popular among people who had never been fans of U2, further expanding the fanbase and increasing the band's ability to remain popular into the 1990's and beyond. In particular, the tracks "Zooropa", "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" and "The Wanderer", featuring special guest country and rock musician Johnny Cash on lead vocal, helped U2 win the admiration of new fans. Most of the songs were played at least once in the 1993 leg of the tour through Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, with several songs eventually becoming fixtures in the set.