

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. Bono's 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.
