A kitchen table on a Dublin afternoon, a classified ad pinned to a school noticeboard, and five teenagers who couldn't yet play their instruments in sync. That's the unglamorous seed of U2, the band whose catalog now moves by the crate-load in record shops worldwide. The group formed in Dublin in 1976 when Larry Mullen Jr. posted a note at Mount Temple Comprehensive School looking for musicians. The first rehearsal happened on September 25 of that year, in Mullen's kitchen, with future members Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, Dick Evans, and Ivan McCormick all crammed into the room.
The early line-up was loose, and the name even looser. They called themselves Feedback, then The Hype, before settling on U2 in March 1978 from six options suggested by Steve Averill. That same month, Dick Evans left after a farewell concert, and U2 won the 'Pop Group '78' talent contest in Limerick. The prize was 500 pounds and a demo session at Keystone Studios in Dublin. That demo, cut in 1978, became the first physical artifact of the band's sound, a cassette passed around by journalist Bill Graham of Hot Press, who introduced the group to manager Paul McGuinness.
Early demos and the first EP
By August 1979, U2 were recording demos at Windmill Lane Studios with producer Chas de Whalley. The result was the EP Three, released in September 1979, which became their first chart success in Ireland. All 1000 copies of the 12-inch vinyl sold almost instantly, a small but telling signal that something was brewing. In December 1979, U2 played their first show outside Ireland, in London. By February 1980, they had released the Ireland-only single 'Another Day' and performed at the National Stadium in Dublin to a crowd of 2000.
That Dublin show caught the attention of Bill Stewart, an Island Records representative, who offered U2 a contract. In March 1980, the band signed a four-album deal with Island Records, receiving an advance of 50,000 pounds plus another 50,000 for tour support. Steve Lillywhite was brought in as producer for their first three albums. Between July and September 1980, U2 recorded their debut, Boy, at Windmill Lane Studios. The album's cover featured a close-up of teenager Peter Rowen, and the single 'A Day Without Me' prompted the Edge to buy an Electro-Harmonix Memory Man delay pedal.
Boy, October, and early struggles
Boy arrived in October 1980 to generally positive reviews, reaching number 52 in the UK and 63 in the US. The single 'I Will Follow' became the first U2 song to receive American radio airplay. But the band was also fraying internally. In March 1981, Bono lost a briefcase containing lyrics and ideas for the second album, a blow that forced him to write much of October on the fly. The single 'Fire' became their first UK chart entry, and in August 1981, U2 opened for Thin Lizzy at the first Slane concert.
The second album, October, arrived in October 1981 to mixed reviews. Its creation was complicated by religious doubt: Bono, the Edge, and Mullen were members of the Shalom Fellowship, a Christian group, and Bono and the Edge considered leaving U2 entirely. The song 'Gloria' became the first U2 track whose video was played on MTV. In 1982, the band met photographer Anton Corbijn, who became their primary visual collaborator. The third album, War, was recorded from September to November 1982 at Windmill Lane Studios, with Steve Lillywhite returning for a third time, breaking his usual practice of moving on after two records.
From War to The Joshua Tree
War introduced 'Sunday Bloody Sunday', the single that cemented U2's reputation as a politically conscious band, and featured violinist Steve Wickham plus backing vocals from Kid Creole and the Coconuts. The 1984 album The Unforgettable Fire marked their first collaboration with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, pushing the sound toward abstraction and ambience. By the mid-1980s, U2 were known worldwide for their live performances, including their set at Live Aid in 1985. The Joshua Tree, released in 1987, became their biggest commercial success, selling 25 million copies globally.
The Joshua Tree also produced 'With or Without You' and 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For', the only U2 singles to reach number one in the US. After the documentary and double album Rattle and Hum in 1988, the band faced criticism and creative stagnation. Achtung Baby, released in 1991, pivoted toward alternative rock, industrial, and electronic dance music, supported by the multimedia Zoo TV Tour. Experiments continued on Zooropa in 1993 and Pop in 1997, whose PopMart Tour divided audiences and critics alike.
All That You Can't Leave Behind in 2000 and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb in 2004 returned U2 to a more traditional sound and commercial success. The U2 360° Tour, running from 2009 to 2011, was the highest-grossing concert tour until 2019. By 2023, the band had released 15 studio albums, sold around 170 million records, and won 22 Grammy Awards. That year's Songs of Surrender offered re-recorded versions of older material, and the U2:UV Achtung Baby Live residency opened the Sphere in Las Vegas. The story that began with a kitchen rehearsal in 1976 now spans 48 years, with the band's catalog still a fixture in used bins and new arrivals sections alike.