These U2 bio pages cover both individuals and the band. Click on the pictures on the right for a bio on a particular person, or read on for a history of the band itself.

In autumn 1976, drummer Larry Mullen put a note on the notice board at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, looking for people to join a band. Four friends joined up: Paul Hewson (aka Bono Vox), Dave Evans (aka The Edge), Dik Evans, and Adam Clayton. Dik soon left to join the Virgin Prunes, while the remaining four formed 'Feedback' before changing to 'The Hype' and then settling on U2.

The band's first break came in 1978, winning Ј500 in a talent contest on St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) in Limerick. Bono later recalled that they had beaten off many technically better bands because of what he called 'a spark', which had produced a great atmosphere on stage. One of the judges that week was Jackie Heyden of CBS Records, who was impressed and arranged their first demo session. It was not a great success - the band's inexperience and lack of studio time combining to hinder their efforts - but it was a start.

Their reputation for intense and electrifying live shows meant that U2 soon built up a dedicated following of fans. One was Bill Graham, a journalist with the music paper 'Hot Press', who was an early champion of the band and also introduced them to their manager, Paul McGuinness. A three-year contract with CBS Ireland soon followed, and with it the release of their first record in September 1979 - a three song EP entitled 'U23' comprising Out of Control, Boy/Girl, and Stories for Boys. A second single followed, before the band signed a world-wide contract with Island Records in March 1980.

 Having secured the all-important record deal, the rest of 1980 was spent touring extensively. Despite this, the band also found time to record their first LP, 'Boy', which received widespread critical acclaim on its release in October. A year later came 'October' a much more mellow and spiritual record that reflected the Christian beliefs of Bono, Edge and Larry, and built on the success of 'Boy'.

U2 really hit the big time with the 'War' LP, released in March 1983. Boosted by the success of the 'New Year's Day' single, the record entered the UK charts at Number 1, and established the band as a mainstream act. Further tours followed through the US and Europe, where the songs for the mini Live LP 'Under Red Blood Sky' were recorded. This record marked the end of an era, as it was the last record before brian Eno and Daniel Lanois were engaged to work on future LPs.

The next record to be released, 'The Unforgettable Fire', marked a distinct change in direction towards a more complex style, moving away from the 'anthems' of the War era. Despite a few teething problems incorporating the newer songs into the band's live set, the material was well received on the subsequent European and US tours. The mini LP 'Wide Awake In America' was comprised of 2 new tracks and 2 live recordings from the European tour. It was at this time, in April 1985, that 'Rolling Stone' magazine dubbed U2 "The Band of The Eighties".

That summer U2 played in the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium in London, where they gave a memorable performance, as the song 'Bad' over-ran to about 12 minutes! Bono actually considered leaving the band at that point, as he feared that his antics during that show (dancing with girls from the audience while leaving the band to play on regardless) had ruined the set for the rest of the band - Pride had to be dropped from the set due to lack of time. Only when a friend told him that it was one of the high points of the day did he come round. The following year U2 played Self Aid, a benefit for Ireland's unemployed, and joined the Conspiracy of Hope tour for Amnesty International.

 U2's 7th LP was 'The Joshua Tree', another Eno/Lanois collaboration which was released in March 1987. This was to be their most successful record to date, becoming the fastest selling record ever in the UK on its release, and reaching number one in 22 countries. The accompanying sell-out tour included over 100 shows, and cemented their reputation as what what 'Time' magazine called "Rock's hottest ticket". On the 3rd leg, U2 even opened some of their own shows as a country and western band known as The Dalton Brothers. During the tour, director Phil Joanou was chosen to put together a film which would capture the live shows, and also depict the band's perceptions of America. Filmed chiefly in Denver Colorado and Tempe Arizona, the resulting movie ('Ratle And Hum') and the LP of the same name were released in October 1988. Taken from this LP, the single 'Desire' gave U2 their first UK mumber one single. Other songs on the record, such as 'When Love Comes to Town' featured blues legend BB King, and he joined U2 on the Love Town tour which concentrated on Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

At the end of the 1980s, U2 played a series of 4 concerts at The Point Depot in Dublin, culminating with a show on New Year's Eve which was broadcast throughout the world. Bono announced that night that it was "time to go away and dream it all up again". This led some to believe that U2 were considering splitting up, but those fears proved to be unfounded with the release of 'Achtung Baby' in November 1991. A much more electronically processed record than their earlier releases, it marked a new beginning in U2's career. The subsequent ZooTV tour was a huge extravaganza which used giant video screens to create a stunning visual spectacle, and at the end of each show of the tour Bono attempted to call VIPs such as Bill Clinton, Pavarotti, or Princess Diana.

 On a break from the tour, U2 recorded 'Zooropa' which was released in July 1993. Less commercially successful than previous releases, it was called U2's most experimental work to date. It was to be 4 years before their next LP was released, although they continued working on various outside projects, such as the soundtrack for Batman Forever which yielded the single 'Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me. Larry and Adam worked on the 'Mission Impossible' soundtrack, while Bono and Edge worked on 'Goldeneye'. U2 also donated songs to good causes such as the AIDS fundraiser 'Red, Hot and Blue' and 'A Very Special Christmas'.

In March 1997 U2 released 'Pop' which Edge described as being "about as far away from U2 as it is possible to be". Yet another massive world tour followed, which utilised the world's largest video screen at 150 feet wide and 50 feet tall to show live pictures of the band performing, along with computer generated animation sequences. Other props included a giant rotating lemon shaped mirrorball (from which the band would emerge for the encores) and a huge olive on a 100 foot high cocktail stick. According to recent reports, this was to be the last tour of such proportions that the band would undertake. Future shows are more likely to be 'back to basics' in terms of the sets used etc.

A new LP entitled 'All That You Can't Leave Behind' was released on the 30th October 2000 (31st in the US). In a recent interview, manager Paul McGuinness stated that because of the high price of CDs in the UK and Ireland and because U2's earliest fans came from those countries, there would be a bonus track (The Ground Beneath Her Feet) on the UK release of the album. The new LP reached number one in the british album charts in its first week of release, but did not manage this feat in the America, where sales were not quite what many had hoped.

In support of All That You Can't Leave Behind, the Elevation tour started in Florida on March 24th 2001 and covered North America, Europe and then back to North America, where the shows seemed to take on a new meaning in the wake of September 11th. More dates were expected to be announced for Europe, but this didn't happen. Sadly, Australasia and South America have so far missed out on the tour for economic reasons. The weakness of the currencies in those regions means that a tour would not be financially viable. On 3rd Feb 2002 the band appeared at the halftime show of Superbowl XXXVI where they performed Beautiful Day, MLK and Where the Streets Have No Name to the backdrop of a touching tribute to the victims of September 11th.

Bono's biography

Bono was born Paul David Hewson in Ballymun, Dublin on May 10th 1960, a second son to Bobby and Iris, and a younger brother to Norman. The family lived at number 10 Cedarwood Road in Ballymun which is in North Dublin. With a Protestant mother and Catholic father, Bono grew up with a strong religious faith but avoided becoming attached to one particular denomination. His mother died in 1974 (within days of the death of her own father) when Bono was just 14 years old, an event that was to have a strong influence on his later songwriting. Losing his mother at such a young age was something that he had in common with Larry, which led to a particularly close bond between the two, especially in the early days of the band.

He joined a group of kids who called themselves Lypton Village, and it was there that he acquired the name Bono Vox. The members of the group would give each other names that they felt reflected who they were better than their given names. The origin of Bono's name has been variously attributed to a dog food, a brand of hearing aid, and the Latin phrase for 'good voice'. The hearing-aid explanation seems to be the most widely accepted. There was a shop in the O'Connell Street area of Dublin which sold 'Bonavox' hearing aids, and this seems to have been adapted to Bono Vox.

In the early days of the band, Bono was the dominant force, playing guitar, singing, and writing the songs. As Edge became a better guitarist however, Bono was restricted to vocals only. Even then, there was a time when the others considered removing him from the band altogether, as it was felt that his voice wasn't up to scratch. Fortunately for all concerned, he remained.

Bono has always had a great stage presence. Even at school, where he was the first person to embrace punk, he had a flare for grabbing people's attention. From the beginning, he was a natural at working an audience and getting the best from them by interacting with them. This has been a constant feature of U2's live shows right up to the present day, perhaps most notably during the ZooTV tour, when he took on the guise of characters such as 'The Fly' and Mr. Macphisto.

Bono was recently awarded the 1999 MTV Free Your Mind award for his charitable work, particularly with the Jubilee 2000 campaign. He has also been heavily involved with NetAid and Warchild, to whom the profits of the 'Miss Sarajevo' single go. These are the latest in a series of worthy causes that have been championed by Bono. U2 have always been serious about their politics, Bono especially. There has been disagreement at times within the band about Bono's use of the stage to preach politics to the audience at a live show. Edge in particular is uncomfortable with the idea of lecturing fans, taking the view that there is a time and a place for political debate, but onstage during a show is not it.

In June 2001 however, Bono literally did deliver a lecture when he gave the Class Day Address At Harvard. Bono already had connections with the prestigious university through Professor Jeffrey Sachs, the chief economist for the Jubilee 2000 campaign. The Elevation tour happened to be in Boston during Harvard graduation week so Sachs arranged for Bono to be invited to speak at Class Day. I was fortunate enough to attend the speech in person thanks to my good friends Perry and Win. 

Since the end of the Elevation tour in December 2001, Bono has continued to be actively involved in campaigning for debt relief in Africa. He visited Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and Ethiopia with US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill in May 2002 and has continued to work with DATA (Debt, AIDS and Trade in Africa) with the support of several world leaders and financial backing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

He married Alison Stewart in 1982, and they have 4 children, daughters Jordan (born May 1989) and Memphis Eve (born July 1991) and son Elijah Patricius Q Guggi (born August 1999) and John Abraham (born May 2001). The latest one was famously described by Bono as "looking like a thug" when he was born. On 21st August 2001 Bono lost his father after a long battle against cancer. The last few concerts on the European leg of the Elevation tour were very emotional for Bono as he paid tribute to his father at each one.

Like the rest of the band Bono still lives in Dublin, in the exclusive suburb of Killiney.

Adam Clayton's biography

Adam Charles Clayton was born to brian and Jo in Oxfordshire, England on 13th March 1960. At the age of 5 the family moved to Yellow Walls Road in Malahide near Dublin, where sister Sarah and brother Sebastian were born. Adam was sent to St. Columba's boarding school due to the nature of his father's job (RAF pilot) which meant that the family could be called away at very short notice. Adam hated it, and left at age 16 having probably been expelled, at which time he began attending Mount Temple Comprehensive which was located nearby in Malahide (Ireland's first non-denominational, co-educational comprehensive school).

Always a rebellious character, Adam had no interest in schoolwork, much to his parents' dismay. He was known for frequently wearing outrageous clothes or sometimes no clothes at all (!), and knew from an early age that he wanted to be on stage. He was originally in the Max Quad Band (but was fired for not being able to play), and then joined Feedback, where he was the only one to have any experience of being in a band. Before U2 met Paul McGuinness, he took up the role of temporary manager as well as bassist, booking shows and representing the band in early negotiations with CBS Ireland. Bono credited Adam with being the driving force that got the band off the ground in the early days, as his dedication and determination to succeed spurred them all on to make a success of it.

In some ways, Adam is the odd one out in the band. In the early days, he and manager Paul McGuinness were frequently allies, opposing the "born agains" as they referred to Larry, Bono, and Edge. He doesn't share the religious beliefs of the others, and is renowned for his "rock'n'roll lifestyle". He has had several brushes with the law, most notably for drink-driving and drug offences, and once missed a concert in Sydney in 1993 because of extreme drunkenness. On that occassion his roadie Stuart Morgan was able to take his place, but the incident caused friction with the other band members. Fortunately this served as a wake-up call and made him realise that he had to take control of himself. He has been back on track ever since then, thanks in part to the steadying influence of Larry, who spent a year in New York with him working on 'Mission Impossible' among other things.

Despite much publicised relationships with the likes of Naomi Campbell, Adam remains single and has no children. He has most recently been linked with Suzie Smith who is a member of the U2 organisation, but the pair have kept their relationship as private as possible.

Larry Mullen's biography

Lawrence Mullen was born in Artane, Dublin on 31st October 1961 and brought up there at number 60 Rosemount Avenue. He had a tragic childhood, losing both a sister (1973) and his mother (1977). In the mid 1970s, he began doing military style drumming, and became a member of the Artane Boys' Band (which was later to feature in the video for the 1998 re-release of 'The Sweetest Thing'). Forced to leave for refusing to cut his long hair (it's hard to believe that Larry ever had long hair), he then learned to play jazz around the time that he formed U2, which meant that his contribution to the band was often limited to filling in and adding drum rolls.

As his style evolved, he became more involved in the writing of the songs, particularly in conjunction with Adam, his partner in the rhythm section. Having earlier been described as the band's 'weak link' (in fact CBS Ireland point-blank refused to sign the band initially, unless they got rid of him), he became much more assured and competent as his drumming became a more integral part of the songs, rather than an apparent afterthought.

Bono describes Larry as " a very complex character". He has said that it is the way Larry hits his bass drum that makes U2 a true rock 'n' roll band. It is fitting that as the founder of the group he is still credited with being the backbone of the band.

As U2's popularity increased, Larry adopted the 'Junior' suffix to his name, to avoid being confused with his father. At the time, Larry senior was receiving some unexpected tax demands which were intended for his son.

Larry has always been the quiet man of U2, preferring to let the other band members take centre stage at press conferences etc. He is also perhaps the most level headed, and is the most likely to put the brake on any elaborate and expensive plans that Bono in particular might have for complex stage sets etc. Despite the fame that success has brought, he is still content to remain largely in the background. During the recording of Pop Larry suffered from severe back problems and was forced to take a back seat while he underwent surgery. As a result he experimented much more with electronic drum machines and contributed heavily to the more techno feel of the album.

He lives with long time girlfriend Ann Acheson, and they have 3 children - son Aaron Elvis (born October 1995) and daughter Ava (born December 1998). During the Astoria show in London in February 2001 Bono announced to the crowd that Larry and Anne had become parents for the third time. Few details of this latest addition are known, although rumour has it that the baby is a girl named Anya.

The Edge's biogaphy

Edge was born David Howell Evans in East London on 8th August 1961 to Garvin and Gwenda Evans. He has one sister (Jill) and one brother, Dik, who was also a member of the early incarnation of U2 before leaving to join the Virgin Prunes. Having moved to Ireland while David was still at school, the Evans family settled in St. Mary Park Road, Malahide - an affluent area north of Dublin. It was while there that he attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School and met the rest of the band.

Many theories exist concerning how Edge came to get that name. Some say that it was due to his 'edgy' style of playing guitar, while others say it was because he rarely became fully involved in things, preferring instead to remain 'on the edge'.

Edge learned guitar mainly by playing over records that the rest of the band supplied him with. Rory Gallagher and Tom Verlaine were early influences, although the fledgling U2 covered anything from The Moody Blues to The Sex Pistols - in fact it was the realisation that they were not a good cover band that forced them to write their own material and become good. Edge developed a distinctive style that he described as "doing the work of two", as he liked to fill every spare moment with guitar. He has always seen himself as the opposite of the stereotypical guitar hero, preferring instead to think of himself as someone who communicates something meaningful through his music in a way that means something to the listener.

On leaving school, Edge was torn between pursuing his career with the band and going to university to become a doctor. However, medicine's loss was music's gain, and Edge's career with U2 was settled.

In 1983, Edge married Aislinn O'Sullivan, and they had 3 daughters together - Hollie, Arun, and Blue Angel. The couple separated in 1990 though, and were legally divorced 6 years later. Much of the lyrical content of Achtung Baby related to Edge and the break up of his marriage at that time. In 1993 he began dating Morleigh Steinberg, who had been chosen as the belly dancer for part of the ZooTV tour, and in October 1997 they had a daughter, Sian, and 2 years later a son named Levi was born. In June 2002 Edge and Morleigh married first in a civil ceremony in Dublin on the 18th, followed by a Jewish service in Eze-sur-Mer in the south of France on the 23rd.The pair also bought a new home next door to Bono and Ali for 10 million Euros.