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Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. met as teenagers at Dublin’s Mount Temple School, and in 1978, U2 was formed. From the beginning, U2 were marked out by their drive and ambition, forming as a band—as they’ve said—“before they could play.”

Forty years later, U2 is acknowledged as one of the best live acts in the world. The band has toured the globe countless times, released 14 studio albums, sold 170 million albums, and won numerous awards, including 22 Grammys^® and Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience award. U2 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 and have twice been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song: in 2003 for “The Hands That Built America” for Gangs of New York, and in 2014 for “Ordinary Love” for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.

U2’s 14th studio album Songs Of Experience –the companion release to 2014’s Songs Of Innocence –was released in December 2017 and includes tracks “Get Out Of Your Own Way” and “You’re The Best Thing About Me.” The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, setting U2 apart as the only band in history to have topped the chart in four successive decades.

In 2018, U2 hit the road with the eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour, an arena production which saw the band continue to push the creative boundaries of technology and engineering. And following 2017’s acclaimed stadium run with The Joshua Tree Tour, the record-breaking smash hit tour celebrating the band’s seminal 1987 album The Joshua Tree, 2019 saw The Joshua Tree Tour visit New Zealand, Australia, and Japan, as well as bring “the biggest band in the world” (The Guardian) to Singapore, Seoul, Manila, and Mumbai for the very first time. In November 2019, the band released a track in collaboration with A.R. Rahman titled “Ahisma,” which was performed live at Mumbai’s D.Y. Patil Stadium. In 2020, SiriusXM and U2 announced the launch of U2 X-Radio, a complete immersion into the work and influences of the band from the Northside of Dublin, all curated by U2.

In 2021, U2 released a series of four live shows with enhanced visuals and remastered audio, broadcast for the first time on the band’s YouTube channel. The event called U2: Virtual Road, included all new and exclusive opening act performances from Dermot Kennedy, Fontaines D.C., Carla Morrison and Feu! Chatterton. Last year also saw the release of new music with a new original song titled “Your Song Saved My Life” for Sing 2, in which Bono also made his animated film debut, playing lion and reclusive rock legend Clay Calloway. And in May 2021, Bono and The Edge collaborated with Dutch DJ Martin Garrix to create the track “We Are The People,” the official anthem for the UEFA 2020 European Football Tournament.

November 2021 marked the 30th anniversary of U2’s groundbreaking album Achtung Baby and a Deluxe Vinyl Edition, plus a digital box set, was released to celebrate the occasion. 

U2 – Discography

Boy (1980); October (1981); War (1983); The Unforgettable Fire (1984); The Joshua Tree (1987); Rattle and Hum (1988); Achtung Baby (1991); Zooropa (1993); Pop (1997); All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000); How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004); No Line on the Horizon (2009); Songs of Innocence (2014); Songs of Experience (2017).

Recent Kennedy Center history: As an ensemble, this marks U2’s first association with the Kennedy Center. Bono performed as part of the debut of “America’s Song,” broadcast live as part of a special edition of The Oprah Winfrey Show, airing the day before President Barack Obama’s inauguration (January 2009).