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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.
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Popular for their live performances, the group have staged several ambitious and elaborate tours over their career. Their lyrics, often embellished with spiritual imagery, focus on personal and sociopolitical themes.
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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.
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