U2 played an electrifying mini-set to an audience of 10,000 at Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) this evening, to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show’s Beat the Original competition on Today FM, ended this morning with Perfect Mix’s version of U2’s ‘One’ taking the title for 2009 following a public vote.
In rock terms, that's what U2 are, having successfully defended their crown against all-comers since The Joshua Tree crashed to No.1 in the US in 1987.
The current issue of Hot Press includes an exclusive interview with The Edge in which he talks about meeting Michael Jackson, the singer's death, criticism of U2 in Ireland, blogging and the controversy over U2’s carbon footprint. He also gives a unique insider’s view of how U2’s 360º Tour works.
The opening night of a U2 tour can be fraught with peril. But in the Camp Nou in Barcelona tonight they exorcised the demons of previous tours and started on a winning note. Report: Olaf Tyaransen
As U2 gear up for the release of No Line On The Horizon, they meet HP to talk about the creation of their latest masterwork, meeting world leaders, the way they’re perceived in Ireland, the current state of the music business and their future plans.
...so says School of Seven Bells frontman Benjamin Curtis, as he recounts how he was given a sneak listen to the No Line On The Horizon by his mates Edge and Bono.
Paul McGuinness has been talking to Hot Press about the imminent announcement of U2’s world tour, which is likely to include three Croke Park stop-offs in July.
Hot Press was granted unique access to U2, interviewing all four members as they rehearsed for their recent Brit Awards appearance. They talk about No Line On The Horizon, how they're viewed in Ireland, the current state of the music business and more...
Hot Press understands that there’s absolutely no concern in the U2 camp over four tracks from the band’s new album which leaked onto YouTube over the weekend.
Coldplay's Viva La Vida is likely to see the end of its current reign at the top of the Irish charts as U2 release re-mastered versions of their classic albums Boy, October and War.
U2 soundman Joe O’Herlihy has revealed that following a stint in Dublin’s Windmill Lane Studios, the band are set to do some warm weather recording overseas.
U2's manager Paul McGuinness is to be interviewed on Dublin's Phantom 105.2 this Sunday as part of a special programme looking back at the band's Joshua Tree album.
For many people it is U2's greatest album. Twenty years on, to mark it's re-release, Colm O'Hare talks to Daniel Lanois and reflects on the extraordinary background to a monumental album.
Previously unreleased U2 track 'Wave Of Sorrow,' which will be included in the new re-issue of The Joshua Tree, is now available online through iLike.com
U2 are set to feature prominently in Here Is What Is, a new fly-on-the-studio-wall documentary that’s been put together by their long-time confidante Daniel Lanois.
According to well-placed sources the world’s highest-paid supermodel, Gisele Bundchen, has agreed to star in the video for the next U2 single – whenever and whatever that is.
In time for our birthday issue, The Edge talks exclusively to Peter Murphy about 30 years of Ireland's premier music mag, and reveals that they're working on a "project" rather than a new album.
Fans and festival folk heading to see the world premiere of U2 3D at Cannes Film Fest got more than expected when the world's most famous Irishmen played an impromptu set on the red carpet.
Iconic memorabilia belonging to Bono and The Edge helped to raise €1.8 million in an auction to benefit musicians left with nothing after Hurricane Katrina.
Turning 30 has made Hot Press feel a bit geriatric, but we’re mere kids compared to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which celebrates its 40th birthday this year.
Niall Stokes draws on his best-selling book Into The Heart: The Stories Behind The Songs Of U2 to offer a unique insight into the way in which some of the greatest songs in the history of popular music came into being.
With the publication of U2 By U2, the band have finally got to tell the story of their success from their own perspective. It’s got some great pictures too.
A lucky 250 U2 fans got the chance to meet their idols at a book signing in Eason's on O'Connell Street yesterday (September 24).
View our photo gallery direct from Dublin 1.
U2 manager Paul McGuinness has broken the band's silence about the decision to move their financial operations to the Netherlands. The decision inspired considerable criticism in Ireland, notably from the Labour spokesman on Finance, Joan Burton TD.
In an interview that will appear in the new edition of Hot Press, McGuinness defends the band's position in a strongly worded statement of the underlying logic.
Those left disappointed with the postponment of the band's last dates for the Vertigo tour will be glad to know that they're busy rescheduling the concerts.
U2 have hit out at former first lady Hilary Clinton after it was revealed that she is using their Washington concert as an opportunity to fundraise for the Democrat Party.
As if they didn't have enough achievements under their belt already, U2 are to be the first muscial guests to 'take over' the prestigious Late Show With Conan O'Brien in the US.
In one of the starriest line-ups we've seen since Live 8, celebs and artists led by U2 are rallying together to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. A special telethon will be aired on all six US networks as well as Sky One tonight.
U2 have won their court battle with former stylist Lola Cashman over tour memorbilia and clothing they claim she stole while employed by the band during their Joshua Tree world tour in 1987. The verdict was announced this morning (Tuesday July 5) to a packed Dublin Circuit Civil Court by Mr Justice Matthew Deery. Neither Ms Cashman nor members of U2 were present to hear the verdict.
Steve Lillywhite, who produced U2's first three albums – and has featured on the production team of almost all of their records – looks back over the band's career and recalls the highs... and the lows
There could be no better illustration of how U2 have become global icons. Kick-starting the European leg of their Vertigo tour in Brussels’ King Baudouin Stadium on June 10, the old anti-sectarian favourite ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ electrified the crowd like no other. Here, however, it had been transformed from its original intent as a plea to end bloodshed in Northern Ireland into a hymn for religious harmony among the ‘sons of Abraham’ – Christians, Jews and Muslims.
Backcombed bouffants, mullets and white boy Afros. No, we’re not talking about The A – Z Of Really Bad Haircuts, but the new Anton Corbijn photo-book, U2 & I, which serves up a pictorial history of the band from February 1982 (New Orleans) to April 2004 (Portugal). Pictures supplied courtesy of Anton Corblin/ U2 & I published by Schirmmer/Mosel
Dateline San Diego, March 28th: with seven songs from their world-beating Vertigo album in the set, on the opening night of their world tour, it quickly became clear that – the occasional glitch notwithstanding – U2 have re-imagined their live set with remarkable success. Tara McCarthy asks: how do they do it?
With band currently involved in rehearsals in Canada, U2 manager Paul McGuinness (and an eavesdropping fan with super hearing) has revealed some details of what's in store...
As U2 get ready to launch their Vertigo World Tour in San Diego, a whole gaggle – or should that be whoop? – of Irish artists have covered their songs on the Today FM supported Even Better Than The Real Thing.
Having been forced to postpone the first batch of dates due to a family illness, U2 have confirmed that their 2005 Vertigo World Tour will kick off in San Diego on March 28.
With How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb dominating the Christmas sales rush, U2 have firmly re-established their place at the top of the rock tree. Now comes further evidence of the expanding ambitions of Ireland's biggest ever showbiz export.
Not content with picking up two Grammy nominations for 'Vertigo', Bono will be a geust presenter in the forthcoming Christmas Today series on BBC Radio
U2 are about to unleash their new album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. The world’s media are descending on Dublin. And Bono is back at the punch-bag, getting into fighting shape before the shit storm really explodes. The gloves are off. He’s got work to do. And he’s going to do it. Words Stuart Clark, additional reporting by Niall Stokes.
hotpress.com reveals the tracklisting of the complete U2 digital download which, since going on sale last week, has been exceeding predicted sales figures
Recorded in Slane Castle in Co. Meath, this was the first U2 album on which the quartet used the studio as brush rather than canvas, with results that were often dense and impressionistic: the majestic title track, the fractious punk-funk of ‘Wire’, the slow motion fireworks of ‘MLK’ and ‘Bad’.
For the most important album of their post-Joshua Tree career, U2 loaded up on Nine Inch Nails, My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth records, whilst also taking account of rhythmic developments in Manchester and Detroit. The result was an intoxicating brew of hard-edged industrial klang (‘Zoo Station, ‘The Fly’) and funky, danceable grooves (‘Even Better Than The Real Thing’, ‘Mysterious Ways’).
Released in May 1987, The Joshua Tree propelled the band out of arenas and into the stadia, topping the Billboard chart and spawning a triptych of monster singles, beginning with the bittersweet slow burner ‘With Or Without You’.
Last night began a momentous chapter for the world’s biggest band. For U2, it was the first live airing and radio/internet broadcast of material from their eleventh studio album, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. For those in attendance, it was an opportunity as rare as they come. The location: Dublin, Ireland. More specifically, at the album’s birthplace, in their Hanover Quay studios. Hot Press editor Niall Stokes was in attendance to feel the impact and capture the aftershock. [photos by John Dardis, courtesy of U2]
The Undertones were getting teenage kicks and SLF were snarling about suspect devices, but while U2’s sound was equally jagged and hormonal, their themes were already leaning toward metaphysical, if not existentialist.
With their album release only days away, U2 have been speaking to Hot Press about their upcoming world tour and the likely candidates for the prestigious support slot
Atomic Bomb is positively Spector-esque in its ambition, although curiously enough, it’s not a showy record, the playing being mostly subservient to the songs.
In what could prove to be one of the year's biggest marketing coups, Apple Computer Inc. have inked a deal with U2 which sees the band putting their name to a customised iPod. [pics courtesy of Apple]
As first revealed by hotpress.com "Vertigo" has been confirmed as the first single to be taken from the band's as yet untitled 11th studio album. Due to hit the racks on November 5th, 'Vertigo' is an epic U2 track laced with big guitars and soaring vocals.
... And it's not called Vertigo! The man otherwise known as "Bono's doppelganger", Neil McCormick, talks sounds, songwriting and stadium-sized pressure in the most revealing U2 album preview yet.
U2 took everyone – including their Portuguese record company – unawares this week when they arrived in Lisbon to do a photo-shoot with official band snapper Anton Corbijn
While 2004 has not been an especially spectacular year to date, there is good reason to believe that rocks big guns are likely to deliver the kind of records that will revive spirits in the industry. Chris Donovan previews some of the albums that are likely to top the sales – and the critical – charts before 2004 is out...
While 2004 has not been an especially spectacular year to date, there is good reason to believe that rocks big guns are likely to deliver the kind of records that will revive spirits in the industry. Chris Donovan previews some of the albums that are likely to top the sales – and the critical – charts before 2004 is out...
The CDs and DVD from the Nelson Mandela AIDS awareness show will be heavily Irish in their content; Plus more news from the U2 camp with a photo retrospective tipped for publication
Russian cosmonauts, mexican desperadoes and cranky italian elephants – it’s all in a day’s work for solo too supremo Ned O’Hanlon, the man entrusted with documenting the multi-media extravaganza that is the U2 live experience.
Extra, extra special: we're delighted to bring you a sneak peek at seminal new U2 graphic-design-retrospective collectors' book, Stealing Hearts At A Traveling Show: The Graphic Design Of U2
At the end of an exciting, painful and earthshaking year, Bono reflects on the political and the personal – from drop the debt, September 11, Afghanistan and Genoa to the death of his father Bob, the birth of his son John and the enduring friendship which underpins U2’s music and career. Interview: Niall Stokes
[this interview originally appeared in the spectacular Hot Press Annual 2002 - used in the pictures below - a very limited number of this unique collectors item will shortly be on sale - email u2@hotpress.ie to reserve a copy]
U2 frontman speaks about "the biggest pandemic since the bubonic plague" and urges middle America to use their nation's huge financial power and get involved. "Our age will be remembered," he says, "for three things: the war against terror, the Internet, and how we let an entire continent burst into flames and stood around with water in cans"
With a new 'best of' bringing the band's story up to date U2's guitar man steps forward to riff on good times and bad, the private life of a public figure, discovering the secrets of the universe on mushrooms and why, after all these years, few things match the high of being a member of U2.
Special hotpress.com members edition: "director's cut" featuring interview sections unavailable anywhere else.
With a new ‘Best Of’ bringing the band’s story up to date, U2’s guitar man steps forward to riff on good times and bad, the private life of a public figure, discovering the secrets of the universe on mushrooms, and why, after all these years, few things match the high of being a member of U2
With the launch of a commemorative series of Irish postage stamps celebrating four of the nation's most important rock legends, we revisit some of the seminal moments in the careers of Phil Lynott, Rory Gallagher, Van Morrison and - first - U2
The planet's most famous lead singer continues his humanitarian campaign, contributes to fundraising book project and appears on Oprah. Oh, and a Frank Sinatra cover and landmark U2 memorabilia exhibition are also en route
U2 Live: A Concert Documentary - possibly the definitive book on U2's history as a live band - to be given an update and re-release following the tragic death of its compiler
Well, look what we've got here: exclusive peeks at both the U2 single's sleeve artwork and the piccie from the new Samantha Mumba 45 as well. Don't thank us, we're just doing our job
Imminent new single 'Electrical Storm' can only mean one thing: the U2 Best Of 1990-2000 CD/DVD is here - and boy is it ever chocca with cool extras. Read on for details
Hot Press readers worldwide want to know about Bono for president, Larry for lead singer, that mysterious tattoo, the greatest book, and more. Bono and Larry smoulder on the coals of the hp mixed grill
In answer to a fan's question in the Hot Press Mixed Grill (see current edition of HP), Bono dismisses rumours that he will run for the Irish presidency
Workaholics to a man and clearly unable to grasp the concept of time off, U2 already have much of their next album (due out in '03) in the bag - and apparently it's poppier and "more immediate" than All That You Can't Leave Behind
...quoth Drew Carey, master of ceremonies, when the glitterati gathered in Los Angeles last week to pay tribute to the many humanitarian endeavours of Bono, lead singer of popular Irish beat combo U2
Will U2's studio homebase be demolished to make way for the neighbourhood's redevelopment (or more specifically, for a "two-million-Euro leisure complex")? The public hearing began this week...
Via a petition that has gained signatures from round the world, U2 fans rally to save band headquarters Hanover Studios from mandatory demolition by the Dublin Docklands Authority: "What if Memphis tore down Sun Studios?"
Although under constant review, the word from the U2 camp is that they are still planning to go ahead with the return visit of the Elevation tour to North America.
STUART BAILIE recalls some of the social and political movements that have occupied U2's hearts and minds down through the years... not least, the Springfield Garbage Dump campaign
On 25 August 2001 - twenty years after first appearing there in support to Thin Lizzy - U2 play Slane Castle. NIALL STOKES reflects on the extraordinary journey that has led up to this historic, and beautiful, day
Opening our U2 special, DERMOD MOORE catches up with ADAM CLAYTON during the UK leg of the Elevation tour, and delves deep into the physics of music celebrity, politics and, er, penises
They may sport one of the most original sounds in rock’n’roll – but along the way they’ve been influenced by some of the greats.
STUART BAILIE identifies the ten (plus!) key influences on the music of U2
With their biggest dates ever in Ireland looming, LIAM MACKEY dips into voluminous hotpress archives and selects a small sample of what the paper said about U2 over the years
A Peter Frampton cover version, a flautist and female backing vocalists were all elements of FEEDBACK’s first ever live concert performance, yet this was th eoutfit that would eventually become U2.
COLM O'HARE recalls the event
The heart is a bloom, but you knew that already. Bono's lead line on 'Beautiful Day' effectively sets the tone for this new scheme. Great things can be nurtured, he tells us. Scepticism is out and old-fashioned hope is the greatest buzz around. So it's entirely fitting that the stage for the band's Elevation Tour should be framed by a massive, pulsating heart.
When we last left U2, at the conclusion of 1997’s Pop, they were marooned on a spaghetti Golgotha, shouting, “Wake up dead man!” at a god who had apparently reneged on his promise to live forever. Well pilgrims, here’s the resurrection shuffle.
There is no question about it. He may look as if he's been dipped in a bottle of red ink but it is Adam who stands there bollock naked before the camera and the world on the back sleeve of the latest, long playing opus from the band whose name begins with U and ends with 2. And is that Eve who hovers topless behind Bono on the front?
When Adam Clayton was arrested in Dublin in August of 1989 and charged with possession of 19 grammes of cannabis with intent to supply, it placed U2's immediate future as a live band in jeopardy. Trial report: Liam Fay.
Sprawling across four restless, angry and sometimes contradictory sides, "Rattle And Hum" is nothing less than U2's most ambitious album yet. Review by Bill Graham
"The Joshua Tree" clarifies how U2's vocation has become the revival and renewal of rock and the recovery of its most romantic values. It also highlights the group's new commitment to the song. Review by Bill Graham
Amid rumours and press reports that his career could be at an end, Larry Mullen reveals the truth about the extent of an injury to his hand that is becoming a common problem for rock drummers. Interview: Niall Stokes
"U2 make me think", it's been said. That criterion is used a lot these days, because as rock'n'roll gets older, its priorities and values change. It spreads itself out and becomes more adjustable, like a toy.
