U2 is a rock band formed in Dublin, Ireland. The band consists of Bono at vocals and rhythm guitar, The Edge on guitar, keyboards and vocals, Adam Clayton on the bass guitar, Larry Mullen Jr. on the drums and percussion.

In 1976, the band formed at secondary school as teenagers with limited musical proficiency. Within four years, they signed with Island Records and released their debut album. Steve Averill, a punk rock musician and friend of Clayton, suggested potential names from which the band chose “U2″ for its open-ended interpretation.

By the mid-1980s, they had become a top international act. They were more successful at live acts than they were at selling records, until their 1987 album The Joshua Tree.

In March 1980, Island Records signed U2 and in May, the band released “11 O’ Clock Tick Tock” as their first international single followed by ‘Boy‘. Both received positive reviews all over.

The band released their second album-”October” in 1981. It was conceived to have overtly spiritual themes. The album thus received mixed reviews and limited radio play.

They came up with “War‘ in 1983. This album emphasized the fact that the band was capable of deep and meaningful songwriting. This was U2’s first commercial success.

“Unforgettable Fire” was released in 1984 and was considered to be the band’s most marked change in direction. And then …

• 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)

Since the early 1980s, the members of U2 have collaborated with other celebrities, musicians, artists and politicians to address issues regarding poverty, disease, and social injustice and in campaigning and activism.

• Adam Clayton and Bono participated in Band Aid to raise money for Ethiopian famine relief in 1984. The charity initiative produced the hit single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?“
• U2 participated in the A Conspiracy of Hope tour in 1986 in support of Amnesty International and in Self Aid for unemployment in Ireland.
• Bono co-founded the multinational NGO-DATA, with an aim of improving the financial, political and social state of Africa, in January 2002. He continued his campaigns for debt and HIV/AIDS relief into June 2002 by making visits to Africa.
• After the Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, The Edge helped introduce Music Rising, an initiative to raise funds for musicians who lost their instruments in the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast in 2005.

Accomplishments

In 1988, U2 received its first Grammy Awards for the The Joshua Tree. They have won 22 in total since which tied U2 with Stevie Wonder as contemporary artists with the most Grammys.

The awards include Best Rock Duo or Group, Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Rock Album.

U2 has been awarded seven BRIT Awards by The British Phonographic Industry. Five of these were for Best International Group. They have won 14 Meteor Awards in Ireland since the awards began in 2001. Other awards include four VMAs, one AMA, ten Q Awards, two Juno Awards, three NME Awards, and a Golden Globe Award. IN early 2005, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

- Kritika Rao