Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 17th March!
On the 17th March (Saint Patrick’s Day) 1978, the Irish Rock band U2 won a talent contest in Limerick and received £500 ($850). Two months later, Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. recorded their first demo at Keystone Studios in Dublin, following by the release of the Ireland-only EP „Three„, which hit the stores on the 1st September 1979.
Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 13th March!
Happy birthday to Mr. Adam Charles Clayton, who was born on 13th March 1960 in Chinnor, Oxfordshire (UK)!
In 1965, Adam’s family moved to Ireland where they became friends with the Evans family and their sons Dik and Dave („The Edge“), who were also very interested in music. Little Adam took piano lessons and at the age of ten he started listening to rock operas, classical and popular music. Three years later he bought his first acoustic guitar and when Adam was fifteen years old, his parents gave him a bass as a present. Clayton changed to Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, where he crossed paths with singer Paul „Bono“ Hewson, drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. and also with his boyhood friend Dave „The Edge“ Evans, who became a guitarist. In 1976 the quartet founded with Edge’s brother Dik, Ivan McCormick and Peter Martin the band „Feedback“. Shortly after that, Martin and McCormick left the group and in 1977 the name was changed into „The Hype“. In March 1978, Dik Evans quit and the new band U2 was born.
After winning a talent show, the group recorded their first demo tape. One year later, in September 1979, the Ireland-only EP „Three“ was released and in February 1980 the single „Another Day“ hit the Irish market. U2 were signed by Island Records one month later and in May the international single „11 O’Clock Tick Tock“ was released.The debut album „Boy“ followed in October and the outtake „I Will Follow“ became a hit in the USA. In 1981 the second LP „October“ and in February 1983 the third album „War„, featuring the hits „New Year’s Day“ and „Sunday Bloody Sunday„, hit the stores. The LP went No. 1 in the UK and the fanbase became bigger and bigger. In 1984, „The Unforgettable Fire“ charted in the UK and USA and songs like „Bad“ and „Pride (In the Name of Love)“ became further hits. With the legandary album „The Joshua Tree“ (1987), U2 became superstars. The first two singles „With or Without You“ and „I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For“ charted worldwide.
Until now, U2 have realeased 13 studio albums, selling more than 150 million records worldwide. And they won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band.
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