Among theories that involve war planes, spy technology, spiritual themes and words, the story of the U2 name is simpler than fans think, and they do not like the band.
It is one of the most recognizable names in the history of music, but even at U2 they have never liked it very much. From the spy technology of the Cold War to the spiritual symbolism, the fans of the group of records born in Dublin have it Always wondered where the moniker comes from – But the truth is simpler than many would think.
In 1976, Larry Mullen Jr., 14, stuck a written note on the notes table of the Mount Temple Comprehensive School, seeking to start a band.
What began as six kids stuck in the kitchen slowly transformed into a much more ambitious thing: Paul Hewson (soon becoming Bonus), David Evans (also known as The Edge), Adam Clayton and Dik Evans formed the first incarnation of the group.
They started with the name of the feedback of the name, chosen, then admitted, because it was one of the only musical terms that they really understood.
Then they received as a drum, a name that did not last long. It was 1978 when things really changed. Dik Evans left the group and a new four -piece configuration entered the spotlight with a new name: U2.
The name was really suggested by Steve Averill, a punk musician from space radiators and a friend of Adam Clayton. He delivered to the band a list of six potential names, and U2 made the cut … but barely.
“It wasn’t that he jumped to us as the name we were looking for,” he explained the edge, “but it was the least hated.” Talking to a prize talkThe guitarist said he felt “fresh” and open to interpretation, and did not force his sound in any specific direction. Bono admitted: “Not yet [like it]. Not really. “”
He said that the band initially recorded the name associations with the futuristic war: “the spy plane”, “the ship in u”, etc., but he felt that he had a passive commitment. “Because it turned out to involve this kind of receiving, no, I don’t like this name.”
“I have been in a car when one of our songs has come to the radio,” he said. “And I’ve been the color of, as we say Dublin – Scarlet. I’m ashamed. “
Bono has been open on his mixed feelings for a long time towards the band’s early work, including -his image and sound: “I think U2 pushes the boat with quite shame,” he told the prizes Chatter podcast.
“And maybe this is the place to be an artist, right on the edge of your level of pain for shame.”
He is also not satisfied with the voice of his younger self, saying that “my voice sounds very close in those early recordings”, although he distinguished the only work where he feels as if he sounded good: the success of 2004 “Vertigo”.
During the same interview, he admitted that his dyslexia that was diagnosed late could have played a role because he did not call into question the choice of name: “I did not realize that the Beatles were not a bad puny …”
With a new name, line and image, the group performed a farewell concert as a drum in March 1978, returning to the same stage later as night as U2, performing original songs. Weeks later, they won the “Pop Group ’78” talent competition in Limerick, a The Edge event later called “A great statement” for a band that is still in its early stages.
The band now has the title of one of the largest bands in history, with more than 150 million albums sold, an impressive 22 Grammy Awards and a tour calendar that changed decades that changed the face of live music.