Rajaee, Farhang, ed.The Iran-Iraq War: The Politics of
Aggression. Gainesville: University Press of Florida,
1993.
Rogers, Will, Sharon Rogers, and Gene Gregston.
Storm Center: The USS Vincennes and Iran Air Flight
655—A Personal Account of Tragedy and Terrorism.
Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1992.
Steve Hewitt
See also Air India Flight 182 bombing; Bush,
George H. W.; Foreign policy of the United States;
Iran-Contra affair; Iranian hostage crisis; Middle
East and North America; Pan Am Flight 103 bomb-
ing; Reagan, Ronald; USSStarkincident.
U2
Identification Irish rock band
Date Formed in 1976
During the 1980’s, U2 became one of the most popular mu-
sical acts in the world. The band had a substantial impact
on pop culture, particularly in the United States.
U2 formed in 1976 in Dublin, Ireland. With a lineup
of Larry Mullen, Jr., on drums, Adam Clayton on
bass, Dave “the Edge” Evans on guitar and key-
boards, and Paul “Bono” Hewson as lead singer, U2’s
live performances had already attracted a solid fan
base in the United Kingdom before it signed with Is-
land Records in March, 1980. Later that year, the
band released its first album,Boy, and the single “I
Will Follow” gave U2 its first radio airplay in North
America. Its second album,October(1981), featured
spiritual and religious themes, influenced by U2’s
involvement with the charismatic Shalom religious
movement.
By 1983, U2 was on the verge of stardom, and
the group’s increasingly sophisticated songwriting
and politically charged lyrics propelled the album
War, featuring the radio hits “New Year’s Day” and
“Sunday Bloody Sunday,” into the top twenty in the
United States and Canada. U2’s members donned
combat boots and proclaimed themselves “Militants
for Peace” as they headlined a North American tour
in the summer of 1983. Their concert at Red Rocks
Amphitheatre, near Denver, spawned a live album,
U2 Live: Under a Blood Red Sky, and a video in heavy
rotation on MTV.
In 1984, U2 retreated to Slane Castle in Ireland to
recordThe Unforgettable Fire. Produced by the legend-
ary Brian Eno, this more experimental album sold
fewer copies thanWarhad, but its track “Pride (In
the Name of Love)” became the group’s first Top 40
single on the U.S. pop charts, as it reached number
thirty-three on theBillboardHot 100 chart. “Pride
(In the Name of Love)” was inspired by the life of
Martin Luther King, Jr., and reflected the band’s
growing fascination with America. U2 performed at
the Live Aid festival in 1985, and Bono’s unscripted
leap into the crowd turned him into a celebrity. In a
cover feature,Rolling Stonemagazine proclaimed U2
to be the “Band of the Eighties.”
U2’s commitment to social and political issues
continued to evolve. Bono and his wife, Ali, volun-
teered in Ethiopia and toured war-torn Central Amer-
ica, and the band participated in the Artists Against
Apartheid campaign. This activism, along with band
members’ growing interest in American roots music,
influenced their most successful album,The Joshua
Tree, released in March, 1987. Musically and lyrically,
The Joshua Treeshowcased U2’s simultaneous love of
American culture and frustration with American for-
eign policy. The album topped the charts in twenty-
two countries around the world and featured two
number one hits on theBillboardHot 100 chart:
“With or Without You” and “I Still Haven’t Found
What I’m Looking For.” U2 closed out the decade
with a tour that filled stadiums around the world,
chronicled in the documentary filmRattle and Hum
(1988). An album with the same name featured live
performances and several new songs, including a
duet with B. B. King.
Impact U2 was a cultural phenomenon in the
1980’s, selling over 20 million albums in the United
States alone and raising awareness of political issues
and social causes among the MTV generation. In ad-
dition to strongly influencing the popular music of
the decade, U2 played a major role in Live Aid and
other high-profile humanitarian events.
Further Reading
Scrimgeour, Diana.U2 Show. New York: Riverhead
Books, 2004.
U2 and Neil McCormick.U2 by U2. London: Har-
perCollins, 2006.
Caroline Small and Andrew J. LaFolletteSee also Live Aid; Music; Music videos; MTV; Pop
music; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.1014 U2 The Eighties in America