Thirty Years of U2

In the Beginning
U2 was formed in response to an ad placed on a high school notice board in 1976 by drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. At first, the group called themselves Feedback, then Hype and finally settled on the name U2, chosen, bassist Adam Clayton says, for its ambiguity. Two years later, they entered and won a talent competition sponsored by beer maker Guinness. By 1979, when they posed for the above photo, the group had already scored a hit in Ireland. They are, from left, Bono, The Edge, Clayton and Mullen.

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