u2
U2 on Tour: Our 1992 Cover Story
This article originally appeared in the July 1992 issue of SPIN. In honor of Achtung Baby turning 30, we’re republishing it here. “What you can never get in your book is the utter, total boredom of being in a band [on tour].” —John Lydon, quoted in Jon Savage’s England’s Dreaming April 9, 1992: Rolling through the sun-scrubbed Arizona landscape on the way to Tucson. Last night was, I think, Austin. Axl Rose was at the show, I guess he wanted to hang out with rock stars who are even shorter than him. Strange that the desert really does look like a Roadrunner cartoon; except in real life, the rock-infested hills are less friendly, looming like scars carved from the unrealistically blue sky. Antitank fighter planes swoop low over the cactus, looking, we hope, for someone else. ...
U2 Detail 30th Anniversary Release of Achtung Baby
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Achtung Baby, U2 has announced a massive, forthcoming deluxe edition release of the record. The Achtung Baby (30th Anniversary Edition) is out on special standard and deluxe vinyl on November 19, ahead of the 50-track digital boxset available December 3, via Island Records, Interscope, and UMe. The boxset includes Uber Remixes, Unter Remixes, B-Sides with 22 tracks that have never been available digitally. Both releases are available for pre-order. In further celebration, U2 collaborated with Berlin-based French artist Thierry Noir for a special, one-off installation at Hansa Studios in Berlin, where Achtung Baby was partially recorded. Everyone’s favorite frontman Bono described Achtung Baby 30 years ago as “the sound of fo...
Martin Garrix and U2 Reunite On the Big Screen With “Your Song Saved My Life”
Illumination Entertainment’s upcoming musical comedy Sing 2 is reuniting the most unexpected collaborators of 2021. Martin Garrix, alongside Bono and The Edge of U2 fame, briefly united an entire continent earlier this year when they joined forces on “We Are The People,” which became the official UEFA EURO tournament theme song. Now, Garrix and U2 are ready to take their efforts to the big screen with “Your Song Saved My Life.” Starring Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, and Scarlett Johansson, Sing 2 is an animated comedy that follows up its 2016 predecessor. The franchise centers around a gang of anthropomorphic animals with a passion for musical theater. Recommended Articles Like its cast, the original film boasted a star-studded soundtrack ...
Hear U2’s New Song “Your Song Saved My Life,” Off Sing 2 Movie Soundtrack
U2 just released a track off the forthcoming Sing 2 movie soundtrack, “Your Song Saved My Life.” This is the band’s proper release since “Ahimsa” where they teamed with A.R. Rahman in 2019 (No, Martin Garrix’s song with Bono and The Edge for Euro 2020 doesn’t count). The original song is featured in the upcoming movie, in which Bono himself made his animated film debut as the voice of Clay Calloway. Sing 2 is in theaters on December 22, and its soundtrack comes out on December 17, which is available for pre-order. [embedded content][embedded content] This isn’t the first time U2 has written an original track for a movie, as the band has received two Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song for “The Hands That Built America” from Gangs of New York in 2003 and “Ordinar...
The 40 Greatest Music Video Artists
Music videos are the perfect bastard child of art and commerce, even more than pop music itself. A promotional visual accompaniment to a popular song doesn’t need a coherent narrative (although on rare occasions, they do). It just needs to suit the song, sell the record, and possibly make the artist look cool. But since the launch of MTV 40 years ago this week, a select few recording artists have helped raise music videos to an art form — sometimes by accident, and sometimes by carefully curating the work of brilliant directors like Mark Romanek, Hype Williams, and Spike Jonze. Here are 40 artists from the last four decades that helped video kill the radio star. 40. Lil Kim [embedded content] Although earlier female MCs like Salt-N-Pepa and Queen Latifah used music videos to help launch th...
Martin Garrix Teases Festival Remix of U2 Collaboration, “We Are The People”
As the UEFA EURO 2020 soccer tournament finally commences after postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourney’s official anthem has also been released. It came courtesy of EDM superstar Martin Garrix, who teamed up with Bono and The Edge of U2 for a massive collaboration that won’t soon be forgotten. “We Are The People” is an uplifting anthem perfectly suited for EURO 2020, after fans across the globe have patiently waited for the tournament—held every four years—to begin. Even though the track was finally released last month, Garrix isn’t finished with “We Are The People” just yet. He took to Instagram to share a teaser clip of a new version of the anthem with the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame band. “Garrix...
Martin Garrix Enlists U2’s Bono and The Edge for UEFA EURO Anthem, “We Are The People”
Last week Martin Garrix unveiled a collaboration with U2‘s Bono and The Edge, which would serve as the anthem for the UEFA EURO 2020. After the trio was recently spotted in London filming, both the track and official music video have arrived via Garrix’s STMPD RCRDS. As most would expect, “We Are The People” is an anthemic, soaring single, an absolutely perfect fit for the UEFA. The personality of the tune shines through thanks to the production of Garrix, a longtime football fan. Bono’s signature tenor blends effortlessly with the upbeat production here, highlighting the synergy found between all three artists. The UEFA tournament begins on June 12th and runs through July 12th as 24 nations will compete for the title. Click here ...
Martin Garrix, Bono, and The Edge Created the Official UEFA Euro 2020 Song for Some Reason
In a collaboration virtually no one asked for that is sure to please only the handful of crossover fans, superstar Dutch DJ Martin Garrix teamed up with Bono and The Edge of U2 to create the official track for the 2020 edition of the UEFA European Football Championship. The track is titled “We Are the People,” as that was presumably the only thing they could find that their fans all had in common. The mashup pretty much only makes sense if the Union of European Football Associations was looking for the biggest possible names to feature on the promoted track for the massive soccer tournament, and we all know U2 has a long history of shoving their music into the hands, pockets, and ears of unsuspecting and unwilling listeners. Maybe they pulled names out of a hat for the collaborat...
Martin Garrix and U2 Collaborate on Official UEFA Euro 2020 Anthem
In 2019 before our current madness became reality, Martin Garrix was revealed as an official UEFA Euro artist. The Dutch EDM icon went on to attend the 2020 draw ceremony in Bucharest in December in preparation for opening day in Rome on June 12th, 2020. We all know the end of that story. Now, as the music scene slowly inches towards a semblance of normalcy, Garrix is releasing his long-awaited UEFA anthem. In a teaser this week he revealed to fans that the theme would arrive on his birthday, May 14th. We’ve now come to learn that joining him on the track will be none other than legendary U2 artists Bono and The Edge. The Sun reports that Garrix invited the rock icons to join him on the track after composing the music for the new single titled “We Are...
SPIN’s Music Pardons!
On the august occasion of our 36th Anniversary, we are issuing our first ever music pardons. No longer does Billy Ray Cyrus have to live in shame! The Baha Men can finally sleep easy at night, the awful yoke of their aural crime lifted! Eddie Murphy can live out the rest of his days appreciated as the great actor and comedian he is, the millstone of “Party All the Time” removed. Breathe, Eddie! <!– // Brid Player Singles. var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ “div”: “Brid_10143537”, “obj”: {“id”:”25115″,”width”:”480″,”height”:”270″,”playlist”:”10315″,”inviewBottomOffset”:”105px”} }); –> Below are the nine pardons we are issuin...
Watch Bono and the Edge Perform ‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)’
Bono and the Edge got in the holiday spirit this week and performed an in-studio cover of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” during Ireland’s Late Late Show holiday episode. The performance was a tribute to the annual Christmas Eve Grafton Street Busk, and the U2 stars were joined by a number of local musicians. The band also recorded a version of the Darlene Love classic for the 1987 compilation A Very Special Christmas. In addition to the festive tune, Bono and the Edge also played an acoustic rendition of “Walk On” off U2’s 2000 album All That You Can’t Leave Behind. Watch both performances below. [embedded content] [embedded content] Aside from performing, Bono and the Edge also chatted with Ryan Tubridy about U2’s 10 million euro donation to Ireland’s COVID-1...
SPIN’s 2020 Holiday Gift Guide
COVID-19 brought the concert industry to a screeching halt in 2020. But all that disposable income music fans generally spend on concert tickets and tour merch has been redirected to the retail front: supporting artists and labels by shopping online during quarantine. And this holiday season brings an overwhelming amount of worthy box sets, books, vinyl and cultural ephemera. After many hours rummaging, scrolling, clicking and sampling, we’ve rounded up this holiday gift guide — consider it the sonic equivalent to a PS5 or Great Green Egg grill for the rabid music fan in your life. The Secret DJ – Book Two (Velocity Press) One-time pop star and acclaimed Mixmag columnist the Secret DJ continues to chronicle the last 30-plus years of dance music’s evolution as a superst...
