40 years of U2 with 40 special moments
25 September 1976
The band forms in Dublin after Larry Mullen posts a notice on the Mount Temple Comprehensive School notice board.
11 April 1977
At St Fintan’s School, under name Feedback, the band plays the first paid performance.
20 March 1978
The band plays their last concert as The Hype. Dik Evans leaves the stage and the remaining four continue to play but as "U2".
1 December 1979
With ₤3,000 borrowed from family and friends, U2 begin a two-week tour of London clubs.
14 October 1980
U2 play their first continental Europe gig at KRO Studios in Hilversum, The Netherlands.
12 October 1981
The band's second album, October, is released despite spiritual conflicts among band members.
1 December 1982
The pre-War Tour begins in Glasgow with some songs like Surrender, Sunday Bloody Sunday, and New Year's Day that will be included in War.
5 June 1983
U2 play legendary show in the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver.
1 October 1984
U2’s fourth album, The Unforgettable Fire, is released. Recorded at Slane Castle and completed at Windmill Lane Studios, it contains the band's biggest hit at the time, "Pride (In the Name of Love)"
13 July 1985
U2 play Live Aid for Ethiopian famine relief at Wembley Stadium. Nothing will ever be the same!
3 July 1986
U2 crew member Greg Carroll is killed in a motorcycle accident in Dublin. Bono said: "We had to fill the hole in our heart with something very, very large indeed, we loved him so much". An emotional song, named "One Tree Hill", was written in his memory and included in The Joshua Tree album.
9 March 1987
U2’s fifth studio album, The Joshua Tree is released and goes to number one in 22 countries.
2 March 1988
At the Grammy Awards, U2 win "Album of the Year" for The Joshua Tree.
30 December 1989
During the show in Dublin, Bono says on stage: "This is just the end of something for U2. We have to go away and dream it all up again".
4 October 1990
U2 shoot the music video for "Night and Day" at director Wim Wenders' home in Berlin. This collaboration will continue in the following years with U2 writing songs for his films and Wenders directing several U2 music videos.
19 November 1991
After tensions, conflicts and nearly to disbanded, as the band argued over their musical direction and the quality of their material, U2 release Achtung Baby. A masterpiece!
29 February 1992
"You've been waiting for so long. You've missed it for so long. Too long!"
The Zoo TV Tour begins in Lakeland, Florida, a long journey with five legs and 157 shows.
17 July 1993
At the first show in Bologna, Bono's holds the first of live on-stage interviews with documentary maker Bill Carter who is in the besieged city of Sarajevo with whom U2 spoke during the earlier Verona shows, to discuss the deteriorating situation in the city.
1 March 1994
Zooropa wins "Best Alternative Album" award at the Grammy's.
12 September 1995
Bono, The Edge, and Brian Eno premiere "Miss Sarajevo" at the annual Pavarotti and Friends concert in Modena, Italy.
11 May 1996
Bill Graham, an Irish journalist and author, died of a heart attack at forty-four. He wrote enthusiastically about the band on Hot Press magazine, giving them their first exposure. He was instrumental in the formation of U2 having brought them to the attention of their manager Paul McGuinness.
23 September 1997
During Popmart tour, U2 play a concert in Sarajevo; they were the first major group to perform there following the Bosnian War.
11 February 1998
U2’s first show in Chile, paying tribute to “Madres” with a special version of Mothers of the Disappeared.
31 December 1999
Bono performs One at “America’s Millennium” with Daniel Lanois and orchestra.
30 October 2000
U2 release All That You Can't Leave Behind. After they experimented with alternative rock and dance music in the 1990s, as Bono said "the band were 'reapplying for the job', the best band in the world".
21 August 2001
Bono's father, Bob Hewson, dies of cancer before U2's third performance at Earl's Court Arena in London. Bono dedicated Kite to his father, stating that "he's no longer ill because he's free".
3 February 2002
U2 perform during halftime of Super Bowl XXXVI, ranked as the best halftime show in Super Bowl history.
21 June 2003
U2 play at the 11th Special Olympics World Summer Games in Dublin and Nelson Mandela joins them on stage during Pride.
22 November 2004
U2 release How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. That day U2 surprised fans with performances throughout New York City streets and with a "secret" show under Brooklyn bridge.
14 March 2005
Bruce Springsteen inducted U2 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
25 September 2006
U2 and Green Day perform at the official reopening of the Superdome following the heavy damage it sustained from Hurricane Katrina.
20 May 2007
U2 perform at the Palais des Festival before the premiere of U2 3D movie at the Cannes Film Festival.
23 January 2008
A 3-D concert film, U2 3D, filmed at nine concerts during the Latin America leg of the Vertigo Tour is released at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
18 January 2009
U2 perform at the We Are One concert, celebrating the inauguration of Barack Obama, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC.
6 August 2010
The second European leg of the U2 360° Tour starts on 6 August 2010 in Turin. It marks their first performance since Bono recovered from his back injury.
24 June 2011
U2 headline the first night of the Glastonbury Festival, for the first time.
12 June 2012
Bono performs Walk On and One with Damien Rice on guitar at the Electric Burma concert, in Dublin, for Aung San Suu Kyi.
17 October 2013
A song titled "Ordinary Love" is revealed to be written specifically for the film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.
9 September 2014
U2 at an Apple product launch event announce “Songs of Innocence” and released it digitally the same day through the iTunes Store at no cost.
7 December 2015
Last show of I+E tour, rescheduled after series of terrorist attacks on Paris, with Eagles Of Death Metal joined U2 to cover People Have The Power to pay tribute to 89 people killed at their show during one of the attacks.