https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2023/radio-2-piano-room-u2-bono-the-edge-depeche-mode-cat-burns
The Piano Room for U2’s Bono and The Edge will air on Thursday 16 March and their classic cover is a track by ABBA, with their session accompanied by an orchestra. Bono and The Edge are founding members of Irish rock band U2, formed in Dublin in 1978. Acknowledged as one of the best live acts in the world, U2 has toured the globe countless times, released 14 studio albums, sold over 170 million albums and won numerous awards, including 22 Grammys and Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 and in December last year, Bono and The Edge, along with bandmates Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr., were awarded the 45th Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements at a ceremony in Washington D.C. In March, U2 will release Songs of Surrender, a new collection of 40 seminal U2 songs from across the band’s catalogue, re-recorded and re-imagined; as well as a new documentary titled Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, with Dave Letterman.
Talking about their Piano Room performance, The Edge says: "We’ve been seen wandering the corridors of BBC Maida Vale on more than one occasion. The first time we performed here was a radio session recording of Sunday Bloody Sunday and a song called Surrender, back in 1983…”
Bono adds: "We have played music in this room many times over the years… In fact, it was 40 years ago - almost to the day - that we first met our longtime Creative Director Willie Williams right here… in the hallowed halls of the BBC Maida Vale… You have to be at your best here."
An hourlong special of Bono and The Edge’s Piano Room performance, including an extended interview with them, will be available on BBC Sounds later in March. Listeners will hear about their musical influences and inspirations, memories of recording previous U2 sessions at Maida Vale, their love of radio as a medium, the recent anniversary of their album War, the improvisation behind their song recordings and more.