U2 band dysfunction and creative challenges on 50th anniversary album Carnaval de Luz, Digi Mart USA News: Irish rock band U2 says dysfunction within the group has become both a challenge and a strength. In an interview with BBC journalist Mark Savage, the band explained that its limitations have forced members to find unique ways to use their instruments and work together.
“Dysfunction is a challenge but a strength as well, because it’s made us have to find unique ways to utilise our instruments and work together,” the band said. “So it’s sort of been a guiding light in some ways, the limitations of the band, but we are in this place where musically where we don’t know what is about to happen.
It can fall apart or it could become something extraordinary.”
The group was formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive in Dublin in 1976, with the current line-up of vocalist Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. coming together two years later.
Within a decade, the band had grown from a local post-punk act into one of the world’s biggest rock acts.
U2 enjoyed a string of global hits, including “Pride (In the Name of Love),” “With or Without You,” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” The band also performed at Live Aid in 1985, alongside Elton John, Queen and David Bowie.
Now, as U2 marks its 50th anniversary with the release of its 16th studio album, Carnaval de Luz, the band is recognized as one of the biggest-selling musical acts of all time, with estimated record sales exceeding 170 million. Despite five decades of global success, the band said that getting it right does not always come easily.
The interview is part of the BBC program The Interview, which features conversations with people shaping the world. It is available on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT, and as a podcast on BBC Sounds.
