Bono (born Paul Hewson, vocals), the Edge (born David Evans, Augguitar, keyboards, vocals), Adam Clayton (born Mabass), and Dick Evans responded to the ad, and the teenagers banded together as Beatles and Stones cover band called the Feedback. (born Octodrums), posted a notice on a high-school bulletin board asking for fellow musicians to form a band. By performing such a successful reinvention, the band confirmed its status as one of the most popular bands in rock history, in addition to earning additional critical respect.With its textured guitars, U2's sound was undeniably indebted to post-punk, so it's slightly ironic that the band formed in 1976, before punk had even reached their hometown of Dublin, Ireland. Unlike many of their contemporaries, U2 were able to sustain such popularity in the '90s by reinventing themselves as a postmodern, self-consciously ironic, dance-inflected pop/rock act, owing equally to the experimentalism of late-'70s Bowie and '90s electronic dance and techno. By 1987, the band's following had grown large enough to propel them to the level of international superstardom with the release of The Joshua Tree. During the course of the early '80s, the group quickly built up a dedicated following through constant touring and a string of acclaimed records. It's no accident that footage of Bono parading with a white flag with "Sunday Bloody Sunday" blaring in the background became the defining moment of U2's early career - there rarely was a band that believed so deeply in rock's potential for revolution as U2, and there rarely was a band that didn't care if they appeared foolish in the process. And their lead singer, Bono, was a frontman with a knack of grand gestures that played better in stadiums than small clubs. and Adam Clayton played the songs as driving hard rock, giving the band a forceful, powerful edge that was designed for arenas. Though the Edge's style wasn't conventional, the rhythm section of Larry Mullen, Jr.
The Edge provided the group with a signature sound by creating sweeping sonic landscapes with his heavily processed, echoed guitars. They were rock & roll crusaders during an era of synthesized pop and heavy metal, equally known for their sweeping sound as for their grandiose statements about politics and religion. Through a combination of zealous righteousness and post-punk experimentalism, U2 became one of the most popular rock & roll bands of the '80s.