U2 - New Year's Day

Interprète: U2

Titre: New Year's Day

Année: 1983

U2 est un groupe de rock irlandais formé en 1976 à Dublin. Il est composé de Bono (Paul Hewson) au chant et à la guitare, The Edge (David Evans) à la guitare, au piano et au chant, Adam Clayton à la basse et Larry Mullen Junior à la batterie.

Depuis les années 1980, U2 s'est imposé comme un groupe majeur sur la scène mondiale. On lui doit notamment les albums War, The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, Zooropa, Pop et All That You Can't Leave Behind.

Les singles Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Year's Day, Pride (In the Name of Love), With or Without You, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Where the Streets Have No Name, Desire, One, Mysterious Ways, Beautiful Day, Elevation ou Vertigo sont quelques exemples de succès planétaires du groupe.

U2 a vendu 170 millions d'albums (en juin 2009) et a également remporté 22 Grammy Awards. U2 est classé 22^e sur la liste des 100 plus grands artistes de tous les temps par le magazine Rolling Stone.

Depuis le milieu des années 1980, le groupe défend la cause des droits de l'homme et Bono a été en lice pour le Prix Nobel de la paix en 2003 et en 2005. Il a aussi fait la promotion d'Amnesty International lors de ses concerts. Les membres du groupe deviennent d'ailleurs « ambassadeurs de conscience » de l'organisation en décembre 2005.

« Personnalité de l'année 2005 » par le Time Magazine pour son combat en faveur de l'Afrique. En 2008, il se voit décerner le titre d'« Homme de la paix » par le maire de Paris. De plus, la chanson "Walk On" rend hommage à Aung San Suu kyi, femme politique pronant la démocratie en Birmanie.

Leur dernier album Songs of Innocence est sorti le 9 septembre 2014, proposé gratuitement via l'iTunes store jusqu'au 13 octobre 2014, pour une forme de record inédite : l'album est mis à la disposition de plus de 500 millions d'utilisateurs de la plateforme d'Apple, en arrivant directement sur leurs différents appareils.

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono (vocals and guitar), The Edge (guitar, keyboards, and vocals), Adam Clayton (bass guitar), and Larry Mullen Jr. (drums and percussion). U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music. Throughout the group's musical pursuits, they have maintained a sound built on melodic instrumentals. Their lyrics, often embellished with spiritual imagery, focus on personal themes and sociopolitical concerns.

The band formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency. Within four years, they signed with Island Records and released their debut album Boy. By the mid-1980s, U2 had become a top international act. They were more successful as a touring act than they were at selling records until their 1987 album The Joshua Tree which, according to Rolling Stone, elevated the band's stature "from heroes to superstars". Reacting to musical stagnation and criticism of their earnest image and musical direction in the late-1980s, U2 reinvented themselves with their 1991 album, Achtung Baby, and the accompanying Zoo TV Tour; they integrated dance, industrial, and alternative rock influences into their sound, and embraced a more ironic and self-deprecating image. They embraced similar experimentation for the remainder of the 1990s with varying levels of success. U2 regained critical and commercial favour in the 2000s with the records All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000) and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004), which established a more conventional, mainstream sound for the group. Their U2 360° Tour from 2009–2011 was the highest-attended and highest-grossing concert tour in history.

U2 have released 13 studio albums and are one of the world's best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide. They have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band; and, in 2005, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 in its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and labelled them the "Biggest Band in the World". Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes, including Amnesty International, the ONE/DATA campaigns, Product Red, and The Edge's Music Rising.