U2

Ireland, 1978–now

Dublin band formed in 1976. The Edge's delay-based guitar and Bono's declamatory singing carried post-punk into stadiums on The Joshua Tree, before the studio reworking of Achtung Baby.

MusicRoots documents 5 artists who influenced U2 and 10 artists U2 influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced U2?

• The Clash — The Clash's October 1977 Dublin show is U2's founding legend — the Edge has called it 'the night that changed everything'.
• Patti Smith — Bono has named Horses a record that made U2 possible — Smith's ecstatic seriousness is documented U2 scripture.
• Joy Division — U2's early sound leaned on Joy Division — Bono recalled recording 'Another Day' as an abstract number akin to Joy Division's later work.
• David Bowie — Bowie's Berlin trilogy reshaped U2 — he pointed them toward Berlin, Hansa Studios and Brian Eno for Achtung Baby; Bono has repeatedly named Bowie a defining influence.
• Lou Reed — Lou Reed's Velvet Underground lineage sits among U2's documented influences — the New York art-rock seriousness beneath the anthems.

Which artists did U2 influence?

• Thirty Seconds to Mars — Thirty Seconds to Mars's anthemic, stadium-scale rock and soaring choruses draw on U2's arena-rock template.
• Coldplay — U2 are Martin's avowed model — 'the only band whose entire catalogue I know by heart' — the stadium-anthem scale Coldplay reached for.
• The Killers — U2's stadium anthem architecture was the model for the Killers' widescreen turn — the Edge's delay and Bono's scale beneath 'When You Were Young'.
• Keane — U2's stadium-scale anthems were among the acts Keane covered early on and named as a direct influence on their widescreen sound.
• Snow Patrol — Gary Lightbody has cited U2 as a template — The Joshua Tree was his first U2 record, and he credited them with showing 'how to break America'.
• Live — U2's anthemic, spiritually charged arena rock shaped the widescreen sound of Throwing Copper.
• Third Eye Blind — U2's expansive, melodic alt-rock is a stated influence on Third Eye Blind's bright, anthemic sound.
• Matchbox Twenty — U2's anthemic scale is among the influences Rob Thomas names behind Matchbox Twenty's sound.
• Poets of the Fall — U2's anthemic, atmospheric arena rock is among Marko Saaresto's stated influences, shaping Poets of the Fall's soaring, emotive sound.
• Imagine Dragons — U2's anthemic, uplifting stadium rock is part of the foundation of Imagine Dragons' crossover pop-rock.