Behind the scenes

U2 have become one of the most beloved and enduring bands in international rock, but their story could have come to an end very early on. Over the course of their long career, there have been no shortage of difficult moments. One of the most critical periods dates back to 1981, right after the release of their second album, "October". At that time, the Irish band slid into a deep crisis that brought them to the brink of splitting up.

It was Bono Vox who revealed this behind-the-scenes story during an interview for Hozier's Cry Baby podcast. The Irish frontman explained: "We had a crisis of faith about our band and its purpose. We looked around and asked ourselves: 'This world is falling apart, and so are we. How can a rock band help make things better? After all, it's almost an act of vanity.'"

On top of that, there was the religious issue undermining the Irish band's future. Early in their career, Bono, The Edge and Larry Mullen Jr. joined the Shalom Fellowship, a Christian community widespread in Ireland in the 70s and 80s. The only one who stayed out of it was Adam Clayton. According to legend, the encounter with a member of the group happened by chance in a Dublin fast-food joint and pushed the three of them to devote themselves to studying the Bible and taking part in spiritual meetings.

However, a conflict between faith and life as musicians soon emerged. While working on an album, a member of the Fellowship claimed to have received a divine vision in which God asked the three of them to give up rock music. The pressure mounted, and Bono and The Edge, deeply unsettled by the issue, temporarily distanced themselves from the band to think things over.

The crisis threatened to jeopardize U2's future, until manager Paul McGuinness convinced them that music could be a powerful tool for spreading positive values.

According to Bono, however, after the release of their second album, the band really was on the verge of stopping altogether, unable to find a way out of its contradictions. It was Edge, though, who glimpsed a solution, starting to write a song that would change their destiny: "Sunday Bloody Sunday". "He told us we could tackle the issue of sectarianism in our country," Bono recalled.

"Bloody Sunday" is the name given to one of the most tragic days in recent Northern Irish history: on January 30, 1972, in Derry, British soldiers opened fire on a peaceful march against Operation Demetrius, killing 13 civilians on the spot and wounding 13 others. A fourteenth victim died a few months later from his injuries. It was one of the worst massacres of the Northern Ireland conflict, not only because of the high number of victims, but also because of the brutality of the act.

The first to capture the urgency of telling that event's story was John Lennon, who on his third solo album, "Sometime In New York City", released "Sunday Bloody Sunday", an openly militant, furious song, uncompromising in its condemnation of British repression.

Eleven years, one month and twenty-one days after the massacre, U2 tackled the same episode from a different angle. The track "Sunday Bloody Sunday", from their third album "War", also grew out of a conversation Bono had in New York with some IRA supporters: it was that exchange that lit the spark. But unlike Lennon's song, theirs is not a partisan statement: U2 opt for ethical and humanitarian denunciation, using the story of the massacre to call for an end to sectarian hatred and for the possibility of unity beyond division. The lines "How long must we sing this song?" and "Tonight we can be as one" express a desire, still very much alive at the time, for a possible reconciliation. There's no intent to accuse, nor any wish to side with one faction against the other: the message is one of peace, brotherhood and awareness.

Below, the historic U2 performance of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" at Red Rocks, with Bono declaring "This song is not a rebel song". A performance later included on the live album "Under A Blood Red Sky".

As Bono has recounted, it was The Edge who broke the impasse: "He started writing a song about sectarianism in Ireland. I thought of setting against that senseless violence the image of Jesus on the cross. There's a clear difference between someone who kills in the name of an ideal and someone who gives their own life for others. That's the tension that runs through Sunday Bloody Sunday."

The track marked a decisive turning point for U2, both artistically and commercially. The band realized they could turn music into a tool of civic awareness. "War" was a massive success: "Sunday Bloody Sunday" became one of their most celebrated anthems, even managing to knock Thriller by Michael Jackson off the top of the British charts.

So it was music itself that saved U2, allowing them to get past the crisis and pushing them toward a success that has never since let up.

Recently, Paul Hewson, aka Bono, also published his first autobiography, "Surrender – 40 Songs, One Story". "When I started writing this book," he said, "I hoped to spell out in detail everything I had previously only ever portrayed through songs. The people, the places, the opportunities life has given me. Surrender is a word full of meaning for me. Growing up in Ireland in the '70s with your hands up (musically speaking) wasn't a natural thing, and I circled around that word until I gathered my thoughts for the book. I still hold on to that kind of imperative: in the band, in marriage, in faith, in my life as an activist. Surrender is the story of a pilgrimage that doesn't arrive anywhere... but with a lot of fun along the way." Classic Bono, in other words, playing at throwing you off balance through the pages of his life, his band and his country, of which he has become the ultimate musical icon.

The biography was followed by a documentary eagerly awaited by U2 fans: "Bono: Stories of Surrender", broadcast on Apple TV+. The film documents the theatrical tour of the same name that the Irish frontman held between 2022 and 2023 to accompany his autobiography "Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story".

The film is drawn from the solo show "Stories of Surrender: An Evening of Words, Music and Some Mischief…" and offers a deep, personal look at Bono's life: from family to faith, from friendships to the music that defined an era.

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27/02/2026