U2 Quotes

This page contains an assortment of quotes about U2. Click to jump to quotes from Adam, Bono, Edge, or Larry. I hope these words give some insight into the history and development of the band.

"I think that politicians are attracted at first by the celebrity but once they meet him, they find that he is outstandingly capable."
Harvard economics professor Jeffrey Sachs talking about Bono, 1999.

"They have the stamina of 14 year olds."
Helena Christensen on the band's unstoppable energy, 2002.

"You have made people listen. You have made people care, and you have taught us that whether we are poor or prosperous, we have only one world to share. You have taught young people that they do have the power to change the world."
Kofi Annan (UN Secretary General) pays tribute to Bono, November 1999.

"Poetry is a sort of homecoming."
Line written by poet Paul Celan, which inspired the title for the Unforgettable Fire song "A Sort of Homecoming"

"I don't know whether U2 were more excited to be at Sun, or if we were more excited to have them here."
Gary Hardy - owner of Sun Studio in Memphis, 1987.

"Anyway the evening ended quite abrubtly when Larry Mullen's Dad arrived to take an indignant Larry home. Larry was only 15 at the time and his Dad felt that school next morning was far more important than this recording session."
Jackie Hayden, a judge at the Limerick talent contest which U2 won in 1978, recalls the band's first studio experience.

"He's a poet. He's a philosopher. And last night, I think I saw him walking on water."
Mick Jagger introducing Bono as he received his MTV Free Your Mind award, November 1999.

"We never, ever felt that being a great musician was a necessary qualification for being in U2. The individuals were much more important than whether you could play."
Paul McGuinness sums up the essence of U2, April 1987.

"Now U2's in an absolutely unique position. They own outright every song they ever wrote, and they always will."
Paul McGuinness explains U2's unique contractual agreement with Island Records, April 1987.